(June 25, 2019 – Waldorf, Md.): Mitch Atkins fired a complete game three-hitter as the York Revolution destroyed the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, 14-1 on Tuesday night at Regency Furniture Stadium. The Revs have won 11 of their last 14, 13 of their last 17 overall, and will go for a fifth consecutive series win in the rubber match on Wednesday night.
Atkins was backed by the Revs’ highest-scoring offensive performance of the season. Among the top performers were Telvin Nash who crushed a pair of homers and drove in four, Welington Dotel who had three hits including two doubles and knocked in three, and J.P. Sportman who extended his hitting streak to 23 consecutive games.
The Revs wasted no time in getting started offensively as Nash drilled an RBI single high off the left field fence in the top of the first. Isaias Tejeda added an RBI double down the left field line for a quick 2-0 lead.
Atkins enjoyed a pair of six-pitch innings to start his night, while the Revs forced spot starter Tommy Thorpe into an inordinate amount of pitches, ultimately throwing 82 in 2.2 innings of work.
The Revs ballooned the lead with their first of two four-run innings in the top of the third. Nash obliterated a titanic home run to deep left-center, nailing the back ad wall to lead off the third, his record 70th career long ball with York. Sportman walked with two outs in the third and stole second base, putting himself in position to score on a Ryan Dent single to left. Dotel walked to prolong the inning, and James Skelton cashed in by drilling a two-run double to deep right for a 6-0 lead, chasing Thorpe (0-1).
The Revs were back at it in the fifth as Dent doubled to left-center with one out and Dotel followed with an infield single. Reliever Ryan Chaffee’s throw to first hit Dotel in the back and rolled away, allowing Dent to score on the error to make it a 7-0 lead.
Atkins faced the minimum and carried a no-hitter through 4.1 innings, the Revs’ longest no-hit bid to start a game this season. Cory Vaughn singled through the left side with one out in the bottom of the fifth to put one in the Blue Crabs’ hit column, but Atkins came back to strike out the next two batters to retire the side.
The Revs turned it into a laugher with four runs in the sixth to go up 11-0. Sportman accepted a bases loaded walk from Chaffee to bring home the first run, while Dotel cleared the bases with a three-run double down the left field line.
Tony Thomas led off the home sixth with a towering home run to left for Southern Maryland’s lone run of the night. Thomas was the only batter other than Vaughn (2-for-3) to register a hit for the Crabs.
The Revs had the last laugh, scoring three more in the seventh. Nash roped a two-run homer to left-center, his second long ball of the night. Sportman smacked an RBI triple to deep right-center in his final at-bat of the night to keep his hitting streak, which is quickly becoming a historic achievement in Revs all-time annals, alive.
Atkins (3-4) took care of the rest, retiring 12 of his final 13 after the home run, and each of his final seven batters faced to polish off the 103-pitch effort which included a season-high-tying seven strike outs (fifth time in 10 starts) and just one walk as he faced only three over the minimum in the masterpiece.
Notes: The Revs set a season-high with 14 runs, tied a season-high with eight extra-base hits, and enjoyed their most lopsided victory of the season. Tejeda’s double was the 83rd of his Revs career, moving ahead of Ramon Castro for #2 on the Revs’ all-time list. Nash now has a Revs record 71 home runs in his York career and a league-leading 18 this season, his highest single-season total in five seasons with the Revs. It was his third multi-homer game this season and sixth of his Revs career, both one shy of matching Chris Nowak for franchise records. He is the first to enjoy three multi-homer games in a season since Chad Tracy did it in 2014. Sportman’s hitting streak is tied for third-longest in Revs history along with Vince Harrison (2011) and Alexi Casilla (2017); only Chris Ashby (league-record 31-game streak in 2008) and Tejeda (28-game streak in 2016) have enjoyed longer in Revs history. It is tied for the longest streak in the league over the last two seasons. Dent (2-for-5) is now 10-for-21 (.476) on a season-best six-game hitting streak. Dotel is now batting .408 on a 12-game hitting streak. With three RBI, Dotel now has 19 RBI in his last 15 games and 15 in his last 10 (includes four games of three RBI or more on that stretch). York’s 11 walks drawn offensively came within one of tying the franchise record for a nine-inning game which was matched as recently as June 14 at Lancaster. Atkins needed just 103 pitches to complete the game while the Revs forced the Blue Crabs to throw a combined 205 pitches. York has won five of its last six road games. Atkins moved past Rommie Lewis (185) for sixth on the Revs all-time strike out list, now with 190. The win is the 15th of Atkins’ Revs career, moving past Stephen Penney and Jorge Martinez for seventh all-time. The complete game is the sixth of Atkins’ career and second with York. He becomes the 18th pitcher in Revs history to go nine innings; the most recent was his own complete game shutout, also a three-hitter at Southern Maryland, on July 6, 2018. Atkins becomes the eighth pitcher in Revs history to total multiple complete games in a York uniform. Revs lefty Ian Thomas (2-0, 2.78) faces Crabs righty Brandon Cumpton (3-6, 4.88) on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and WOYK on YouTube beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
