(June 30, 2019 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution blasted the New Britain Bees, 15-1 on Sunday afternoon at PeoplesBank Park, claiming a fifth consecutive win and finishing a three-game series sweep. The Revs remain three games out of first place with six remaining in the first half, continuing an incredible climb up the standings by having won 15 of their last 18 games and 17 of the last 21 overall.
York’s ace Mitch Atkins took the hill and got off to a sharp start, striking out Darren Ford to start the top of the first. Atkins worked around a two-out single from Alejandro De Aza to twirl a scoreless inning.
The Revs offense got off to a hot start of their own in their first opportunity. Justin Trapp roped the first pitch from Bees left-hander Jed Bradley down the left field line for his third leadoff double of the series. After Bradley retired Henry Castillo, Telvin Nash ripped an RBI single high off the Arch Nemesis in left field to give York an early 1-0 lead. Isaias Tejeda lined out on a sharply hit ball to left field for out number two, but Ryan Dent followed with a walk and J.P. Sportman continued his historic run by singling to right and extending his hitting streak to 27 games to load the bases. Welington Dotel extended his hitting streak to 16 games on the very next pitch as he slapped a double to left plating Nash and Dent to give the Revs a 3-0 lead.
Atkins continued his impressive start as he worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second and was terrific in the third as he worked another perfect inning while striking out two.
The Revs tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run RBI single to left-center off the bat of Trapp to drive the lead to 5-0.
The Bees finally got on the board in the top of the fourth. Bijan Rademacher reached on an infield single and De Aza blooped a base hit to shallow center to set the table. After Atkins retired Jason Rogers on a fly out that moved Rademacher to third, Jonathan Galvez blooped an RBI single to center to cut the lead to 5-1.
York immediately got that run back as Nash launched a solo home run, his 20th of the year, onto the home run patio in right to lead off the home fourth and put York ahead 6-1. Tejeda followed with a single and Dent walked to give the Revs runners on first and second with no outs. Tejeda advanced to third when Dent was caught in a rundown between first and second. After Sportman stuck out swinging, Dotel grounded an infield hit to third to score Tejeda and move the lead to 7-1. Angelys Nina followed with a single to right to keep the inning alive. James Skelton continued to be effective with two outs, as he singled to right to score Dotel and record his team-leading 19th two-out RBI of the season. Trapp made it back-to-back RBI singles, as he roped a sharp line drive to center to score Nina and extend the lead to 9-1.
Atkins worked around a lead off hit in the sixth to face the minimum as he forced Rogers to ground into a double play and retired Galvez on a pop up to end his final inning of work.
York’s offense was far from finished as they scored three more runs and batted around for the third time in the bottom of this sixth. Nina led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Skelton followed with a walk. After Trapp went down on strikes, Castillo walked to load the bases for Nash who lined a sharp ground ball through the hole at short and third, scoring two runs and driving the lead to 11-1. Tejeda followed with an RBI single of his own through the right side of the infield, plating Castillo and extending the blowout to 12-1.
Rob Carson worked a perfect inning while recording a strikeout of Jared James in the top of the seventh.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Bees turned to infielder Ozzie Martinez to give the bullpen some relief. Castillo, who was the only Revs batter yet to record a hit, blasted a three-run home run to right-center to power the lead to 15-1.
Pat Young was excellent in the top of the eighth as he worked around a hit batsman to record a scoreless frame while striking out two.
Orleny Quiroz slammed the door in the ninth, completing the sweep and keeping the Revs’ historic first half run to a possible playoff berth alive.
Recap by Brett Pietrzak
Notes: The sweep is the third of the season for the Revs and second in as many weeks. York tied a season-high with 20 hits and set a season-high with 15 runs, matching the most in any game in the league this season. The blowout win is the most lopsided of the season for the Revs. Nash’s 20 home runs are already tied for the ninth-highest single-season total in Revs history (Melky Mesa, 2018). Nash’s 11 home runs in June is a new club record for a single month, breaking his own record of 10 (August, 2017). Tejeda’s four-hit game is his team-leading 10th of three hits or more. Dent (1-for-3) now has a nine-game hitting streak. Sportman’s 27-game hitting streak is now just four shy of a league record; it is the third-longest in Revs history and the league’s longest since Tejeda enjoyed a 28-game streak in 2016. Dotel’s 16-game streak is the league’s second longest this season. Dotel’s three RBI marked his fifth game of three RBI or more in the last 14 contests. Atkins (4-4) has won back-to-back starts and three straight decisions, tying Josh Judy and Dan Minor for the team lead in wins. The win is the 16th of his Revs career, matching Ricardo Gomez for sixth on the franchise’s all-time list. The Revs have out-hit opponents 69-30 on their five-game winning streak. York (30-34) is within four games of .500 for the first time since May 8 (4-8). York finishes the month of June with a league-best 19-11 record, its winningest month since May, 2016 (19-10). The Revs open a six-game road trip to conclude the first half on Tuesday at Southern Maryland at 6:35 p.m. with lefty Ian Thomas (2-0, 2.72) starting the opener. 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.
