Fightin Phils Swept by SeaWolves in Thursday Doubleheader

BOX SCORE GAME ONE

BOX SCORE GAME TWO

(Reading, PA) - The Reading Fightin Phils (17-28) dropped both games of its doubleheader Thursday to the Erie SeaWolves (31-16), falling behind 2-1 in the series after winning the opener Tuesday morning.

Game One:

Chuck King — who entered off a career-best 6.0-inning, one-earned run performance last week in Portland — was tested by SeaWolves leadoff hitter Trei Cruz off the bat. King (L, 1-2) needed eight pitches to retire Cruz and worked smoothly through the rest of the first inning.

While Phillies No. 2 prospect Aidan Miller’s 11-game on-base streak came to an end Tuesday, he kickstarted a new one quickly. In his first at-bat of the day, Miller hammered a 1-2 pitch over the outstretched arm of Cruz in centerfield for a double. Miller has improved his totals throughout May after a slow start to 2025.

King wasn’t as fortunate going forward. To lead off the second, Erie third baseman Carlos Mendoza belted a solo shot off the Redner’s Event Center in right-center field. The next inning, after an infield single from nine-hole hitter Jim Jarvis, Cruz followed Mendoza’s lead with a two-run home run to expand the SeaWolves lead to three.

Reading cut into its deficit with a solo shot into the Fightin Phils bullpen. Miller reached on a walk and advanced to third before Keaton Anthony sliced a ball into the left-center gap to score the Fightin Phils shortstop and trail by just one.

The SeaWolves offense, however, came back with vengeance. Erie poured it on King with four hits and another two-run blast, pushing its lead back to three after four times at the plate, limiting the Fightin Phils in the shortened seven-inning game.

Erie starting pitcher Joseph Montalvo (W, 4-2) has held opponents to a .200 BA through four starts in May and his success continued in Reading Thursday. The right-hander allowed five hits sporadically and left four runners on base through five innings of work.

As Gunner Mayer entered in relief of King, he worked into trouble with two walks and then a single with a few defensive mishaps scored two. Despite Fightin Phils third baseman Felix Reyes going 3-for-3 with a double and two singles, their offense fell short of matching the SeaWolves, resulting in a 7-2 loss in the opener.

Game Two:

As the Fightin Phils looked for a bounce back to reclaim the series lead, the SeaWolves continued their momentum from game one with a 5-4 victory. Reading starter Braeden Fausnaught (L, 2-7) made his seventh start of the season and coughed up back-to-back doubles as Erie took an early 1-0 lead.

After a quick inning from the Fightin Phils, the SeaWolves added on with a double from Ben Malgeri and a single from nine-hole hitter Danny Serretti which plated Malgeri. Fausnaught found his groove in the third despite allowing a single, forcing soft contact through the air to retire the meat of Erie’s order.

Miller reached on a walk in the third and stole second base, his 16th bag of the year to move into tied for third place in the Eastern League. Though, Hendry Mendez flew out to center field to keep Reading down by two.

Fausnaught fell into trouble once again in the top of the fourth by allowing a double and then walking two batters to load the bases. Facing Carlos Mendoza, the current Eastern League batting champion with at least 30 at-bats, Fausnaught forced him to roll over the seventh pitch of the at-bat to Anthony to work out of the jam.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Fightin Phils worked the bases loaded with no outs and momentarily cashed in. Three straight singles from Anthony, Alex Binelas and then Paul McIntosh resulted in Reading’s best threat of the night and Leandro Pineda moved everyone up one base on a broken-bat fielder choice to the right side. But Erie starter Troy Melton (W, 2-1) retired Luis Verdugo and Cade Fergus to keep the two runners stranded and preserve a one-run lead.

The SeaWolves quickly made Reading pay, as Roberto Campos launched a bases-clearing double high off the right field fence to build a 5-1 lead, forcing a mound visit to check on Eiberson Castellano.

Miller got on with a single to right and wreaked havoc once again on the base paths, forcing a two-base error and scoring on a sacrifice fly from Mendez. Miller’s efforts weren’t enough as Melton went six innings and Tim Naughton captured the save despite a late two-run single by Anthony, sweeping out the Fightin Phils Thursday.

The Fightin Phils return to the field on Friday at 6:45 p.m. against the Erie SeaWolves. RHP Luke Russo will be on the mound for Reading, and he will go opposite RHP Jaden Hamm for Erie. Pregame coverage is underway at 6:30 p.m. on the Reading Fightin Phils Radio Network. A video stream is available via MiLB TV or the Bally Live App.

Friday night features fireworks, presented by Vertex Mechanical. Saturday night is the first Carpenter MEGA Blast Fireworks show of the season, sponsored by Countryside, and the Fightin Phils will wear Special Toy Story jerseys. The series ends Sunday with a Nick Singleton Hometown Hero Bobblehead for the first 2,000 kids, thanks to Klee Funeral Home and Cremation Services. Tickets are available at rphils.com/tickets, by calling 610-370-BALL or at the Customers Bank Ticket Office.

The 2025 R-Phils season is presented by Pepsi. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter @ReadingFightins, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram @Fightins.