(July 28, 2022 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution’s offensive barrage carried over from the night before as they plated another double-digit performance on 14 hits, taking their second straight series, this time over the Charleston Dirty Birds with an 11-5 victory on Thursday night at PeoplesBank Park.
The game would not get underway on time as a 41-minute rain delay halted the beginning of the rubber match.
Once play began, Revs leadoff man JC Encarnacion started the offense with a high towering homer over the Arch Nemesis for an immediate 1-0 lead on his 10th home run of the season and third of which has come leading off a game including his second of the three-game series.
It was again the third inning where the Revs took total control, plating six runs to go up 7-0.
It started with an Elmer Reyes single which was followed by a line shot by Carlos Franco that cleared the wall in right center field for a two-run homer, his 28th of the season. With the home run, Franco became the sixth player in Revs history to reach the 200 RBI plateau, passing James Shanks in the process to move solely into sixth on the Revs’ all-time leaderboard.
Telvin Nash followed with a walk and Nellie Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, bringing Melky Mesa to the plate. After two home runs the previous night, Mesa did it again, driving a three-run home run to right center field, the 10th of his season and 68th of his Revs career. It also brought him just 21 RBIs shy of the franchise record held by Andres Perez, now with 291.
Troy Stokes Jr. followed with a double down the left field line and scored two batters later, on an RBI single to center from Lenin Rodriguez bringing the lead to 7-0.
The fourth inning also started with a Reyes single, and Franco narrowly missed his second homer of the night, settling for a double off the top of the batter’s eye in center field. That set the table for Nash who drove in Reyes on a sacrifice fly to deep left-center, and Nellie Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to center to score Franco and chase Charleston starter Alec Kisena after just 3.1 innings with the Revs having stacked a 9-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Revs starter Jorge Martinez was dominant. The Atlantic League strikeout leader struck out the side in the fifth inning and struck out two more in the sixth, totaling 10 punch outs on his night. It was a record-setting performance for Martinez who became the first pitcher in York history with four double-digit strikeout outings, all coming this season. He had entered the start tied with Mitch Atkins as the only two pitchers in Revs history with three such outings.
Tuck Tucker relieved Martinez for the seventh inning, tossing a scoreless inning with a strikeout, his 10th scoreless appearance in 12 outings since arriving in York.
The Dirty Birds were able to sneak their way back into the game in the eighth. Charleston loaded the bases on three straight singles against reliever Josh Martin before a strikeout of pitcher Stephen Chamblee who entered the game as a pinch hitter. Three more singles followed, plating three runs to cut the lead to 9-3 and prompt skipper Mark Mason to call on righty Brett de Geus. Two more crossed against de Geus on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly, both of which were charged to Martin. De Geus was able to force Scott Kelly to ground out to end the inning, escaping further damage at a 9-5 score.
York answered by plating two insurance runs in the eighth, courtesy of a Stokes Jr. RBI single to right-center and a Yefri Perez sacrifice fly to deep left, handing closer Jim Fuller an 11-5 lead for the ninth.
Fuller made quick work of the Dirty Birds, striking out the side on just 14 pitches to close down the 11-5 win.
York closed out the 12-game homestand at a .500 clip, finishing 6-6. It was the 993rd win in franchise history, and the 590th win as the Revs skipper for Mason.
The Revs will now venture to Gastonia for the first time this season for a three-game weekend set with the Honey Hunters before returning home for another week. Friday’s game will get underway at 6:15 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 5:55 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
Notes: Martinez (9-4) moved within one win of the league lead while picking up the 23rd victory of his Revs career, matching Atkins for fifth on the all-time list. He has won seven straight decisions, tied for the third-longest streak in team history and marking the longest since Atkins’ record nine-gamer in 2019. Martinez’ 116 strikeouts on the season move him into a tie for seventh in a season in Revs history (Ty’Relle Harris, 2016) as he now sits just 23 shy of the franchise record of 139 set by Chris Cody in 2013. His 232 career strikeouts with the Revs rank seventh all-time, eight shy of matching former teammate Logan Williamson for sixth on the all-time list. Martinez entered the season with 116 strikeouts in his Revs career over 174.2 innings (5.98 per 9 innings); his 116 this season have come in only 98.1 innings (10.6 per 9 innings). Franco’s season RBI total now stands at a league-high 89, tying Mesa (2018) for seventh on the franchise’s single-season list. Perez extended his hitting streak to eight games with a second inning single. Mesa is now 14-for-25 (.560) with eight extra-base hits including three homers and nine RBI over his last six games. Nellie Rodriguez’ RBI was his 12th in the last six games, as he has gone 11-for-22 at the plate over that stretch which includes four long balls.
