A few weeks ago, Andy Etchebarren sat at the desk in his office with a smile beaming from ear to ear.

The York Revolution had just beaten the Camden Riversharks with a walk-off three-run home run from Ramon Castro to move five games up on the Lancaster Barnstormers for first place in the Atlantic League Freedom Division second-half race.

But that wasn’t the reason the Revs’ manager was smiling.

Rather, Etchebarren was excited about something else — he was working on deals to acquire three pitchers who he believed would help the team toward its run to the playoffs.

At the time, Etchebarren couldn’t give any information or names on who the players might be because the deals weren’t official yet. But he proved to be right on the success he expected of the pitchers, who turned out to be starters Nick Schumacher and Jino Gonzalez and reliever Justin Edwards.

Edwards (1-1, 3.27 ERA) has improved the bullpen, while Schumacher (2-1, 4.15 ERA) and Gonzalez (2-1, 4.30 ERA) have solidified York’s starting rotation, joining right-handers Corey Thurman (13-3, 3.33 ERA), Lorenzo Barcelo (5-0, 3.96 ERA), and Shaun Garceau (4-9, 5.45 ERA).

Heading into the upcoming Atlantic League Freedom Division Championship Series between York and Lancaster, it appears the Revs have the advantage — on paper, anyway — when it comes to pitching.

The series will mark the first postseason showdown between Lancaster and York, which can only add to the history of the War of the Roses, and to the battle for Freedom Division supremacy the clubs have been embroiled in this season.

Lancaster (69-56) won the first-half division title by a game over the Revs. York (73-51) beat out Lancaster down the stretch to capture the second-half division title by 51/2 games.

The clubs have also traded the Community Cup each season since York brought back minor league baseball in 2007.

Lancaster won the Community Cup earlier this season by winning 10 of the 18 regular-season match-ups. But York outscored Lancaster in the series, 94-89. Seven of those games were decided by two runs or less.

Looking at the offensive numbers, York’s .290 team batting average this season is just four percentage points ahead of Lancaster. And Lancaster’s 1,229 total hits this season is just two ahead of York. The teams being just about even on offense should put the focus even more on the importance of pitching.

Fortunately for York, things look good on that front. York’s 4.32 team ERA and opposing teams’ .268 batting average each rank third in the league behind Southern Maryland and Long Island.

Lancaster’s league pitching rankings, meanwhile, are underwhelming. The Barnstormers have a team ERA of 4.72 (sixth), allowed opposing teams to hit .278 (seventh) and surrendered 1,222 hits (last).

Then again, all of those numbers could be diluted. Since Lancaster won the first-half Freedom Division title, it had the opportunity to cruise through the second half of the season without having to worry about a playoff berth.

For now, the Revs have the upper hand on paper. But to use the cliched saying, that’s why they play the game.

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The York Revolution are in the process of rebuilding the starting rotation.

Though that may not sound like a good thing with just weeks remaining in the regular season, the recent acquisitions sound promising.

A day after the Revs added right-handed starter Nick Shumacher, York signed left-hander Jino Gonzalez on Thursday.

Schumacher had an outstanding year with Sioux City (American Association) this season, going 10-5 in 21 starts and two relief appearances. His 3.03 ERA ranked third in the American Association and his 123 strikeouts ranked second.

Gonzalez also comes over from the American Association, having made nine starts and one relief appearance with the Lincoln Saltdogs this season. He went 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 54 innings pitched with Lincoln, striking out 47 and walking 17.

In related moves, York placed right-handed reliever Geoff Geary on the disabled list and starting pitcher Jesus Sanchez on the inactive list on Thursday. Geary has been out of action since Aug. 13, suffering from an injury to his throwing arm. Sanchez left the club two weeks ago to deal with a family matter in his native Dominican Republic. He was supposed to join the club last week, but Hurricane Irene interrupted travel plans. The team has had difficulty tracking him down ever since.

York’s starting rotation now looks like this: RHP Corey Thurman (11-3, 3.40 ERA), RHP Lorenzo Barcelo (3-0, 1.90 ERA), RHP Shaun Garceau (4-7, 5.16 ERA), RHP Dumas Garcia (2-2, 5.79 ERA), RHP Nick Shumacher and LHP Jino Gonzalez.

Yes, that’s six starting pitchers. But Revs manager Andy Etchebarren had said earlier this week that Garcia’s start on Wednesday will likely be his last as Etchebarren plans on moving Garcia to the bullpen.

But with York scheduled to play six games over a five day stretch from Thursday to Monday – because of a double-header on Sunday – it’ll be interesting to see if Etch’ holds off until next week to move one of the starters to the ’pen.

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