Late comeback falls short in 6-4 loss to York

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth but could not complete the comeback, falling to the York Revolution 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point.

The loss was the fifth straight for the Rockers, marking their longest losing streak in over a year. With Gastonia’s 11-2 loss at home to Southern Maryland on Sunday, the Rockers remain 3.5 games back of the Honey Hunters in the Atlantic League’s South Division pennant race. Gastonia is 32-16 while the Rockers are 28-19.

Trailing 6-4 in the ninth, Shed Long, Jr. hit a one out double and York reliever Carlos Espinal (S, 1) walked D.J. Burt. After both Rockers moved up on a stolen base, Espinal struck out Ben Aklinski and Zander Wiel to seal the win.

York scored first, stringing together three straight soft singles off High Point starter Brandon Leibrandt (L, 3-3) with Nellie Rodriguez’s single scoring Tomo Otosaka. Richard Urena added a solo homer, his 16th of the year, leading off the second to give the Revs a 2-0 lead.

The Rockers tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the fifth. Michael Martinez singled with one out and scored on a double by Long, Jr. as Martinez’s head first slide at home beat the relay throw from shortstop Alexis Pantoja. Burt followed with a single that plated Long, Jr. to tie the game.

York went up 3-2 in the sixth on a solo homer by Trey Martin and then added three runs in the seventh on a solo shot by Trent Giambrone and a two-run homer by Rodriguez to move ahead 6-2.

The Rockers made it a 6-3 game in the bottom of the seventh on a double by Daikan Yoh and an RBI single by Long, Jr. In the eighth, High Point cut the deficit to 6-4 on an infield single by Wiel followed by a single from Ryan Grotjohn and an RBI single by Yoh.

Long, Jr. finished the day with four hits and a pair of runs including two doubles. Yoh had three hits with a double and an RBI. The Revs hit four home runs in the game with Rodriguez finishing the game with a team-high three RBI. York’s Andrew Cabezas (W, 2-4) struck out seven in his seven innings of work and did not allow a walk while scattering eight hits and allowing three runs. Will Carter allowed three hits and a run in working the eighth inning as Espinal earned his first save of the year by striking out two in the ninth.

The final game of the four-game series will be played on Monday at 1:05 p.m. at Truist Point with all tickets discounted at 50% off. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.