(July 6th, 2023 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution broke out the brooms, beating the Charleston Dirty Birds 5-4 in Thursday’s series finale at WellSpan Park for a four-game sweep and a fifth consecutive victory. Now with the magic number at one, the Revs will aim to break out the champagne on Friday evening as they are one win away from clinching their first First Half division title since 2016.
The Revs turned to ace Nick Raquet who faced opposing tough lefty Danny Wirchansky for the Birds.
York fell behind early in the third inning as former Rev Yefri Perez launched a two-run homer to the lawn in right center, starting the scoring and spotting the Dirty Birds a 2-0 lead.
The Revs countered and then some in the bottom of the third on the strength of a pair of two-run homers. Jhon Nunez launched the first one over the Arch Nemesis in left, tying the game at 2-2. With two outs, Drew Mendoza banged an RBI double to deep center field for a 3-2 lead. Trey Martin followed by slamming a long two-run homer to left center for a sudden 5-2 advantage.
Both starters calmed down, firing scoreless innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Wirchansky (1-3) was pulled after completing six innings, allowing eight hits and five runs with four walks and just one strikeout.
Raquet (7-5) was lights out after the second inning, throwing 112 pitches in seven innings of two-run ball while striking out 10 hitters and walking just one. He allowed five hits including just two after the third inning.
J.P. Woodward took over in the eighth. An error and a Perez single started the inning, but Woodward got a huge ground ball double play to shortstop off the bat of Jalen Miller. Charleston extended the inning as walks to Dwight Smith Jr. and Telvin Nash loaded the bases for Bobby Bradley who was hit on the first pitch to bring home a run, cutting York’s lead to 5-3. Victor Capellan put out the fire by getting a ground out to shortstop off the bat of Juan Perez, stranding the bases loaded.
Denson Hull came in for the save in the ninth and struck out Luis Roman to begin the frame. After giving up a solo home run to Yovan Gonzalez, Hull retired the final two, striking out Clayton Mehlbauer and retiring Yefri Perez on a ground out to second as the Revs completed their fifth series sweep of the year.
Notes: York improves to 37-25, tied with the 2010 championship team for best record in franchise history through 62 games. Their mark of 12 games over .500 is a new season-high. The Revs have won 10 of their last 13 overall. York has enjoyed innings of five runs or more in four of the last five games; the Revs offense now has 18 such innings on the season compared to just nine by their opponents. York is now 18-8 in games decided by two runs or fewer (11-5 in one-run decisions). The Revs have won 17 of their last 21 at WellSpan Park. Mendoza’s double was his league-leading 22nd while picking up his 70th and 71st hits of the season, tied for the league’s second-most. Trent Giambrone notched his 70th hit (fifth-most) and his 50th run scored (tied for second). Martin’s homer was his ninth of the year and fifth in the last nine games. Raquet’s seven wins come within one of a Revs first half record shared by Corey Thurman (2012) and Chris Cody (2013) and are one off the league-lead. Raquet’s 10-strikeout performance was his third of the year, joining Jorge Martinez (4) and Mitch Atkins (3) as the third pitcher in Revs history with more than two double-digit strikeout performances. He now has three of the league’s 15 double-digit strikeout games this year as he is one of two pitchers with more than one and the only hurler with three. His 74 total strikeouts rank second in the league, four off the top mark. He extends his league-lead in innings to 87.0, having gone at least seven innings for the fourth time in his last five starts. Woodward’s run was unearned as he extends his streak to 13 outings (13.0 innings) without allowing an earned run, dating to June 1. Capellan notched a fourth straight scoreless outing. Hull’s save was the third of his career and first since 2021 at Double-A Amarillo in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Troy Stokes Jr. stole his 15th bag in the seventh inning; it was the 46th steal of his Revs career, moving past Alonzo Harris for ninth in team history. The Revs can win the first half with a win in the first half finale on Friday evening when they host the Lexington Counter Clocks at 6:30 p.m. York RHP Carlos Espinal (4-2, 3.07) faces Lexington righty Aaron Ochsenbein (5-1, 2.70). Promotions include Health Fair with Healthcare Heroes presented by Highmark Blue Shield, Marvel Super Hero Night with Marvel Iron Man Game-Worn Jersey Auction presented by Give Local York, and Marvel Super Hero Poster Giveaway (first 1,000 fans). Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
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