Solid hitting, fine pitching give Rockers 7-3 win

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers won their fourth straight game with a 7-2 victory over the York Revolution Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,675 at Truist Point.

With the game tied 3-3 after five innings, the Rockers used a pair of walks and an RBI single from Ryan Grotjohn to take a 4-3 lead. The Rockers outscored the Revs 4-0 over the final six innings.

High Point’s bullpen again played a huge role, retiring the final 11 batters of the game.

The Rockers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when D.J. Burt reached on a fielder’s choice, move to second when Ben Aklinski was hit by a pitch by York starter Nick Raquet (L, 11-7). Burt then stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

A solo homer by York’s Nellie Rodriguez in the top of the second tied the game at 1-1. Emmanuel Tapia then hit a 440-foot solo homer in the bottom of the second to put the Rockers back on top 2-1.

The Revs scored twice in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Drew Mendoza led off the inning with a triple and scored on a homer by Richard Urena.  High Point then tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth as Ryan Grotjohn drew a walk, moved to second on a balk, and scored on a single by Ben Aklinski.

High Point starter Jheyson Manzueta went five innings and allowed three runs while walking one and striking out six.

He left the game after five as Jeremy Rhoades (W, 6-2) pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing just a single hit while striking out three.

The Rockers went on top for good in the bottom of the seventh when Burt knocked a lead-off double and stole second. Aklinski grounded back to the pitcher and Burt was caught in a rundown but stayed alive long enough for Aklinski to take second. Beau Taylor then blooped a single to right that allowed Aklinski to score from second and give High Point a 5-4 lead.

Burt’s double in the seventh extended his streak to 52 consecutive games reaching base, the longest in the Atlantic League in the last four years and believed to be a league record.

High Point added a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth when Parreira was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a double by Emmanuel Tapia. Shed Long, Jr. brought home a run with a ground out before Burt hit a sac fly to right to score Joe Johnson who had pinch-run for Tapia.

Ryan Dull struck out the side in the ninth to seal the win.

The Rockers held the Revs to just five hits on the night. High Point was led by Tapia and Grotjohn who each had a pair of hits.

The Rockers improved to 63-34 and set a new club record for the most games over .500 at 29 games. High Point continues to lead the Atlantic League’s South Division with a second half record of 22-12. Gastonia is a game back at 21-13 in the second half.

The Rockers and Revolution will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. It will be “Jamie Keefe Bobblehead Night” with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free Jamie Keefe Bobblehead. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app. The Rockers will send RHP Mickey Jannis to the mound to face York’s J.T. Hintzen.