May 19: Fightin' Phils Quiet RubberDucks Bats, 8-4, On "Silent Night" Promotional Night

Fightin’ Phils (3-11) 8 - RubberDucks (8-5) 4

WP: Braden Zarbinsky (2-1) LP: Tanner Tully (1-2) Save: None

Summary

It was a quiet night, in the stands, for five innings as the Akron RubberDucks held their “Silent Night” to raise awareness for the Deaf Community. For the first five innings, the game featured no music, in-game PA, between-inning promotions or dance cams-- just complete silence. Despite trying to make “The quietest game in baseball history,” the bats were not quiet as the Reading Fightin’ Phils jumped on the RubberDucks 8-4.

Turning Point

Leading 4-0 in the top of the eight, Dakody Clemmer walked Mark Vientos, which loaded the bases with just one out and the tying run at the plate. Clemmer got the second out of the inning by striking out Walker Lagrange. The next batter was a pinch hitter as Jeremy Vazquez came in for the Rumble Ponies. Clemmer balked in a run during the at bat which made it 4-1. However, Clemmer regained himself and struck out Vazquez to preserve the lead.

Mound Presence

Tanner Tully got the call to start for Akron, and It was not the ideal start that Tully was hoping for as in four innings of work, Reading had 5 runs on 6 hits, two of those being triples. Tully also struck out 4 and walked three on 82 pitches. Thomas Ponticelli entered the game in the fifth inning and gave the RubberDucks two solid innings in which he struck out three and held Reading scoreless. Jake Miednik was called upon in the seventh for three innings of work in which he gave up a long home run to Luke Miller in the eight followed by a two-run homer from McCarthy Tatum in the ninth.

Duck Tales

Akron opened the scoring in the second inning when Jose Fermin singled home a run, the third game in a row that Akron started the game out on top. Reading responded in a big way in the third when brought four runs across home plate. Daniel Brito knocked one deep into center field that Will Benson couldn’t grab a hold off, which brought home 2 runs and allowed Brito to leg out a triple. Later in the inning, Josh Stephens would knock one down the left field line that brought home two more runs and give Reading a 4-1 lead. Akron would get a run back the next inning when after Alex Call singled, Trenton Brooks would smoke one into right field and bring home Call, with Brooks getting a double. Reading continued to get a hold of starter Tanner Tully as Dalton Guthrie doubled down the left field line to bring home Reading’s 5th run of the game to make it 5-2 in the fourth. In the bottom half of the fourth, Call would continue his impressive day when a pitch by Braden Zarbnisky would get by catcher Colby Fitch, allowing Call to cross home plate to make it 5-3. The noise returning in the sixth was good news for Akron as Marco Gonzalez hit a bloop single into center field that allowed Will Benson to sprint home and cut the Fightin’ Phils lead to one. Reading would counter the RubberDucks mini comeback when in the 8th inning, Luke Miller hit a towering shot way over the wall in left field for a solo home run to make it 6-4. Despite putting up a fight in the late innings, Reading added two-runs late on a McCarthy Tatum two-run home run to extend the R-Phil’s lead to 8-4.

Notebook

Tyler Freeman extended his hit streak to 9 games when he hit a sharp grounder that made its way into left field in the bottom of the 7th … Freeman’s batting average now stands at .348, which ranks his sixth among the league leaders for the Double-A Northeast … Wednesday’s loss marked the RubberDucks’ first home loss of the 2021 season, dropping the team to 6-1 at Canal Park, an encouraging start after the 2019 Ducks posted a home record of 30-40 ... Time of Game: 3:08 … Attendance: 1,295.

On the Pond

The Ducks and Senators will meet for game three of this 6 game series at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday at Canal Park. The game broadcast, powered by FirstEnergy, is on 640 WHLO, the WHLO iHeartRadio channel, and the TuneIn Radio App, and available on MiLB.TV. Shane McCarthy (0-0, 1.17) will start for Akron against Reading’s Mark Appel (0-0, 1.93).