(June 28th, 2023 – York, Pa.): Alejandro Rivero came up clutch late in the game both defensively at third base and with a big home run as the York Revolution eked out a 6-5 win over the Staten Island FerryHawks on Wednesday evening at WellSpan Park. The Revs have won four straight, maintaining their 1.5-game lead for first place with 10 games to play in the season’s first half.
York started the scoring in the bottom of the third. Ryan January got hit by a pitch to lead off the threat and Trent Giambrone doubled down the left field line setting up runners at second and third with none out. Tomo Otosaka singled to right on the first pitch, bringing home January. Troy Stokes Jr. remained hot and smoked a double down the third base line bringing Giambrone home from third. Drew Mendoza drove in Otosaka with a sac fly to right as the Revs led 3-0 after three.
The Revs loaded the bases with none out in the fourth and added to the lead, but only scored one on a Giambrone sac fly to left to make it 4-0.
Revs starter Jorge Martinez (3-2) did not allow a hit against Staten Island until the top of the fifth. He surrendered his only run after Luis Castro doubled to deep center with two outs in the fifth, cutting the Revs lead to 4-1.
The Revs responded and went up 5-1 on an RBI single to right center by Jacob Rhinesmith in the bottom of the fifth, plating Trey Martin who had walked and stolen his 20th bag of the season earlier in the inning.
The FerryHawks inched back in the late innings.
Revs reliever Denson Hull handled a scoreless sixth but allowed a leadoff single to Jack Elliot in the seventh. That started a two-run inning as righty Victor Capellan was greeted with a double to left center by Deibinson Romero and an RBI ground out by Roldani Baldwin. Matt Winaker added a two-out RBI single, drawing the Hawks within 5-3.
Kevin Krause bounced an RBI single up the middle off lefty J.P. Woodward in the eighth, ending Woodward’s career high-tying streak of eight consecutive scoreless appearances and bringing Staten Island within a run at 5-4. With first and second and two outs, Baldwin smashed one to third as Rivero dove to his left and snagged it on a short hop before firing to second in time for the force as the Revs escaped with the one-run lead intact.
Rivero launched a solo bomb over the Arch Nemesis in the bottom of the eighth, adding insurance as the Revs led 6-4.
Tasker Strobel gave up a sac fly to Brandon Pugh in the top of the ninth, but ended the game with the tying run on base when Angel Aguilar poked one toward the middle that was speared by a diving Giambrone who flipped to second to end the game as the Revs held on for the one-run victory.
Notes: Strobel’s save was his second of the year; his first came on May 31 at Long Island, the day that the Revs pulled into a tie for first place for the first time. The Revs have been in first place at the end of all but one game since (23 total) and their 1.5-game lead remains tied for their largest of the half. York leads Long Island by 1.5 games and now leads Southern Maryland by 3.5 games in the standings. Woodward had allowed just one hit in nine scoreless innings in the month of June prior to Wednesday’s appearance; the run was unearned as he still has not allowed an earned run in over a month. Martinez did not allow a hit through the first four innings, a night after Revs pitchers combined to hold the Hawks without a hit through the first 5.1 innings. Martinez made his first start in 12 days (back) and earned his first win since May 11. It was the 26th win of his Revs career, fourth-most in franchise history. The Revs improve to 18-8 at home, having won 13 of the last 16 at WellSpan Park. Eight of nine starters in the batting order scored or drove in a run. Otosaka reached four times and went 3-for-4, posting his team-best sixth game of at least three hits while taking over the league lead in on-base percentage at .470. Stokes Jr.’s RBI was his 18th in 15 games in June. Mendoza’s RBI was his 45th in 45 games on the season and 31st in his last 26 games. York is now 8-4 in one-run games. Revs righty Tom Sutera (3-3, 7.40) faces Staten Island right-hander Ofelky Peralta (0-1, 12.00) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It is Basketball Night and Hunger Free Thursday presented by Members 1st Federal Credit Union. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
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