(July 14, 2024 – Staten Island, NY): Zach Neff spun a gem on Sunday afternoon as the York Revolution completed a sweep of the Staten Island FerryHawks, winning 4-1 at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park. The win is the fifth consecutive victory for the Revs (48-23) who notch their sixth series sweep of the year.
York grabbed a first inning lead, and with Neff in charge, never looked back.
After a 34-minute rain delay at the outset, Matt McDermott was hit by a pitch to get things started and Rudy Martin Jr dropped down a sacrifice bunt that resulted in a throwing error by Hawks pitcher Mike Shawaryn, landing runners at the corners with no outs. A wild pitch brought home McDermott with the game’s first run and advanced Martin Jr to second. A fly out sent Martin Jr to third base from where he scored on Zander Wiel’s sac fly to left for a 2-0 lead.
The biggest threat against Neff came right out of the gates as Staten Island’s first four batters reached safely, but the lefty yielded just one run, keeping the Revs in front 2-1. A pickoff of leadoff hitter Nate Scantlin helped the cause, and Ben Norman’s sac fly provided the only FerryHawks run of the day while it also kicked off a stretch of 17 batters faced over which Neff faced the minimum, a streak that he carried through the end of the sixth.
York added to the lead in the third as Martin Jr ripped a one-out single, stole second, and scored as Colton Welker drove an RBI double to left to make it 3-1.
Shawaryn enjoyed his own stretch of relative cruise control from there, setting down 13 of 14 batters until the Revs mounted a two-out rally in the seventh.
With the righty north of 100 pitches on his day, McDermott kept the seventh alive with a two-out single to left and raced all the way home from first as Martin Jr (3-for-4) drilled an RBI double down the right field line to make it 4-1.
Neff (5-4) handled a career-high 6.1 innings and was lifted after a pair of singles in the seventh, his first two hits allowed since the first two batters he faced on the day.
Tom Sutera came in and cleaned things up, retiring Kolby Johnson on a fly out before striking out Roldani Baldwin to end the threat.
Will Stewart celebrated his 27th birthday with a scoreless eighth, erasing a leadoff hit by pitch with a double play grounder off the bat of Scantlin.
Brett Schulze logged his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning as the Revs finished their second straight combined four-hitter, winning 4-1 one day after a 2-1 triumph.
The Revs improve to 25-11 on the road with their second road sweep of the year. It is their first series sweep at Staten Island in franchise history.
Notes: Neff surpassed his previous career-high of six innings set twice, most recently in a scoreless performance at Staten Island on June 15. Revs starters have gone at least six innings in four consecutive games for the first time this season. The York bullpen has registered a save in three consecutive games for the first time this year. McDermott went 2-for-4, taking the league lead with 97 hits and extending his hitting streak to 13 consecutive starts. Martin Jr stole two bases, increasing his league leading total to 48 for the season and moving ahead of teammate Trey Martin’s total from last year for third most in a season in franchise history, just seven shy of the club’s single-season record shared by Wilson Valdez (2014) and Darian Sandford (2021). His 48 steals are already ninth-most on the franchise’s career-list, moving ahead of Keoni DeRenne (47). Welker has totaled 36 RBI and 20 extra-base hits including 12 doubles over his last 24 games. The five-game winning streak is the Revs’ fourth streak of at least five consecutive victories this year and caps a 5-1 road trip. York returns home Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to kick off a six-game homestand with the first of three against the High Point Rockers. RHP Michael Horrell faces RHP Neil Ramirez in the opener on a WellSpan Sports Medicine Silver Sluggers Tuesday and AARP Member Appreciation Night. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
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