(July 30, 2018) - A potentially excruciating defeat turned into an exhilarating victory as the York Revolution battled back with three runs in the eighth for a 7-6 win over the Sugar Land Skeeters on Monday night at Constellation Field. With the seven-game series now even through four contests, the Revs move back within 2.5 games of first place in the Freedom Division's second half standings.
York was forced to respond as a three-run lead was erased when Sugar Land scored five times in the seventh, putting the Revs in a sudden 6-4 hole.
Jared Mitchell battled his way on with a leadoff walk to start the eighth. Alexi Casilla followed with a broken bat single to left and the Revs were in business. Melky Mesa (4-for-5) followed with his fourth hit and third RBI of the night, ripping a single through the left side as Mitchell raced home and slid in past the tag on left fielder Courtney Hawkins' throw home to make it 6-5. Mesa's hit chased reliever Pat McCoy (2-2) as the lefty failed to record an out against his former team, giving up all three runs to take the loss. Welington Dotel greeted right-hander Jean Machi with an RBI single to right, tying the score at 6-6. Mesa took third on the play, and scored as Jose Cuevas followed with a sac fly to deep right for a 7-6 lead.
Revs setup man Junior Rincon (1-3) was given new life by the comeback. After the lead slipped away the inning before, Rincon protected the Revs' one-run lead with a perfect eighth. Closer Grant Sides followed with a pair of strike outs in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save.
York struck first as Casilla (3-for-5) doubled with one out in the first inning and scored on Mesa's single up the middle.
Revs spot starter Michael Click retired his first six batters including four consecutive strike outs as his first two innings were perfect. He worked around three walks in a scoreless third. A pair of singles and a disputed safe call loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but Click limited Sugar Land to just one run by inducing a double play grounder.
Meanwhile, Sugar Land righty Konner Wade settled in, silencing the Revs until the sixth. York ignited its sixth inning rally with two outs as Casilla singled to right-center and Mesa lined an RBI triple into the right field corner to break the tie, giving York a 2-1 lead. Dotel followed with an RBI double to right and scored on Cuevas' single up the middle for a 4-1 lead.
Joe Van Meter worked a scoreless fifth and sixth in relief of Click. Van Meter recorded the first out of the seventh after a leadoff walk, but Ricardo Gomez was greeted by a pair of singles to load the bases. That set up Alvaro Rondon who slapped a grounder to short, but shortstop Ryan Dent's throw sailed into right, allowing two runs to score as York's lead was cut to 4-3. With the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position, Gomez struck out Barrett Barnes for the second out, but Rincon was greeted by Juan Silverio who launched a three-run homer down the left field line to give the Skeeters their only lead of the night, short-lived as the Revs mounted their own comeback a half inning later.
Notes: Sides has struck out nine in four innings over his last four outings, all scoreless; he has three saves and a win in those four appearances. The comeback win is the 17th of the season for the Revs, and their fourth when trailing after seven innings. Mesa tied a personal and team season-best with four hits, notching his second four-hit game of the year. Dotel drove in key runs on hits in his final two at-bats, snapping an 0-for-14 drought to begin the series. Click worked four innings, the longest outing of his Atlantic League career. York lefty Robert Carson faces Sugar Land southpaw James Russell on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. ET. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 1350, woyk1350.com, The New WOYK app, and WOYK 1350 on YouTube beginning at 7:45 p.m. ET with Darrell Henry on the call.
