What happened to the York Revolution?

One little All-Star break, two little acquisitions and all of a sudden York has itself a legitimate ballclub. The Atlantic League needs to start scheduling more All-Star Games.

The Revs won their season-high third straight, and York clubbed the best team -- and perhaps the best pitcher -- in the league Friday night.

Chris Hoiles' team handed the Somerset Patriots a 9-4 loss in front of 4,844 fans at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

"I guess it was just those three days off (for the All-Star break)," said Revs third baseman Matt Padgett, who went 4-for-5. "We could take a deep breath and chill out. We talked about it before we left, obviously the first half has not been good. We have 11 or 12 games before the break so let's get in the mode to play the second half."

Somerset (37-21) entered the series on an incredible 33-11 run, including six straight victories against York (19-39). Struggling to manufacture runs this season, the Revs have combined to score 16 runs in the first two games of a four-game set.

And York defeated perhaps the best pitcher in the league in Jim Magrane (8-1). Not flashy, Magrane rattled off eight straight victories in eight consecutive starts in workmanlike fashion.

He allowed one run in four of the outings, and he tossed seven shutout innings in another. And he lasted at least seven innings in each start.

York hit him early, and he appeared to lose his

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concentration in the third when he allowed a run to score on a balk. He appeared to lose his grip on the ball, and the ball actually landed in the grass behind the mound as he attempted to deliver to the plate.

Two pitches later, Keoni DeRenne hit his second homer of the year. York chased Magrane in the following inning, scoring four runs on four hits and one error. Nine players came to bat in the frame, and Patriots manager Sparky Lyle yanked him after 32/3 -- his shortest outing of the season.

Not terrible, Magrane had a cutter and sharp curve, but he left a couple balls up in the zone.

The Patriots had no chance of a comeback. York starter Dave Gassner (3-6) allowed one earned run and five hits in 62/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three.

"Even if it was a count where they knew something soft was coming their way -- curveball, changeup, whatever -- he hit his spot with it," York catcher Josh Johnson said of Gassner's control.

Somerset finally got to him late, hitting three doubles in his final 12/3 innings of work, but by then he had a six-run cushion.

Padgett (four hits, including two extra-base hits), Johnson (two extra-base hits), DeRenne (two hits, including a homer) and Jones (three hits, including two doubles) paced the offense.

"I'm starting to see some things right now that we haven't been doing in the past," said Hoiles, who has seen his team feast on opposite-field line drives during the last two days. He believes it could be a sign a near team-wide hitting slump is over.

The big surprise continues to be Johnson's bat. Struggling at the plate during his first full season as an everyday catcher, he has batted .321 (9-for-28) in the last 11 games.

"I'm at ease now," Johnson said about his transformation with the help of Hoiles and Sam Snider. "I know what I want to do in the cage; I know what I want to do in the game."

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Notes: The Revs expect to activate P.J. Rose today. The club will have to make a roster move, because York has a maximum 25 players. ... Recently signed reliever Jason Olson retired all four batters he faced to finish the game. .... LHP Brian Holliday left in the eighth inning after being hit with a line drive.
jseip@ydr.com; 771-2025