(August 5, 2017 – New Britain, Ct.): The York Revolution defeated the New Britain Bees, 6-3 on Saturday night in front of 3,889 fans at New Britain Stadium, extending their winning streak to five consecutive games, a season-best. York improves to 18-11 in the second half, remaining within two games of first place, and will go for the franchise’s first ever four-game sweep on the road on Sunday afternoon.
For the second straight night, the Revs responded after allowing a first inning run. New Britain’s Jovan Rosa singled off the left field wall with two outs in the first, advanced to third on a throwing error, and scored as Jamar Walton pulled an RBI single to right to produce an unearned run and give the Bees a 1-0 advantage.
Michael Burgess led off the second by slamming a double high off the center field batter’s eye, and Telvin Nash followed with a line drive RBI double down the left field line, tying the game at 1-1. Jared Mitchell, attempting to bunt for a hit, ended up advancing Nash on a sacrifice, and with the infield drawn in, Dayron Varona shot an RBI single into right to give York a 2-1 lead.
Ryan Dent led off the third with a single to right and with one out, Alexi Casilla turned on a double down the right field line to put runners at second and third. That set up Isaias Tejeda who lined a two-run single to right field, extending the lead to 4-1.
Both starters breezed through the middle innings, as the game was well on pace to set a Revs record for quickest nine-inning contest. York’s Victor Mateo carried a five-hitter into the eighth on just 73 pitches, including a six-pitch fourth inning and a five-pitch seventh inning. Including a five-pitch fifth inning, New Britain’s Kyle Simon allowed nothing further until the eighth.
Casilla and Tejeda set the table for insurance runs with a pair of singles to start the eighth inning, and Burgess lined an RBI single over the head of left fielder Conor Bierfeldt. Tejeda came home on a double play grounder as the lead grew to 6-1.
Mateo worked a season-high 7.2 innings, retiring his first two batters of the eighth, but Mike Crouse kept the inning alive with a single and Rosa followed with an RBI double to left. Walton (4-for-4) ripped an RBI single up the middle, bringing New Britain within 6-3 and ending Mateo’s night. Ricardo Gomez retired Bierfeldt on a popup, however, and Brad Allen fired a perfect ninth for his 15th save to finish the victory.
Mateo (5-6) earned the win, yielding just two earned runs out of his three total, walking only two and striking out three while allowing eight hits.
Notes: The Revs out-hit New Britain 11-8, led by Casilla, Tejeda, Burgess, Nash, and Dent who all posted two-hit games. Dent is now 10-for-18 on a five-game hitting streak. Casilla notched his 17th multi-hit game in just 39 games played. Tejeda picked up his team-leading 35th multi-hit game and increased his league-leading hit total to 115 on the season. Alonzo Harris saw his 13-game hitting streak come to an end, after batting .464 with seven homers and 20 RBI on the streak. At two hours and 12 minutes, the game was the Revs’ quickest nine-inning game of the season by two minutes, but missed the club record by 10 minutes. The Revs have won 10 of 13 overall, and are now 21-11 since June 30. The five-game winning streak surpasses the previous season-high of four straight, April 27-30, and is the longest since a six-gamer last August. The Revs have also won a season-best four straight on the road and improve to 11-5 on the road in the second half. York has won 10 of its last 13 on the road. The Revs are now 5-1 against the Bees in the second half after going 2-8 in the first half. The series win is the fourth in-a-row for the Revs, both overall and on the road, as they have now gone unbeaten in six straight series as well as all five road series in the second half. York lefty Frank Gailey (9-7, 4.49) faces New Britain southpaw Greg Nappo (0-1, 5.14) on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 1350, woyk1350.com, and on the WOYK app beginning at 1:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
