Charleston 8, Gastonia 4
(Charleston, WV – July 11, 2024) – The Dirty Birds snapped Gastonia’s 12-game win streak on Thursday night. In a game that took 3 hours and 20 minutes, the Dirty Birds scored eight runs off nine hits and 10 walks.
Adrian Almeida, the Dirty Birds starting pitcher, earned his third win of the season. The southpaw allowed two earned runs off five hits and five walks while striking out seven Gastonia batters. The bullpen combined to throw four scoreless innings.
Only two Charleston hitters did not record a hit, but Jesus Tavarez and Keon Barnum both drove in runs for the Dirty Birds win. Delino DeShields Jr. and Juan Santana both had two-hit games.
The Dirty Birds kick-off a six-game road trip tomorrow in Southern Maryland. They return to GoMart Ballpark on Friday to host Gastonia again.
York 15, Long Island 12
(July 11, 2024 – Central Islip, NY): The York Revolution completed another high scoring triumph, beating the Long Island Ducks 15-12 on Thursday afternoon at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. The Revs take the final two of the series, both in high scoring affairs, improving to 45-23 on the season.
York scored multiple runs in the first for the second consecutive game, getting to work on the big performance right out of the gates. Matt McDermott started things with a single up the middle and Rudy Martin Jr was hit by a pitch. With one out, Colton Welker blooped an RBI single to center and after Martin Jr stole third, Trey Martin lifted a sac fly to left for a 2-0 head start.
The Revs bludgeoned Ducks starter Jimmy Robbins with a season high-tying eight-run inning in the second. Alexis Pantoja jumped on the first pitch for a homer to right, and Ciaran Devenney blasted the very next pitch out to left for a tape measure shot and the Revs’ fifth set of back-to-back home runs on the season. Matt McDermott reached on a throwing error and scored as Martin Jr lashed a single to center. Donovan Casey reached on a bloop hit and Welker was hit by a pitch to fill the bases. Zander Wiel blooped an RBI single, Alfredo Reyes roped a two-run double to left, Pantoja added a sac fly to left, and Devenney drilled an RBI double to left field as the lead exploded to 10-0.
Five more came across in the fourth as the lead ballooned to 15-0. Martin singled and Wiel doubled to get things started. Reyes ripped an RBI single to left and Pantoja narrowly missed his second homer on an RBI double off the wall in right. Robbins (4-3) was chased one batter later, and McDermott greeted reliever Justin Alintoff with a two-run single up the middle. Welker added a two-out RBI single to left as the lead reached its apex.
Revs starter Ethan Lindow (8-4) was solid through six innings, earning his sixth consecutive win. He allowed just one hit through the first three innings and allowed only a run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and a solo homer by Ryan McBroom leading off the sixth.
Aaron Holiday worked his seventh scoreless inning in as many appearances in the bottom of the seventh.
Trouble struck in the eighth after Frankie Bartow quickly recorded the first out. The next eight batters all reached in a seven-run inning as Long Island closed within 15-9. JC Encarnacion and Zach Racusin drove in runs on singles and Alex McGarry added another on an RBI double. After RBI singles by Manuel Geraldo and Nick Heath, Bartow was lifted for Tom Sutera. Joe Gray Jr greeted Sutera with a base hit to left as a run came home on an error on the play. Ivan Castillo capped the rally with an RBI ground out.
The Ducks brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, scoring three more. Will Stewart was lifted after facing three hitters as a pair of walks sandwiched an Encarnacion RBI triple. McGarry greeted Matt Turner with an RBI single, and after a pair of strikeouts, Gray Jr doubled home a run to make it 15-12, but Turner retired Castillo on a game-ending ground out, stranding runners at second and third to end it.
Long Island threatened by scoring the final 12 runs unanswered as the Revs were held in check from the fifth inning on with Duck pitchers retiring 13 in-a-row at one point.
The Revs have won back-to-back games and improve to 16-4-2 in series this season. They have taken two of three in all three visits to Central Islip, going 6-3 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
York improves to 22-11 on the road and the road trip continues to Staten Island on Friday at 6:30 p.m. as Aaron Fletcher squares off with Christian Capuano in the opener. 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 6:10 p.m.
Notes: The eight-run second was the Revs’ third eight-run inning of the season, all since June 23. Martin Jr stole his league-leading 46th base of the season in the first inning, tying Martin for third most in a season in Revs history, matching Martin’s league-leading total from last season. Casey had a pair of hits extending his hitting streak to 12 games but lost a franchise record-tying 11-game RBI streak which tied Drew Mendoza’s team record set May 25-June 7, 2023. Pantoja’s homer was the second of his Revs career and 12th of his pro career. Wiel went 3-for-4 after going 4-for-5 in his second game with York the night before. Lindow has won six consecutive starts, tied for the seventh longest winning streak by a pitcher in Revs history and the sixth longest streak by a starter (longest since 2022). Lindow’s eight wins lead the league. His seven strikeouts tied a season high. The seven-run eighth inning is the second biggest inning allowed by the Revs this season. It is the first time the Revs have been involved in a game in which both teams scored double digit runs since July 12, 2023 in an 18-12 loss to Spire City; it’s their first win in such a contest since July 24, 2022 in a 12-11 win vs Lancaster in 10 innings. The Revs have scored in double figures a whopping 21 times this season including 20 times in the last 47 games. They have scored in the teens 13 times, all in those past 47 games. York leads the league with 524 runs, an average of 7.7 runs per game, ahead of the league record pace of 7.4 runs per game set by Lexington in 2021.
