The new week began quietly on Monday, the next evening marked the start of a new series at the ballpark. The Atlantic League usually plays a 140-game schedule split into two halves, this time around it's only 120 but the halves format is still in place. Long Island and Lexington had already clinched the respective first-half division titles, on this night we had the rare instance of a series-opening game also marking the season's midpoint. The York Revolution traveled east across the Susquehanna for their third visit of the season and it was another wacky you-had-to-be-there-to-believe-it kind of game. The Revs took a 2-0 first-inning lead on Melky Mesa's two-run single, they upped the advantage to 4-0 in the third on back-to-back RBI doubles from J.C. Encarnacion and Josue Herrera. The Barnstormers got on the board in their half of the third on Kelly Dugan's RBI double, the Revs returned serve in the fourth on RBI hits by Mesa and Carlos Castro to go up 6-1. In the home fourth a run-scoring single from Caleb Gindl was followed by a three-run Blake Allemand home run bringing the Stormers back to within 6-5. Neither team (amazingly) scored in the fifth but in the visiting sixth Mesa continued his big night with a solo home run giving the Revolution a two-run lead. In the Stormer seventh Anderson De La Rosa's RBI double made it a 7-6 ballgame and at that point the game REALLY got crazy. The Revs extended the lead to 9-6 in the eighth on a two-run home run from Jack Kenley (recently added from the Detroit Tigers system), the Stormers answered right back on a two-run shot by Allemand (his second of the night) in the bottom half to make it 9-8 (the irony: Kenley and Allemand were both playing second base for their respective teams). In the home ninth the Barnstormers came all the way back, Cleuluis Rondon's two-out single scored pinchrunner Dominic DiSabatino with the tying run. The madness finally ended in the bottom of the tenth when Caleb Gindl trotted home on a wild pitch (of all things) giving the Stormers an incredible 10-9 victory. Needless to say both club's starting pitchers were showered and in street clothes by the time the issue was resolved, Scott Shuman was the winner with former SF Giant property Israel Cruz taking the loss. The Barnstormers finish the first half even at 30-30, the Revs finish at 26-34. The series continues on Wednesday when the entire league wipes the slate clean and starts over at 0-0. Take care, thanks for reading.
