(June 6, 2024 – Charleston, WV): The York Revolution said so long to the Charleston Dirty Birds for the 2024 regular season after playing all six meetings in the past ten days, dropping the rubber match of the road series 19-5 on Thursday night at GoMart Ballpark. The loss caps a 3-3 road trip for the Revs who return home this weekend maintaining their three-game lead for first place in the North Division.
Charleston jumped ahead with a two-run single to right by Jared Carr in the first inning.
York answered as David Washington launched his third homer in the last four games, a no doubter to right center leading off the second, his 13th of the year which has him tied for the league lead.
Colton Welker tied the game an inning later with an RBI single to left, plating Donovan Casey who avoided the tag with a great slide at the plate. Rudy Martin Jr later battled out a two-out bases loaded walk with a fantastic at-bat, pushing the Revs ahead and chasing Charleston starter Gerald Ogando after his sixth walk in 2.2 innings. York left the bases loaded for the second straight inning but led 3-2.
Revs starter Ethan Lindow was helped by inning-ending double play balls in each of the first three innings including a spectacular diving stop by shortstop Matt McDermott preserving the lead with the bases loaded in the third.
Washington added an RBI single in the fourth, and Martin Jr used his speed to steal second and third after a fifth inning single, setting up a run when pitcher Edison Suriel uncorked a throwing error on a comebacker in the fifth as the lead grew to 5-2.
Lindow battled the strike zone and strung together zeroes from the second through the fourth, but was chased as Charleston mounted a one-out rally in the fifth. A bases loaded walk to Tillman Pugh ended the night for Lindow with the lead cut to 5-3.
Alex Valverde was unable to put out the fifth inning fire as Philip Ervin walked with the bases loaded and Jonathan Soto singled home two runs to put Charleston ahead. After a controversial ruling of a foul ball on Juan Santana’s tapper that would have resulted in the second out and potentially the inning ending before any further damage, the Dirty Birds went on to score five more as Santana rolled a run-scoring infield single that deflected off the first base bag, a wild pitch plated a run, Gabriel Cancel connected on a two-run homer to left, and Carr brought one more home on a single off lefty Neil Lang. The nine-run inning was the largest allowed by the Revs since the 2022 season and left them trailing 11-5.
Lang tossed a scoreless sixth, but trouble mounted again in the seventh as Charleston plated five more on a two-run single by Pugh, an RBI ground rule double from Ervin and a two-run double to right center by Soto.
Welker left his designated hitter role to make his first career pitching appearance in the eighth. Cancel ambushed him for his second homer of the night on a drive to left center, and Ervin later doubled home a run and Soto singled home one more.
Notes: York finishes 4-2 against Charleston for the season; they go 1-2 at GoMart Ballpark (now 11-17 all-time) after sweeping the series in York last week. York now boasts a 14-7 road record. Washington now has nine RBI in his last four games and is 10-for-18 with three homers on that stretch. Will Carter entered to record a one-pitch out, ending the seventh by catching a soft line drive; he returned from injury to appear in his first game since May 11. The 19 runs allowed tied the second most allowed in a game in franchise history and is the most allowed in a game since the 2022 season. It is their most runs allowed in a game against Charleston (previous high was 11). York entered the night in the top four as a pitching staff in fewest walks allowed, but surrendered 14 walks, one shy of a franchise record set in 2022. York walked 25 batters in the three-game series after walking just 3.7 per game entering the visit to West Virginia. The Revs also entered the night with the league’s third-lowest team ERA (now fifth). York played error free for the fifth consecutive game and seventh time in the last eight, moving into second in the league in team fielding percentage (.979). Their three double plays turned give them 35 on the season, the league’s second most.
Up Next: York opens a three-game home series against Hagerstown on Friday night at WellSpan Park. LHP Aaron Fletcher (3-2, 2.79) faces Hagerstown righty Malik Binns (1-4, 7.94) with first pitch at 6:30 PM. The night features Girl Scout Sleepover, Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act, Freebie Friday (Technology), and WellSpan Wellness Weekend (Stronger than Cancer). Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
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