DE LA CRUZ DELIVERS

Right-Hander Pitches Lancaster to Series Win

Oscar De La Cruz struck out eight over six innings on Thursday evening to pitch the Lancaster Barnstormers to a 3-1 victory over the York Revolution at Clipper Magazine Stadium.  With the win, the Barnstormers took three of five in the home-and-home series with the archrivals.

De La Cruz was perfect outside of a span of four hitters in the fourth inning.  He struck out four while retiring the first nine batters.  Then, in the fourth, Troy Stokes, Jr. legged out a broken bat infield single.  Elmer Reyes lined a single over third baseman Trace Loehr, and Carlos Franco singled to center to drive home the tying run.

With the count, 2-0, on cleanup hitter Nellie Rodriguez, plate umpire Marty Hasenfuss was struck by a foul tip in the arm and was forced out of the game.  Following the delay as Jason Smith donned his home plate gear, Rodriguez loaded the bases with a single flared past second baseman Melvin Mercedes.  De La Cruz (4-1) settled down and struck out J.C. Encarnacion and Josue Herrera before retiring Yefri Perez on a fly ball to center for the last out.  He retired everyone in the fifth and sixth innings, striking out two more.

Lancaster scored in the bottom of the first when Andretty Cordero plated Mercedes from third on a lined single into left center.  The Barnstormers did not threaten Alex Sanabia (3-3) over the next four innings but caught a break to start the sixth.  Jake Hoover’s fly ball to right disappeared in the twilight on Stokes and fell onto the warning track.  Hoover, rounding first, ran into Franco and was awarded second base on the interference.  Both Shawon Dunston, Jr. and Mercedes lined to second, but Kelly Dugan picked up the run on a ground single into right for a 2-1 lead.

Hoover added the final run with a home run onto the left field hillside off reliever Josh Martin in the eighth.

Tyler Suellentrop worked two innings of relief, allowing a single and three walks, but the Revolution stranded all four runners.  Chase Johnson survived a leadoff single by Connor Lien in the ninth, retiring the next three hitters for his first save.

Lancaster will host the Wild Health Genomes in a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30.  Nile Ball (4-3) will take the mound for the Barnstormers.  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel, beginning at 6:25.

NOTES:  All five games in the series were decided by two runs…Lancaster leads the War of the Roses, 12-8, but there are still 12 games to play…The Barnstormers have thrown five quality starts in the last seven games…Lancaster pitchers struck out 12 for a season total of 584 in 594.1 innings, tops in the league…Hoover’s homer was his first at Clipper Magazine Stadium…Johnson became the sixth different Barnstormer with a save this season.ReplyReply allForward