(July 24, 2024 – Lancaster, Pa.): The York Revolution saw their record winning streak against the Lancaster Stormers come to an end with a 4-3 setback at Clipper Magazine Stadium on Wednesday night.
York had won a War of the Roses record eight consecutive meetings through Tuesday’s series opening win which improved their mark to 12-1 against Lancaster on the season. The eight straight wins also tied a franchise record for consecutive wins in a season series against any opponent.
Revs starter Aaron Fletcher worked a scoreless first with some help from his battery mate as Ciaran Devenney threw out Niko Hulsizer attempting to steal for the second out. That helped negate back-to-back singles as Fletcher struck out Mason Martin looking to strand a runner at third.
Lancaster drew first blood an inning later as Joe Stewart tucked a solo homer inside the right field foul pole as his short-porch shot opened the scoring.
York answered in the fourth when Donovan Casey made it to second on a throwing error by third baseman Trace Loehr to start the inning. Casey drew a pickoff attempt from Lancaster starter Oscar De La Cruz that glanced off Casey’s back and into left center, allowing Casey to score on a second Lancaster error and tie the game at 1-1.
Hulsizer belted the first pitch in the bottom of the fourth for a line drive homer to left, spotting Lancaster another lead at 2-1.
The Revs missed a chance to answer in the fifth. Alfredo Reyes bunted for a leadoff hit and Alexis Pantoja singled, but De La Cruz came up big, striking out the next two. Rudy Martin Jr walked to load the bases, but De La Cruz retired Casey, the league leader in RBI, on a fly out to center to escape.
David Washington led off the sixth with a skyball single that landed in shallow left before stealing second and advancing to third on another throwing error. He attempted to score a tying run on Zander Wiel’s fly ball to foul territory in right, but Hulsizer unleashed a one-hop throw to the plate cutting down the potential run. Jacob Rhinesmith drove a game-tying homer to right one batter later as the Revs did draw even at 2-2, handing De La Cruz a no-decision.
The Revs went in front with two outs in the seventh as reliever Jackson Rees walked both Matt McDermott and Martin Jr. Catcher Chris Proctor attempted a back pick at first but heaved the Stormers’ fourth throwing error of the night into the right field corner, allowing McDermott to race home for a 3-2 lead.
Fletcher took the hill for the bottom of the seventh having completed a strong and efficient six innings, but a leadoff walk to Shawon Dunston Jr was followed by a steal when a potential pickoff relay was fumbled. Stewart tagged a game-tying triple to the gap in left center, ending Fletcher’s night with the score 3-3.
Reliever Tom Sutera recorded a foul pop out with the infield in and got ahead of Loehr on a pair of high fastballs, but the Lancaster nine-hole hitter caught up to the third one, smacking a go-ahead single through the drawn-in infield for a 4-3 lead.
Phil Diehl tossed a scoreless eighth, exorcising his War of the Roses demons from a pair of previous losses on homers by the York offense including McDermott’s game-winner the previous night.
Stephen Nogosek claimed his 10th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Notes: Martin Jr stole second in the top of the first inning for his league-leading 54th stolen base of the year; his next will tie a Revs single-season record shared by Wilson Valdez (2014) and Darian Sandford (2021). It was the Revs’ 219th steal as a team this year, moving past the 2009 Somerset Patriots for sixth-most by a team in a single season in Atlantic League history; Washington’s steal in the sixth increased their season total to 220. Casey reached on an error and scored but lost his 35-game on-base streak which tied the league’s longest this year and was the third-longest in Revs history. Devenney doubled in the third as 16 of his 22 hits for the season have gone for extra bases. York (53-26) remains just two games behind Gastonia for the league’s best overall record. The Revs’ six-game road winning streak is snapped as they fall to 26-12 away from home; it was tied for the second longest road streak in franchise history and was their longest since 2021. The biggest lead for either team in the first two games of the current series was the Revs’ brief two-run lead in the eighth on Tuesday night as there have been six ties and seven lead changes over the past two contests. The game began after a 49-minute rain delay at the outset; it is the fourth time in the past nine scheduled games that the Revs have endured at least one rain delay. Fletcher was ejected in the seventh and Pantoja was tossed in the ninth, both by home plate umpire Steve Hart; four of the Revs’ five player ejections this season have come over the course of two games in Lancaster as they also had two players chucked on May 19. York righty Jon Olsen (8-1, 3.33) faces Lancaster’s Matt Swarmer (2-1, 5.20) in Thursday’s rubber match at 6:45 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and FloBaseball.TV beginning at 6:25 p.m.
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