The York Revolution suffered a season-opening 1-0 loss to the Bridgeport Bluefish, but 5,654 Revs fans exited Sovereign Bank Stadium on Thursday night remembering the return of baseball season with a crisply played game, and spectacular pregame festivities to ring in the new season.  The Revs will seek their first win of the season as the opening series continues on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

As part of the pregame festivities, the Revolution officially retired the number 42 of the late Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, followed by the number 5 of Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson and the number 8 of retired manager Andy Etchebarren.  Brooks Robinson and Etchebarren, former teammates with the Orioles, were on-hand for the celebration.  To cap the pregame festivities, Revolution mascot DownTown entered the stadium by way of skydiving in with the first game ball of the season. 

As for the game, Revs starter Corey Thurman (0-1) set a franchise record for strikeouts in a season opener with eight in his five innings of work, but was tagged with the loss, allowing a two-out RBI single to Matt Spencer in the fourth inning, his only mistake of the night.  Bridgeport batters managed just five hits, and Thurman allowed only four knocks, but the Bluefish pieced together three of those hits in the fourth inning to produce the only run of the night.

Thurman had retired nine consecutive batters entering the fourth inning, and combined with four Revs relievers to set down 16 of Bridgeport’s final 17 batters after the Spencer single. 

On the flip side, the Revs were held to only three hits by four Bridgeport hurlers, their fewest in a season-opener, as their four-game Opening Day winning streak came to a close.  It is the Revs’ first season-opening defeat since 2008.

Andy Marte and Jeff Fiorentino singled to set the table in the bottom of the second inning, but excluding a defensive error, Bridgeport pitchers combined to retire the next 20 Revolution batters, the longest streak against York in club history. 

Bridgeport starter Mike Parisi tossed four scoreless innings to celebrate his 30^th birthday, with reliever Matt Sommo (1-0) earning the win, retiring all nine that he faced in his three innings.  Jeff Fulchino earned the save, stranding the tying run at second base in the ninth.

Notes: It was the Revs’ first regular season 1-0 loss since July 31, 2010 at Southern Maryland… York won both of its 1-0 contests last season… it was the first regular season 1-0 game played at Sovereign Bank Stadium since the 2007 season… Thurman’s eight strikeouts are his most in a regular season game since July 28, 2011, also vs. Bridgeport… his eight strikeouts fell one short of his Revolution career-high of nine, established in 2008… the Revs’ 12 strikeouts matches their most in a game all of last season, and is their most ever in a season-opener… 14-year Major League veteran Brett Tomko will make his Revolution debut on the mound Friday night against Bridgeport’s Josh Butler… it is Soccer Night at Sovereign Bank Stadium, with the first 1,000 fans receiving a Soccer Ball Giveaway presented by WellSpan Sports Medicine… tickets are available at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS and in-person at the Apple Chevrolet Ticket Office.