Revs starter Corey Thurman improved his record to 10-3. He gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings of work with five strikeouts and two walks. (Randy Flaum photo)

The first 15 minutes of Sunday's game looked about as ugly as the previous 31/2 hours.

A nasty storm, bringing thunder, lightning and pouring rain, rolled into York City around 4 p.m. Sunday, causing York Revolution employees to pull out the tarp at Sovereign Bank Stadium. The rain would continue for the next few hours, pushing back a 5 p.m. start to 7:39 p.m., setting a club-record 2-hour, 39-minute delay.

After finally getting started against Southern Maryland, Revs' starter Corey Thurman began the contest by surrendering a double and a single before later hitting a batter to load the bases with one out. Then a light rain returned as Thurman issued a bases-loaded walk.

But then the veteran right-hander worked out of the jam. And the rain soon stopped. And as has usually been the case when Thurman is on the mound this season, York's offense responded with a flurry of hits to nab an 8-4 victory in the series finale. York won the three-game series, 2-1.

After he allowed a run on two hits over 27 pitches in the first inning, Thurman (10-3) settled in to retire nine of the next 11 batters over the following three frames. The Revs' offense, meanwhile, scored four in the first inning, one in the second and three in third. York (48-45 overall, 12-11 second half) is scoring an average of 8.1 runs over Thurman's 19 starts this season, which leads all of York's starters in run support.

The Revs pounded Blue Crabs' veteran starter Joe Gannon (1-1), a 38-year-old knuckle-baller who returned to the club two weeks ago. The right-hander tossed 121 pitches in just four innings.

"A guy who throws a knuckle ball you really don't know what to expect," Revs' infielder Joe Thurston said. "You have scouting reports on guys who throw the fastball, curveball or changeup ... whatever pitch it is. That (the knuckle ball) is the only one you don't really have a scouting report for because it doesn't move the same way every time. You just have to have the best at-bat you can at the time."

Thurston went 3-for-4 with four runs scored Sunday to bump up his team-leading batting average to .413.

York slugger Chris Nowak hit his 19th homer of the season with a two-run shot in the first inning to make it 4-1. York's Andres Perez tacked on a run in the second inning with an RBI single and Ramon Castro nailed a three-run homer in the fourth to put York up 8-1.

Thurman surrendered two runs in the fifth inning and ended up allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings with five strikeouts and two walks. The Blue Crabs (43-49, 13-9) tacked on a run in the seventh on an error by Thurston.

About a hundred of the announced 2,159 fans were still attendance when the game ended at 11:10 p.m. with a light rain coming down on the field.

Next game: The Revs will have off Monday before traveling to Lancaster on Tuesday for the first of a three-game series and the first of a nine-game road trip. York has now won eight of its last 12 games but has had trouble making up any ground on the Barnstormers in the Atlantic League Freedom Division second-half race. Lancaster (59-34, 14-9) has gone 7-1 since losing three in a row to York two weeks ago.

-- Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.