(May 31, 2019 – York, Pa.): Henry Castillo clobbered a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth but it was the only scoring for the York Revolution in Friday evening’s series-opening 6-2 loss to the Long Island Ducks in front of 3,364 fans at PeoplesBank Park. The Revs will look to even things when they host the Ducks again on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Matt Grimes got the start for York and kept the Ducks scoreless over the first two innings, retiring the side in order in the first and working around a pair of walks in the second.
The Ducks got on the board in the top of the third inning. Matt den Dekker hit a one-out single to center to get the offense started. Steve Lombardozzi executed a perfect hit-and-run play with a base hit to left, putting runners on the corners with one away. The next batter, L.J. Mazzilli, elevated a sac fly to deep right field plating den Dekker and giving the Ducks an early 1-0 lead. Revs catcher James Skelton threw out Lombardozzi attempting to steal second to end the inning.
The Ducks extended their lead in the top of the fourth inning. Grimes quickly retired the first two batters he faced, but walked David Washington after missing with two close pitches. After Washington stole second, Rando Moreno capitalized with an RBI single to left to move the lead to 2-0. Daniel Fields followed with an opposite field two-run home run to left-center suddenly pushing the Long Island lead to 4-0.
The Revs cut the Long Island lead in half in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Welington Dotel drew a leadoff walk, Castillo stepped up and drilled a two-run home run to right-center field, slicing the deficit to 4-2.
Ducks starter Joe Iorio was sent out to start the bottom of the fifth inning in his second career start. Telvin Nash and Isaias Tejeda greeted the Long Island righty with back-to-back singles. After Iorio forced Dotel into a fielder's choice, Ducks manager Wally Backman turned to reliever Cody Mincey who struck out the next two York batters to end the inning, stranding two of York’s ten runners left on base for the night as the Revs were held to an 0-for-9 showing with runners in scoring position.
Grimes rebounded nicely, meanwhile, working a 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning and retiring the first two batters in the sixth before a Washington single. Jameson McGrane entered to retire Moreno on a foul pop up to end the inning, and Orleny Quiroz tossed a scoreless seventh to keep the Revs within two.
The next run of the game came in the top of the eighth inning as the Ducks came up with an insurance tally. Mazzilli led off the inning by taking a Peter Tago fastball through the right side of the infield for a base hit. The ball skipped past a charging Dotel and into deep right, allowing Mazzilli to make it all the way to third. After a strike out with the infield in, Hector Sanchez ripped an opposite field single to left-center to plate Mazzilli and extend the lead to 5-2.
Long Island took advantage of a pair of walks and a balk from reliever Pat Young in the top of the ninth as Lombardozzi lined a sac fly to center to make it a 6-2 advantage.
Long Island closer Josh Lueke worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to close it out, while Mincey (1-0), the first of four relievers used, was credited with the win.
Recap by Brett Pietrzak
Notes: The Revs are 2-1 at Long Island this season but fall to 0-4 against the Ducks at home. Castillo’s homer was his sixth, while giving him 21 RBI on the season, tied with Melky Mesa for second-most on the team, one behind Nash’s 22. The Revs are the league’s only team with three players who have 21 RBI or more and the only team with three who rank in the top 10 in the league in RBI. Justin Trapp (2-for-4) is now 11-for-24 (.458) over his last seven games; his stolen base in the fourth inning was the 200th of his pro career. Tejeda (2-for-4) posted his fourth multi-hit game in the last seven, going 11-for-25 (.440) on that stretch. Grimes has allowed four runs in each of his last two starts; seven of those eight total runs have occurred in two innings while he has allowed just one run in the other combined 10.1 innings. McGrane has worked a scoreless outing in eight of his last nine. Quiroz worked a fifth straight scoreless outing to begin his Revs career. York righty Dan Minor (2-2, 4.01) faces Long Island lefty Sean Nolin (4-0, 1.20) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The night features Post-Game Fireworks. It is Go Green Night with a Tote Bag Giveaway presented by York County Solid Waste Authority. It is also Car Smash Night presented by Auto Plus. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Revs Ticket Office.
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