Lancaster 5, Staten Island 4
Max Green’s conversion into a starting pitcher has been a benefit to the Lancaster Stormers as well as the left-hander personally.
Green (6-4) fired 6 2/3 shutout innings early Thursday, pitching the Stormers to a 5-3 win and a series sweep over the Staten Island FerryHawks at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
The left-hander yielded four singles and two walks over his stint while striking out four. Staten Island only managed to have two runners aboard at the same time against the former Detroit farmhand in the first inning and never advanced a runner to third during Green’s tenure.
Isan Diaz provided early support with a two-run homer off Taylor Lepard (0-2, 0-5) in the bottom of the first inning. Lepard settled down, using double plays over the next three innings to keep the deficit at 2-0 until Lancaster reached William Kirwan for three runs in the home seventh.
Shawon Dunston, Jr. lofted a fly ball to left field leading off the inning. Ben Norman and shortstop Jeison Guzman nearly collided and the ball fell between them for a leadoff double. Gaige Howard followed with an RBI single up the middle. Chris Proctor walked, adding a second runner. The inning stalled momentarily when Trace Loehr lined out to right field for the first out. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Kyle Kasser picked up Howard with a single to right. Niko Hulsizer made it 5-0 with a single to the hole at shortstop.
Newcomer Adam Wibert held the lead through the eighth inning, retiring four of five batters.
Staten Island scored its three runs in the ninth. Luis Castro opened the inning with a line drive off the leg of right-hander James Hoyt, in his first appearance off the injured list. Hoyt had to be carted off the field and was replaced by Carsie Walker. Joe Dunand ripped a single into left, and Ben Norman cracked his second ninth-inning homer of the series, slicing the lead to 5-3.
Following a single to center by Jimmy Paredes, Walker was replaced by closer Stephen Nogosek, who set down three straight batters for his third straight save against Staten Island and fourth in the last five games.
Lancaster will open a three-game series against the Long Island Ducks on Friday evening. Noah Bremer (5-3) will make the start for the Stormers against right-hander Daniel Corcino (3-4). Fans may tune into the game on FloBaseball, beginning at 6:40.
NOTES: With two hits, Dunston lifted his average over .300 on the season…Howard replaced Dean Miller in right field in the third inning…Lancaster is 8-1 with Green as the starter…Mason Martin had a pair of singles, lifting his average back over .400 (.405)…Wibert, who was in the MLB Draft League in 2023, struck out Roldani Baldwin and Guzman, his first two Atlantic League hitters.
High Point 2, Lexington 1
HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point’s Gilberto Jimenez singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break-up a pitcher’s duel and give the Rockers a 2-1 win over Lexington on Thursday night at Truist Point. The win gives the Rockers a three-game sweep of the Legends.
High Point starter Cooper Casad (W, 2-1) and Lexington’s Dustin Beggs hooked up in a quick game that resulted in just seven total hits and was completed in a High Point franchise record 1:52.
Beggs held the Rockers to just one hit over his six innings of work, a double in the second inning. Beggs allowed two walks and struck out three.
Casad was also brilliant, going a career-high eight innings and holding the Legends to two hits and a single run. That run came in the second inning when Brady Whalen laced a lead-off single and Pedro Gonzalez followed with another single. A sac fly from Gavin Johns scored Whalen with Lexington’s lone run.
High Point forced a tie in the seventh inning against Lexington reliever Jett Lodes as Jake Washer was hit by a pitch with two outs. After moving to second on a wild pitch, pinch-hitter Brian Parreira stroked an RBI single to tie the game.
In the eighth, facing Lexington reliever Victor Capellan (L, 0-1), D.J. Burt led off with a single and stole second base. Jimenez’s single put High Point in front 2-1. Dakota Chalmers put the Legends down in order in the ninth to earn his first save as a Rocker.
The Rockers will head to Hagerstown, Md. this weekend and will return home on Friday, July 19th to face off against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.
NOTES: The duration of the game, 1:52, surpasses the previous fastest game of 1:57 set on April 30, 2019 at Somerset… Quincy Latimore has hit safely in all six games since his return to the Rockers… Right-fielder Gilberto Jimenez has hit in all five of his games since joining the team and is hitting a sizzling .476 with 10 hits in 21 at-bats… The Rockers are now 14-5 vs. Lexington this season and 7-2 at Truist Point… Cooper Casad’s eight innings of work tied his career high… He went eight innings vs. Southern Maryland and Long Island, both in 2021 with the Rockers… Rockers pitchers held Lexington to 11 hits over the three-game series, and just two runs… High Point took the series by scores of 5-0, 11-1 and 2-1… The previous mark for fewest runs allowed in a series was four against Somerset on July 5-7 of 2019.
Hagerstown 5, Southern Maryland 4