(August 30, 2017 – Central Islip, NY): Alexi Casilla launched three home runs and Telvin Nash went yard twice as part of a seven home run barrage, as the York Revolution played to a doubleheader split with the Long Island Ducks, dropping the first game 5-4 before rebounding with an 8-2 victory in the nightcap on Wednesday in front of 4,253 fans at Bethpage Ballpark. The Revs remain tied for first in the Freedom Division with a 30-23 second half record.
York fell behind 3-0 in the first game on back-to-back RBI doubles by Lew Ford and Marc Krauss in the bottom of the first, and a run-scoring error with two outs in the second inning.
With two outs in the third, Alonzo Harris got the Revs on the board, blasting his 20th home run of the season down the left field line to become the second member of the 20-20 club in Revs history (home runs and steals) and 20th in Atlantic League history. Casilla followed with an opposite field homer to left, bringing York within 3-2 on the Revs’ third set of back-to-back homers on the season and second in the past week.
Long Island tacked a run back on in the bottom of the third on a Jordan Hinshaw RBI single, but reliever Joe Van Meter entered to retire Ford on a weak comebacker to the mound, leaving the bases loaded for the second straight inning. Revs pitchers combined to strand eight runners over the first three innings, keeping the game close.
The Revs continued to battle back in the fifth as Chase Simpson drilled a leadoff double to the right-center gap and scored on a two-out wild pitch. Nash belted a line drive home run to left, leading off the sixth, tying the game at 4-4.
Elmer Reyes broke the tie and provided Long Island with the game one victory, connecting on a walk-off home run to left off reliever Ricardo Gomez (3-4) with one out in the seventh for the 5-4 final.
The Revs rebounded in a big way in game two, using four more home runs, tying a single-game season-high, powering their way to the win.
Simpson drew a two-out walk to keep the third inning alive, and Travis Witherspoon hammered a two-run homer to left-center to open the scoring. Harris followed with a single up the middle, and Casilla yanked a two-run home run to right, increasing the lead to 4-0. Casilla, who had one home run in 59 games on the season entering play on Wednesday, became the fourth player in Revs history to homer in both games of a doubleheader and first since Eric Patterson in 2013.
The Ducks sliced the lead in half in the third inning as Delta Cleary, Jr. blooped a two-out RBI single to left and Ford drove an RBI double to right-center.
York recovered one of those runs in the fourth as Ryan Dent led off with a single up the middle, stole second, and scored on a double to deep right by Witherspoon who drove in three on the night.
Casilla made more Revs history in the sixth inning, crushing his second two-run homer of the game to dead center field as the lead ballooned to 7-2. He became the first player in Revs history to hit three home runs in a doubleheader, one to each part of the outfield, and the second player in Revs history to go deep three times on the same day, joining Ian Bladergroen who did it in one game in 2010.
Nash added one more, launching a towering opposite field shot to right in the top of the seventh to close the scoring. It marked the first time in franchise history that multiple players went yard in both games of the same doubleheader, as only three players had accomplished the feat previously.
York righty Jay Gause (9-2) earned the win, limiting the Ducks to two runs on three hits over six innings, retiring nine consecutive batters at one point. Brad Allen closed it out with a scoreless seventh.
Notes: Harris joins Matt Esquivel (2009) as the only members of the Revs’ 20-20 club. He is the league’s first to do it since Lance Zawadzki in 2015, and with 22 steals, is the first to do it with more than 20 in one of the categories since Blake Gailen in 2012. Nash’s homer in game one was the 40th of his Revs career, becoming the seventh in team history to reach that milestone. His 41st home run ties James Shanks for fifth most on the club’s all-time list. Nash has 13 home runs in just 31 games this season, including five in his last six games. He has homered in three straight, one shy of tying a club record. York righty Victor Mateo (6-8, 4.12) faces Long Island right hander John Brownell (9-3, 3.34) on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 1350, woyk1350.com, and on the WOYK app beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
