Guzmanâ??s Blast Lifts Revs to Huge Win in Texas
June 12, 2016 - Atlantic League (AtL)
York Revolution News Release
(Sugar Land, Tx.) - Joel Guzman launched a dramatic three-run home run to left field with two outs in the seventh, giving the York Revolution the lead in a huge 6-4 victory over the Sugar Land Skeeters on Sunday night at Constellation Field. The first place Revs (29-21) increase their Freedom Division lead to 2.5 games over Lancaster and 3.0 games over Sugar Land with the pivotal victory, as 20 games remain in the season's first half. The Revs travel back from Texas on Monday, and open a three-game series at Somerset on Tuesday night.
York drew first blood in the top of the first inning. Isaias Tejeda led off the game with a single to center, extending his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games, tying the club's longest streak of the season. Michael Rockett sacrificed Tejeda to second, and Guzman followed with an RBI single up the middle for his first of a four-RBI performance. The Revs settled for one run despite four singles in the inning, as Guzman was thrown out at the plate attempting to score for the final out.
Sugar Land tied it an inning later as Jeremy Barfield led off with a ground rule double to right and eventually scored on a Kent Matthes fielder's choice, leveling the ledger at 1-1.
Both starting pitchers shined through the middle innings as York's Tony Pena and Sugar Land's Roy Merritt traded goose eggs.
Tejeda crushed a first pitch home run to left leading off the sixth, giving the Revs a 2-1 lead on his fifth long ball of the season and second in three games.
Sugar Land answered, rallying for three runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking aim at a fourth consecutive comeback win, and third in as many games against York. Jeff Dominguez sparked things with a leadoff walk, and Beamer Weems followed with a single to center. A walk to Rene Tosoni loaded the bases and Barfield promptly tied the game with an RBI single to center. York caught a break as Delwyn Young lined into a double play at first base, but after a pitching change, Travis Scott drew a walk to reload the bases, and Matthes smacked a two-run single down the third base line, giving Sugar Land a 4-2 lead.
The Revs rebounded in a major way, however, answering with four runs in the top of the seventh. Josh Wilson drew a one-out walk and remained at first base with two outs, when a Tejeda broken bat single to center kept the inning alive. Rockett followed with a clutch RBI single to right, cutting the deficit to 4-3, and setting the stage for Guzman, who clobbered a towering three-run homer to left field, giving the Revs new life with a 6-4 lead.
York's bullpen took over from there. Ricardo Gomez worked around a leadoff single in the seventh, Julio DePaula brushed off a leadoff double in the eighth, and Mike DeMark claimed his league-leading 16th save with a perfect ninth including a pair of strikeouts.
The victory was crucial, as a loss would have brought the Skeeters within 1.0 game of first through Sunday's final first half meeting between the two clubs, while it would have also given Sugar Land the head-to-head tiebreaker. With York's win, the two teams conclude the first half series with a 5-5 split.
Guzman went 3-for-5 with the clutch home run and a season-high-tying four RBI. Tejeda enjoyed a 3-for-5 night with a homer and three runs scored in the leadoff spot, tallying his 16th multi-hit game and seventh game of three hits. Andres Perez also went 3-for-4 as the Revs tallied 13 total knocks.
Matthes drove in three of Sugar Land's four runs to pace the home team's offense.
York lefty Scott Rice (1-0) earned the win in his season debut, finishing the sixth inning out of the bullpen.
Sugar Land righty Ryan Mattheus (0-1) suffered the loss, also making his season debut, tagged for the four runs in the seventh.
Notes: DeMark's save is his 20th in a Revolution uniform, moving past Gomez for fifth in club history. His 16 saves are one shy of matching a club record for a half (17, Rommie Lewis, first half of 2014). His 16 consecutive save opportunities converted establishes a new club record for a single-season streak, ahead of Lewis' 15 straight saves converted in 2014. York's 29-21 record is the league's best and is tied with the 2011 and 2014 Revs for best record through 50 games in franchise history. Tejeda's 11-game hitting streak ties Jason Repko and Perez for the Revs' longest of the season; he is batting .367 (18-49) on the streak, and with three hits on Sunday, raised his average from .338 to .347, one point shy of the league lead. Tejeda is now batting .371 since May 4. The win is the 236th in the managerial career of Mark Mason, who is now one win shy of tying his predecessor, Andy Etchebarren, for most in Revolution history. York lefty Kelvin De La Cruz (3-5, 5.15) starts Tuesday's opener at Somerset at 7:05 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 1350, woyk1350.com, and on the WOYK mobile app beginning at 6:45 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
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