(August 19, 2023 – High Point, NC): The York Revolution played a terrific eight and a half innings but squandered a three-run lead in the ninth, losing 8-7 in 10 innings to the High Point Rockers on Saturday night at Truist Point. The Revs fall to 1-7 on their current road trip with one game remaining, and missed an opportunity to pull within 1.5 games of three teams in the North Division for first place, instead remaining 2.5 games back.
Drew Mendoza reached base five times, going 4-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI to carry the offensive attack.
York jumped ahead in the top of the first inning. Trent Giambrone was hit by the first pitch of the game to reach base and Ryan January ripped a double to right to put runners at second and third. With one out, Mendoza ripped a two-run single to right center as the Revs grabbed an immediate 2-0 lead.
Alexis Pantoja singled up the middle with two outs in the second, driving in Jacob Rhinesmith who had reached on a leadoff walk to go up 3-0.
Mendoza lined a solo home run to right field in the top of the third for a 4-0 lead.
High Point got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning as Zander Wiel placed a solo homer that was ruled to have cleared the left field fence on a disputed call, making it a 4-1 game.
The Revs answered back as Mendoza nailed a two-run homer to right in the fifth inning, his second multi-homer game of the year and third of his career to increase the lead to 6-1.
Revs starter J.T. Hintzen allowed just one run through the first five innings before the Rockers pieced together a three-run sixth, scoring on a bloop single by Wiel, a double by Brian Parreira, and a sac fly by Dai-Kang Yang, slashing York’s lead to 6-4.
Mendoza provided a big insurance run with a single to left in the top of the seventh for a 7-4 lead.
The Revs got scoreless innings from Nelvin Correa in the seventh and Will McAffer in the eighth, but it proved to be tough sledding in the ninth.
Emilker Guzman was brought in for the save but things started in the wrong direction when Emmanuel Tapia walked on four pitches. Guzman bounced back to strike out Ryan Grotjohn for the first out, but Shed Long Jr. reached on a single and D.J. Burt battled his way on with a crucial walk. That put the tying run on base, and Ben Aklinski cleared the bases with a three-run double to right center, tying the game at 7-7. Guzman bounced back to retire the next two hitters, forcing extra innings.
Rhinesmith led off the top of the tenth with a single to right center, but Burt came up big defensively, unleashing a perfect throw home to cut down Troy Stokes Jr. attempting to score as the Revs were ultimately held without a run.
Zach Neff was brought in for the bottom of the tenth and retired Parreira on a first pitch pop up. After intentionally walking Yang, Neff jumped ahead of Tapia but the Rockers’ first baseman came through with a ground ball single up the middle, plating Wiel with the winning run and delivering the Revs another gut-wrenching defeat.
York will look to salvage the final game of the road trip on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. as RHP Tom Sutera (7-5, 6.89) faces righty Craig Stem (1-1, 7.31). 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 3:45 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
Notes: Mendoza’s four-hit game was the Revs’ 15th four-hit performance of the year and his fourth. His six-RBI game is the second of the year for the Revs (Stokes Jr., July 22 vs. Lancaster). His 10 total bases tied a season-high for the Revs as it marked his second such performance along with a four extra-base hit performance on July 3 at High Point; Stokes Jr.’s July 22 game was the Revs’ other 10 total base performance of the year.
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