(August 24, 2024 – Hagerstown, Md.): The York Revolution suffered just their third road series loss all season, dropping their second straight to the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars, 5-4 on Saturday night at Meritus Park.
York built an early lead, scoring three times in the top of the second. Jacob Rhinesmith led off with an infield single before walks to Alerick Soularie and Michael Berglund loaded the bases with no outs. Alfredo Reyes ripped a two-run single up the middle to open the scoring, and Jordy Barley followed with his own RBI single up the gut for a 3-0 lead. The Revs missed out on a chance at a bigger inning by leaving the bases loaded but grabbed early control of the contest.
Hagerstown plated a run in the bottom of the second, but Revs starter Aaron Fletcher avoided what could have been a more damaging sequence. Nellie Rodriguez started things off with a base hit to left, and Osmy Gregorio dropped down a bunt on which Fletcher spun and threw wide at first, landing runners at second and third with no outs after the error. Fletcher allowed just one run on an Ozzie Abreu ground out, sandwiched by a pair of strikeouts as York led 3-1 after two complete.
The Revs got that run back in the third as Soularie doubled to left and scored when Berglund ripped an RBI double down the first base line to make it 4-1.
York’s offense went cold from there as Rudy Martin Jr led off the fourth with a single, but a double play on the next pitch kicked off a game-ending stretch on which the Revs did not record another hit the rest of the night.
Hagerstown plated a second unearned run off Fletcher in the fifth as Andrew Moritz reached on a two-out walk, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on a throwing error by Reyes from third base. Fletcher exited with a 4-2 lead, allowing just two unearned runs over five innings on the night.
Denny Bentley handled a scoreless sixth and retired the first two in the seventh, but Cito Culver’s solo homer to left snapped his nine-appearance scoreless streak and brought the Boxcars within a run at 4-3.
Things fell apart in the eighth as Blake Berry, batting for ejected designated hitter Nellie Rodriguez, tied the game with a leadoff home run to right center off reliever Oliver Garcia (0-1). Gregorio reached on a dribbler up the middle and Joe Campagna slugged a go-ahead double off the base of the wall in center for a 5-4 Hagerstown lead. A pair of one-out walks loaded the bases, but Garcia used three ground balls to shortstop to evade any further damage, keeping it a one-run game.
Carlos Gomez (2-0) capped off a strong effort for Hagerstown’s bullpen, retiring all six in the eighth and ninth innings to close it out and earn the victory.
The Revs fall to 69-36 overall and 26-16 in the second half, still just 1.5 games back of first place. They drop to 37-18 on the road and 15-5 against the Boxcars, having dropped back-to-back games after winning a record 12 straight against one opponent. The Revs are now 24-7-3 in series this season and 15-3-1 in road series.
Hagerstown improves to 31-74, having won back-to-back games after losing six straight and 15 of the previous 16. The Boxcars are now 17-36 at home and 11-31 in the second half.
Notes: Rudy Martin Jr stole his league-leading 71st base in the top of the sixth, tying Demetrius Heath (Atlantic City, 2006) for eighth most in a season in league history. The Revs have lost consecutive games for only the seventh time all season and will look to avoid matching a season-high three-game skid on Sunday. York slips to 55-4 when leading after seven innings. Hagerstown improves to 1-66 when trailing after seven innings.
Sunday: York will send Jon Olsen (10-1, 3.49) to the mound in the final game of the road trip (2-3) at 5 p.m., looking to avoid a sweep and finish a .500 week-long trip. He’ll face lefty Mike Kickham (5-12, 6.08) in the series finale. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and FloBaseball.TV beginning at 4:40 p.m.
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