Harikkala, Haake Lead Revs to 6-1 Victory
Published on September 7, 2010 under Atlantic League (AtL)
York Revolution News Release
Tim Harikkala turned in a gem, and Steve Haake cracked his second grand slam in eight days, as the York Revolution evened their road series at Somerset with a 6-1 win on Tuesday night, in a potential playoff preview at TD Bank Ballpark. The win sets up a series-deciding rubber game on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m., before the Revs return home for their final regular season series of the campaign at Sovereign Bank Stadium against Lancaster on Friday.
Harikkala (1-1) was greeted with three straight hits, but allowed only two more after that in seven masterful innings. The 39-year-old major league veteran walked only two and struck out five.
Wayne Lydon led off the first inning with a ground ball triple straight down the first base line on Harikkala's second pitch, and Joe Burke smashed a single up the middle to score Lydon on Harikkala's third pitch. After newly-acquired catcher Joel Collins threw out Burke attempting to steal, Jeff Nettles made it a hat-trick of hits with another liner to center that forced Harikkala to duck, but he allowed only one other hit to reach the outfield after that point, which came from the next-to-last hitter he faced.
After the early hiccup, Harikkala retired 19 of the next 21 batters, including seven-in-a-row twice.
His only two walks were four-pitch walks to Elliott Ayala. Harikkala threw 84 pitches, 59 of which were strikes. Removing Ayala's walks from the equation, 59 of his other 76 pitches were in the strike zone.
Somerset starter Brian Adams held the Revs in check over the first four innings, but Haake reached for an 0-2 pitch down-and-away, and lined it into left-center to begin the fifth inning with a single. After advancing to second on a balk, it took until there were two outs before Scott Grimes (3-for-4) lined a triple past a diving Burke in right field to tie the game. Liubiemithz Rodriguez followed with a line drive single to center, lifting York to a 2-1 lead.
Harikkala overcame a leadoff four-pitch walk, and a 3-0 count to the next hitter J.R. Hopf, beginning the bottom of the fifth inning after the Revs had just jumped in front. The right-hander rebounded, however, to retire Hopf on a foul-out, as well as the next two batters, preventing Ayala from moving past first base.
Jose Herrera (3-for-5) led off the sixth with an infield hit, followed by singles from Ian Bladergroen and Erold Andrus (eight-game hitting streak) to load the bases with no outs. Haake then drilled a grand slam to left field, providing the Revs their cushion at 6-1.
Adams (3-3) was tagged for six runs on 12 hits in six innings of work.
Sean Stidfole and R.J. Rodriguez finished off the Patriots with a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, respectively.
Notes: Haake's grand slam was the Revs' sixth of the season, a club-record... Revs' starters have gone 6.0 innings or more in three of the last four games... Harikkala's seven innings was the Revs' longest outing since August 25 when Matt DeSalvo fired eight innings at Long Island... the Revs are now 9-10 vs. the Patriots this season, snapping a four-game head-to-head losing streak... York's Julio Manon will go up against Somerset's Bill Pulsipher on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m... Revs fans can catch all the action live on SportsRadio 1350 and Shoutcast.com (WPDC) beginning at 6 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
Atlantic League Stories from September 7, 2010
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