(September 23, 2021 – York, Pa.): Nellie Rodriguez crushed a two-run walk-off home run in the opener and demolished a tape-measure three-run shot to key an offensive outburst in the nightcap as the York Revolution swept a doubleheader against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, winning 6-5 and 11-9 on Thursday evening at PeoplesBank Park. The Revs tie a season-high with four consecutive wins, claiming their first home series sweep of the year along with their first doubleheader sweep.
In Game One, Southern Maryland struck first with two runs in the third. With one out, Jonathan Galvez walked. For the 2-0 lead, Joe DeLuca lifted one to right center for his 13th home run of the season.
York responded a half inning later with a run on one hit. James Harris worked a walk with out and moved to third on a double to right from Jack Kenley. A passed ball allowed Harris to hustle home to make it a one-run game, 2-1.
The Blue Crabs pushed their advantage back to two, 3-1, with a run in the fourth. Zach Collier led off the inning with a double to right center. A ground out moved Collier to third with one out. Alex Crosby singled to right to plate Collier for the two-run lead.
Carlos Castro emphatically answered for York in the home half of the inning. After a Josue Herrera leadoff single, Castro crushed a ball to left for his 15th home run and the 3-3 tie.
After a quiet fifth from both sides, Southern Maryland re-took the lead in the sixth. Michael Baca smacked a leadoff double to right-center and Collier was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. With two outs, Crosby singled to left-center to score Baca and a fielding error on the same play allowed Collier to race home for a 5-3 Blue Crabs lead.
York got a run back in their sixth at the plate. With two outs, Osmy Gregorio sent a ball toward Cannonball Charlie past the right field wall for a 5-4 score on his seventh home run of the year.
Down by one in the bottom of the seventh, Carlos Franco ripped a one-out single to right off of Blue Crabs closer Mat Latos. A batter later, Rodriguez smashed his 20th home run of the season on a no-doubter to left for the 6-5 walk-off win in Game One.
In Game Two, the two teams traded big innings with the Revs striking first in the second. Welington Dotel led off with a triple off the right field wall, and all with two outs, a wild pitch from Blue Crabs starter Kyle Murphy allowed Dotel to score for the first run. Mikey Reynolds then collected an infield hit, followed by Harris’ own infield hit, and a walk to Gregorio loaded the bases. For his 25th and 26th RBI since returning from Mexico, Franco smacked a single to right for two more Revs runs. Rodriguez annihilated a three-run shot over the back advertisement wall and out of the stadium in deep left-center for his 21st home run of the season, making it a 6-0 Revs lead.
York kept the barrage going with a three-run third inning. JC Encarnacion and Lenin Rodriguez worked back-to-back walks to start the proceedings. Jumping on the opportunity, Reynolds doubled down the left field line for a 7-0 lead. Harris and Gregorio followed with productive outs. A ground out from Harris allowed Lenin Rodriguez to touch home plate and Gregorio followed with a sac fly to right plating Reynolds for a 9-0 advantage.
What appeared to be a laugher turned serious very quickly as Southern Maryland climbed back within a run with a huge eight-run fourth. The first four batters all reached chasing Revs starter Jhoendri Herrera. The Blue Crabs used six hits in the inning, and Rubi Silva’s two-run homer to right punctuated the explosion as Southern Maryland was suddenly within 9-8.
York inched further ahead on a Lenin Rodriguez sac fly in the bottom of the fourth, but the Blue Crabs once again clawed back within a run when David Harris led off the fifth with a homer to right, knifing the lead to 10-9.
Southern Maryland loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth as the Revs’ once huge lead appeared to be on its last legs, but reliever Victor Capellan (2-3) provided a heroic escape, retiring Jonathan Galvez on a pop up and pinch-hitter DeLuca on a line drive double play to second, keeping the lead intact.
Reynolds came home on a passed ball in the bottom of the fifth, and the Revs used scoreless innings from Edward Paredes and Jim Fuller (league-leading 25th save) to close out the thrilling sweep.
York remains four back of Long Island for first place in the North Division, but pulls within half a game of Southern Maryland for second place, capping the season series with four consecutive head-to-head wins.
Notes: The sweep is the Revs’ third overall this season of three games or more. Rodriguez’ home run gave the Revs their seventh walk-off win of the year and first since September 4 when Dotel singled off Latos in the ninth inning of a 9-8 victory. It was the Revs’ third walk-off home run of the season, matching a single-season franchise record (2010, 2015). It was the 20th walk-off home run in franchise history. Rodriguez’ 20-homer season is the 13th in franchise history as he becomes the 11th different player to post a 20-homer campaign. Fuller’s 25 saves break a tie with Jameson McGrane (2019) for third on the franchise’s single-season list and fifth on the career list. York opens a week-long road trip Friday night at Lexington at 6:30 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action exclusively on the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 6:10 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
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