Senators Bats Break Open Late, Bash the Fightins 9-1

READING, Pa. (May 29, 2026) — Friday night's game went quietly for most of the night with the Senators leading the Fightin Phils 2-1 after six, but Harrisburg batted around in the seventh to score five on the way to a 9-1 win. Harrisburg tied a season-high with 16 hits.

Reading scored first when Kehden Hettiger homered off LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara (W, 2-1) in the second. The crafty left-hander settled in after, allowing just the one run in five innings. He struck out four.

The Fightin Phils have scored first in every game this series.

The Senators answered with a long ball of their own. After Sam Brown reached on an error, Cayden Wallace blasted his team-leading tenth homer of the season to push the Sens in front 2-1.

In the seventh, against RHP Christian McGowan, Harrisburg batted around, scoring five runs on seven hits.

Brown started it off with an opposite-field home run, his second of the season.

Then, after Wallace doubled, Leandro Pineda doubled him home with a line drive off the rightfield wall.

Later in the inning, Kervin Pichardo drove in Pineda with a single to stretch the lead to 5-1. Pichardo went 4-for-5, his third career four-hit game.

To cap off the big inning, Max Romero Jr. launched a two-run homer out to right to lead 7-1.

The Senators added two more in the ninth with RBI base hits from Cortland Lawson and Johnathon Thomas.

Meanwhile, Sens pitching held the game in check after Ogasawara exited. RHP Thomas Schultz tossed two scoreless frames with three strikeouts.

RHP Sandy Gaston added a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out two.

RHP Erick Mejia closed it out with a scoreless ninth. He's dropped his ERA to 0.93 in 17 appearances.

Harrisburg aims to take the series lead tomorrow night. First pitch is at 6:45 p.m. with RHP Josh Randall set to make his Senators debut.

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