Game 77: Revolution 10-4

AT YORK REVOLUTION
Byron Batson (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs.
Brett Evert (4-6, 5.50 ERA)

Is York for real? That 10-3 record is certainly impressive, but before anyone labels the Revs the second-half favorite, it’s important to note that York is still a desert for starting pitching. The three starters scheduled to face Lancaster in this series – Chris Steinborn, Bryan Edwards and Batson – are a combined 12-13 with a 6.31 ERA.

Even Frank Castillo and David Maust, the anchors of the rotation lately, have questionable long-term outlooks. Castillo is 38 and is playing pro ball for the first time since 2005. Maust is a reliever thrust into a starting role. It will be interesting to see how York’s rotation fares the rest of the way – and what upgrades are made.

Pre-game notes:

– Power outage. The Barnstormers have scored 44 runs in 13 games since the All-Star break. That’s 3.4 a game, which won’t cut it in the Atlantic League – especially at Clipper Magazine Stadium. What’s wrong with the offense? For starters, the home runs have dried up. The Barnstormers have hit 10 homers during this slide.

Here’s a look at the home run production in the second half …

Dominick Amborsini … 4
Lance Burkhart … 3
Jutt Hileman … 2
Russ Cleveland … 1

– Jeremy Todd and Danny Gonzalez are notably absent from the list. When two of your best run producers go into a prolonged home run dry spell, the offense is bound to struggle.

– Evert, perhaps the most enigmatic pitcher on Lancaster’s enigmatic staff, will try to cool off York. In his last two starts, the righthander is 0-2 with 11 walks in nine innings.

– Batson is probably best suited for the bullpen. The righthander is 1-2 with a 6.48 ERA in four starts this season.

– York has won 15 of 19 and is the hottest team in the Atlantic League. They are 8-2 against Lancaster and the Road Warriors during this stretch.

– Revolution outfielder Peter Bergeron was signed by the Pirates and assigned to Double-A Altoona.

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Lineups …

STORMERS (3-10): Mike Woods, 2B; Danny Gonzalez, SS; Jutt Hileman, CF; Jeremy Todd, DH; Dominick Ambrosini, LF; Felix Martinez, 3B; Lance Burkhart, C; Eric Crozier, 1b; Chris Van Rossum, RF.

REVOLUTION (10-3): Keoni DeRenne, 2B; Rayner Bautista, SS; Nate Espy, DH; Justin Singleton, CF; Matt Dryer, 1B; Jason Aspito, RF; Greg Brown, C; Luis Cotto, 3B; Kaz Tanaka, LF.

Scoring summary:

FINAL: Revolution 10, Barnstormers 4

Stormers 1st: Gonzalez’s groundout scores Woods.
Barnstormers lead 1-0.

Revs 1st: Espy’s home run scores Bautista. Singleton hits solo home run.
Revolution leads 3-1.

Revs 2nd: Bautista’s double scores DeRenne. Dryer’s single scores Bautista.
Revolution leads 5-1.

Revs 3rd: Bautista’s sacrifice fly scores Tanaka.
Revolution leads 6-1.

Revs 4th: Aspito’s single scores Singleton.
Revolution leads 7-1.

Revs 6th: Espy scores on Martinez’s throwing error. Cotto’s single scores Aspito.
Revolution leads 9-1.

Revs 7th: Bautista hits solo home run.
Revolution leads 10-1.

Stormers 8th: Gonzalez’s single scores Crozier and Van Rossum. Hileman’s single scores Woods. Revolution leads 10-4.

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RECORD: 3-11 (32-45)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Rayner Bautista (2-for-4, 3 runs scored, 3 RBIs). Bautista gets the nod over Byron Batson mostly because I refuse to select the opposing team’s starter four games in a row. Bautista, by the way, is hitting .360 this month.

WHAT WENT RIGHT: Pretty soon we’re going to have to cancel this category.

*Danny Gonzalez drove in three runs. He’s now second on the team with 47 RBIs. Former RBI machine Jeremy Todd is now third at 45.

*Dominck Ambrosini returned to the lineup after a two-game absence. He went 1-for-4 with a single.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Starter Brett Evert was awful. The righthander allowed seven runs in five innings — including a ridiculous 16 baserunners. Over his last three starts, Evert has allowed 16 runs and 16 walks in 14 innings.

*Reliever Barry Armitage struggled again. He allowed three runs, one earned, in two innings. The right-handed side of the bullpen remains a mess, except for Derrick DePriest — who’s getting roughly one save chance per vernal equinox.

*Inexplicably, the Barnstormers were shut down by another pitcher with mediocre season stats. This time it was Batson, who entered the night with a 5.40 ERA.

*The final four hitters in the lineup — Felix Martinez, Lance Burkhart, Eric Crozier and Chris Van Rossum — were a combined 0-for-15.

*Lancaster is 0-4 since manager Frank Klebe was fired on Sunday. The team has been outscored 30-5 in those four games.

*The Barnstormers are 13 games under .500 for the first time since 2005. To put this team in (brief) historical perspective, the 2005 expansion club was 31-46 after 77 games. No word on whether Troy Mattes and Cliff Smith will come out of retirement to help the bullpen.

*If you’re counting, the Barnstormers are eight games back. You hate to say it with 49 games left, but it looks like they’re finished in terms of contending.

ALSO: The Where are they now? page is updated. It includes stats for Vince Blue and Jason Norderum and Quincy Foster’s Ted Williams-like batting average.