(June 26, 2024 – York, Pa.):  A night after clinching the North Division first half title in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, the York Revolution showed no signs of slowing down, whooping up on the Long Island Ducks, 13-3 at WellSpan Park to win their eighth straight.
York opened the scoring just two batters into the night. After Matt McDermott led off with a single, Rudy Martin Jr homered to right field off of starter Wei-Yin Chen to strike an early 2-0 advantage. It was Martin Jr’s first start since Friday vs Lancaster.
In the second inning, the Revs put up their second six spot in as many nights. It started with four straight singles, the third of which was a run scoring knock by Michael Berglund. Donovan Casey and Colton Welker each added RBI doubles, and Trey Martin capped it off with a run scoring single. Chen was chased after just two innings with York leading 8-0.
Through his first four innings, Jon Olsen (6-0) had faced just one batter over the minimum. The first two reached against him in the fifth, but the righty finished his night retiring the final three hitters, capping five scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing just four hits.
Offensively, the first four reached again in the bottom of the fifth including a two run double from Berglund and another RBI double from McDermott which pushed the lead to 11-0.
Alex Valverde relieved Olsen in the sixth but was greeted by Manuel Geraldo launching a solo home run to right to put the Ducks on the board.
Casey took reliever Josh James deep to right for a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, extending the Revolution lead to 12-1.
Valverde ran into a jam in the eighth inning and was relieved by Tom Sutera with the bases loaded and two outs. Tyler Dearden greeted Sutera with a two run single, cutting the Revs lead to 12-3. Sutera got Aaron Antonini to fly out to center field to avoid any further damage.
Welker put the icing on another big offensive night with a solo home run to center, leading off the eighth inning. York finished their night with 13 runs on 17 hits, including nine extra base hits.
Leading 13-3 in the ninth, York turned to Aaron Holliday who retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts.
Zach Neff will take the mound against Stephen Woods Jr on Thursday, looking to cap off a perfect nine-game homestand at 6:30 p.m. It is Pride in the Park featuring a Game-Worn Pride Jersey Auction presented by JLS Automation. It is also a Hunger Free Thursday presented by Members 1st Federal Credit Union. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
Notes: York’s eight-game winning streak is one shy of matching a club record set last season. The Revs’ eight-game home winning streak is two shy of matching a club record set in 2011. York is going for its first ever 9-0 homestand; their best record on a perfect homestand is a 7-0 mark set in 2010. Olsen becomes the first pitcher in Revs history to start a season 6-0; three others (Lorenzo Barcelo, Tony Pena, Robert Carson) had all previously enjoyed 5-0 starts.