(June 11, 2022 – Lexington, KY): The York Revolution stormed back to take a lead with a four-run seventh inning but fell to the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes, 5-4 on a walk-off double by Chris Shaw in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night at Wild Health Field. The Revs fall to 2-3 on their current 12-game road trip with all three losses coming on walk-off hits in tie games in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Revs spot starter Alberto Rodriguez was excellent early, carrying a one-hit shutout into the fifth in his first starting assignment since 2018. The righty set down eight straight and 12 of 13 at one point.
The Genomes grabbed a 3-0 lead in the fifth. Chase Vallot opened the scoring with a home run to left. Jimmy Paredes added an RBI single to right and Shaw greeted reliever Isaac Sanchez with another RBI knock to right, plating the third run charged to Rodriguez in his 4.2 innings.
Wild Health starter Elih Villanueva stranded nine runners through five laborious innings as the Revs were unable to capitalize on opportunities.
York finally struck in the seventh when Elmer Reyes launched a leadoff homer down the left field line to get the Revs on the board. Melky Mesa followed with a double to left-center and moved to third on a Nellie Rodriguez single to left. A wild pitch brought home Mesa to make it a 3-2 game, and with two outs, pinch-hitter JC Encarnacion bashed a two-run homer to right, putting the Revs on top in dramatic fashion, 4-3. It was just the seventh pinch-hit homer in Revs history as Encarnacion becomes the first Revs hitter to slug two pinch-homers in his career with York, having connected on the most recent one last September.
Luke Becker immediately tied it for the Genomes with a leadoff homer to left-center in the bottom of the seventh.
Paredes drew a leadoff walk from reliever Robinson Parra (2-2) in the bottom of the ninth and Moises Sierra was hit by a pitch to put two aboard. That set the stage for Shaw’s walk-off double to deep center, putting an end to the contest.
York was plagued by 13 runners left on base, as the offense went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position on the night.
The Revs will aim for a series win in Sunday afternoon’s finale at 2:05 p.m. as Jorge Martinez squares off with Wild Health lefty Robby Scott. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 1:45 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
