(June 18, 2019 – York, Pa.): Isaias Tejeda smacked a walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the tenth inning as the York Revolution defeated the Sugar Land Skeeters 10-9 in the opener of a six-game homestand on Tuesday evening at PeoplesBank Park. York trailed by five in the middle innings, pulling off the biggest comeback win of the season to secure the season’s first walk-off victory, and extend the Revs’ winning streak to seven consecutive games, the longest since 2012 and one shy of matching a franchise record which they will look to reach on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
York right-hander Duke von Schamann took the mound against the first-place Skeeters to make his fifth start. Willy Taveras led off the game with a double, but was stranded at third as von Schamann left them loaded in the top of the first to keep the game scoreless.
Sugar Land starter Matt Purke worked around a two-out double from Telvin Nash to record a scoreless frame in the bottom of the first.
The Skeeters jumped ahead in the top of the second as Albert Cordero led off the inning by blasting a solo home run to deep right field, giving Sugar Land a 1-0 lead.
After the Revs bats were quiet in their half of the second inning, Sugar Land added two more runs in the top of the third inning. Former York outfielder Jared Mitchell reached base safely on an error to begin the inning. Denis Phipps followed with a single to double the threat. Anthony Giansanti reached on the second Revs error of the inning to load the bases with no outs. Cordero continued to be a thorn in York’s side as he hit a two-run double off of the Arch Nemesis in left to move the score to 3-0.
York cut into the Skeeters lead in the bottom of the third. Nash smacked his second two-out double of the game off the Nemesis in left to give the Revs a runner in scoring position. Carlos Franco continued his white-hot start to his Revolution career by slapping an RBI single to right-center, scoring Nash and cutting the lead to 3-1.
The Skeeters added two more in the top of the fourth to extend the lead once again. Taveras led off the inning with a single. The next batter, Juan Silverio, lined a two-run home run over the wall in left to grow the Sugar Land advantage to 5-1.
After York failed to chip away at the deficit in the bottom of the fourth, Sugar Land scored a run for the fourth consecutive inning in the top of the fifth. The Skeeters set that table with back-to-back singles from Giansanti and Cordero. With Giansanti on third, Jason Martinson hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate the run and widen the lead to 6-1.
York answered in a big way in its half of the fifth. Franco drilled a one-out single to give the Revs their first baserunner. Tejeda followed with an RBI double off of the batter’s eye in center field to cut the lead to 6-2. The next batter, Welington Dotel, smashed a two-run home run to deep left-center field to slice the margin to 6-4.
Afte von Schamann worked a 1-2-3 top of the sixth in his final inning of work, York’s offense exploded in its half of the frame. James Skelton led off the inning with a single. After Alvaro Rondon grounded out to move Skelton to second, Melky Mesa smacked a single up the middle to plate the run and cut the Skeeters lead to 6-5. Nash reached base for the third time of the game on a walk. Franco then singled to left to score Mesa, tying the game at 6-6. With two outs and runners on second and third, Dotel capped off a 12-pitch at bat by cracking a two-run single up the middle to give York its first lead of the game at 8-6.
Rob Carson started the seventh in relief of von Schamann. Carson worked yet another perfect inning, setting down all three Skeeters on flyouts. Carson has now retired the last 12 batters he’s faced dating back to last Tuesday’s game vs. High Point.
Sugar Land tied the game in revengeful fashion in the top of the eighth inning. Ryan Jackson led off the inning with a single off of Revs right-hander Pete Tago who rebounded nicely to retire the next two Skeeters he faced. The next batter, Mitchell, smashed a two-out, two-run home run to right, however, tying the game at 8-8.
Another former Rev, Ricardo Gomez, was impressive in his return to PeoplesBank Park. Gomez recorded the final two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, stranding two runners to keep the game locked at 8-8.
Mark Mason turned to Jameson McGrane to work the ninth inning. McGrane continued his swing-and-miss ways, working a scoreless inning while striking out two.
Gomez was left in to handle the ninth for Sugar Land. J.P. Sportman led off the frame by doubling to left-center field but Gomez rebounded to strand Sportman at third and force extra innings.
Sugar Land took the lead in the top of the tenth. With Martinson starting on second, Jackson flied to center to move the runner to third. Martinson came into score on a balk from Josh Judy, giving the Skeeters a 9-8 advantage. Judy worked his way back to strand two runners, keeping the deficit at one.
In York’s half of the tenth, Nash grounded out to Cordero at first to move Mesa to third with one out. Sugar Land skipper Pete Incaviglia elected to walk Franco to put runners on the corners. Justin Trapp was called upon to pinch run for Franco and promptly stole second base. With the infield in, Tejeda lined a walk-off single through the hole at short and third to score both Mesa and Trapp, winning the game and extending the York winning streak to seven games.
Recap by Brett Pietrzak
Notes: The walk-off hit is the first of Tejeda’s Revs career. The walk-off win is the first since September 6, 2018 when Alexi Casilla singled to win a game against the Road Warriors. York’s seven-game winning streak is the fourth in Revs history and first since August, 2012. The Revs have won a franchise record eight consecutive games three times, most recently in June, 2011. The Revs racked up 18 hits, totaling 17 or more for the third time in the last 10 games. York has also won nine of its last 10 overall, and six of its last seven at home. York improves to 2-5 in extra-inning games, snapping a five-game skid. McGrane has recorded strike outs on nine of 12 outs over his last three appearances. He has appeared in three consecutive games, joining Julio Perez for the longest streak by a Revs reliever this season. McGrane adds to the longest scoreless streak by a Revs reliever this season, now at 13 consecutive outings and 12.1 innings. Nash doubled twice and now has 12 extra-base hits (seven doubles, five homers) in his last 10 games. Franco went 4-for-5 and is now 16-for-27 to begin his Revs career; he has gone 13-for-19 and has reached safely in 19 of 25 trips to the plate over the last five games. With two doubles, Tejeda tied Eric Patterson for third most in Revs history (79). His first of three RBI on the night broke a tie with Scott Grimes for eighth in Revs history, as Tejeda now sits alone at eighth with 158 in his Revs career. Dotel’s four RBI are a season-best while he has homered in two of the last three games. Sportman went 3-for-5 extending his hitting streak to 16 consecutive games, the league’s longest this season. He also now has 15 extra-base hits including 10 doubles in his last 19 games. York righty Corey Walter (1-1, 4.05) faces Sugar Land lefty Roy Merritt (2-3, 4.04) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. It is a Kids Eat Free Wednesday presented by PeoplesBank and College Night featuring 50% tickets with Student ID. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Revs Ticket Office.
