Fightins send RubberDucks swimming

The Reading Fightin Phils (13-7) have now won five straight series as they defeated the Akron RubberDucks (12-8) by a score of 11-2 on Wednesday night. Every Fightin Phil reached base and had at least one hit against Akron.  

RubberDucks starter Dace Kime (1-3) pitched to just five batters in the bottom of the first inning. He issued three straight walks to Roman Quinn, J.P. Crawford and Dylan Cozens to start the inning. Quinn stole second base then Kime hit Jake Fox with a pitch that brought in the first run of the inning. Rhys Hoskins was hit by a pitch in the following at-bat that scored Crawford and gave Reading a 2-0 lead.

Kime left the game for Justin Brantley. Christian Marrero hit a sacrifice fly that scored Cozens. Logan Moore walked with the bases loaded that scored Fox to give Reading a 4-0 lead. Akron got on the board in the top of the second inning off Fightins starter Anthony Vasquez (4-0) as Bryson Myles scored on a groundout by Joe Sever.

Reading extended their lead to 5-1 as Cozens hit a home run off Brantley in the bottom of the second inning. Akron got another run off Vasquez in the top of the fourth inning as Yandy Diaz hit a home run to cut Reading's lead to 5-2.

The Fightin Phils scored three runs off RubberDucks reliever Antonio Romero in the bottom of the fifth inning to take an 8-2 lead. Moore hit his first home run of the season with two outs in the inning. Cozens hit a two-run double that scored Quinn and Crawford.  

Reading scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. This time it would be against reliever Grant Sides. Jesmuel Valentin hit a sacrifice fly that scored Hoskins and Harold Martinez hit a two-run home run. Reading would take an 11-2 lead.

Hoskins extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tom Windle closed out the game with two scoreless innings in relief of Vasquez.  

The Fightin Phils will resume play on Friday night at Hadlock Field against the Portland Sea Dogs. First pitch is at 6:00 pm. Fans can listen to the game on fightins.com beginning at 5:55 pm.  

Tickets for the 2016 season are available online at Fightins.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in-person at FirstEnergy Stadium.