HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers dropped their sixth straight game, falling 9-6 at home to the York Revolution on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point. York outhit the Rockers 12-6 and High Point committed three errors in the contest.
The Rockers are now 69-42 on the season and 28-20 in the second half. High Point trailed Gastonia by 3.5 games prior to Gastonia’s Monday night contest vs. Southern Maryland.
“When it goes south, it goes south quick. We’re just not playing good baseball,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We’ve been the best defensive team in the league and now we’re making defensive mistakes. Our bullpen has been untouchable all year and now we’re getting hammered in the bullpen. Something’s got to change, and we’ll make some changes. Right now, we’ve just got to turn it around.
“These guys have still got fight,” continued Keefe. “We got the tying run to the plate in and eighth and that’s all you can ask for. But right now, we’ve got to turn the page and get it going in the right direction.”
It was a frustrating game for the Rockers who held leads at 2-1 after the first and 5-4 after the fifth. But York responded to every Rockers rally. Trailing 1-0 after the top of the first, High Point took a 2-1 lead in the bottom half. Shed Long, Jr. led off with a walk and stole second before moving to third on a ground out by Ryan Grotjohn and crossing the plate on a ground out by Ben Aklinski. Zander Wiel followed with a solo homer, his 27th of the year.
York quickly erased the deficit, taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the third. Stokes, Jr. doubled and scored on a triple by Drew Mendoza. Jhon Nunez’s sac fly to center brought Mendoza home. A solo homer by Stokes, Jr. leading off the fifth put York on top 4-2.
Three runs in the bottom of the fifth helped High Point take a 5-4 lead. Long, Jr. blasted a solo homer to make it 4-3. Grotjohn singled and Aklinski drew a walk from York starter Nick Parker. Wiel lined a double into the left field corner to plate two and re-take the lead.
A two-run double from Jacob Rhinesmith in the seventh off reliever Kyle Halbohn (L, 2-2) put the Revs in front 6-5. They added three more runs in the top of the eighth, two scoring on a Drew Mendoza double with Mendoza then scoring on a wild pitch by Cam Bedrosian.
Aklinski led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple and scored on a sac fly from Quincy Latimore to make it a 9-6 final.
Wiel had two of the Rockers six hits on the afternoon. Nelvin Correa (W, 3-3) picked up the win in relief or Parker. Correa pitched the sixth and seventh innings, holding the Rocker hitless and striking out two.
The Rockers continue with their final regular season homestand and open a four-game series with the Gastonia Honey Hunters. Tuesday’s game will be a 5:15 doubleheader which includes a make-up game from last month at Gastonia. Both games will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.
NOTES: Ben Aklinski scored his 100th and 101st runs of the season . . . He holds the Rockers record…LHP Brandon Leibrandt shared Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month honors with Gastonia righty Zach Mort… Leibrandt was 3-0 with a 1.93 in August… Mickey Jannis and Mitch Atkins are the scheduled starters for Tuesday’s doubleheader which will feature a pair of seven inning games. Gastonia will serve as the home team in the opener as the game is a rainout from August at Gastonia.
