Reading, PA -Game 1 Recap: The bats came to life for the Fightins, who took Portland starter Trey Ball deep four times on the way to a 6-2 victory. Tyler Viza took the ball in game one and put together his second straight quality start. In six innings of work,
Reading, PA -
Game 1 Recap: The bats came to life for the Fightins, who took Portland starter Trey Ball deep four times on the way to a 6-2 victory. Tyler Viza took the ball in game one and put together his second straight quality start. In six innings of work, Viza scattered five hits and allowed a pair of runs while only walking one and striking out five.
Portland got on the board first with a Jeremy Barfield solo home run in the top of the second, but Viza would get a double play ball and ground out to the limit the damage. In the home half, Jiandido Tromp singled to right, which set up a Kyle Martin two run home run that landed on the pavilion in right field. The Fightins bats did not stop there, and Mitch Walding doubled off the wall right before Malquin Canelo brought him home with another double.
Viza kept the Sea Dogs bats quiet in the third and fourth to keep the lead at 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Tromp led off the inning with a solo home run to left center and the thunder continued when Walding connected on his sixth home run to make it 5-1.
The Sea Dogs would scratch across a run in the top of the sixth against Viza on a sacrifice fly by Josh Tobias to make it 5-2. Viza capped off his stellar outing by striking out Mike Olt with runners on first and third, ending the threat and the side in the sixth.
Tromp led off the bottom of the sixth for Reading, and just like in the fourth, came through with his second home run of the day to make it 6-2. Vìctor Arano came in to pitch a 1-2-3 seventh in his first appearance of the season to close out game one and give the Fightins a chance for the Wednesday sweep.
Game 2 Recap: In a game that took three hours and seventeen minutes, Reading and Portland battled into the thirteenth inning before the Fightins sent the fans home happy with a sweep of the Sea Dogs.
John Richy got the call in game two for the Fightins and got off to a rocky start in the second half of the twin bill. Back to back singles by Danny Mars and Joseph Monge in the first set up a Rafael Devers two run triple which gave Portland a 2-0 lead. Richy would hold the Sea Dogs scoreless over the next three innings, holding the score at 2-0. Meanwhile, Portland's Taylor Grover kept the Fightins off the board through three but ran into trouble in the fourth.
Andrew Pullin led off the inning with a double and was chased home by an Angelo Mora single to cut the deficit to 2-1. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the sixth when the Fightins would show their teeth and strike against Ty Buttrey. With two outs in the inning, Angelo Mora stepped up and launched a 443-foot home run over the billboards in right field to tie the game at two.
Heading into the seventh, Yacksel Ríos came into pitch for Reading and was met by a leadoff home run by Mike Olt, who for the second straight night gave Portland the lead late in the game. Williams Jerez came in to the close out the game for Portland but couldn't do it. Mitch Walding led off with a triple and scored just one batter later on an Osmel Aguila game tying double.
Short on starting pitching, right fielder Jeremy Barfield went out for his third inning of relief and would only throw two pitches in the inning. With one majestic swing, it was Andrew Pullin who sent everyone home happy with his twelfth homer of the season, giving Reading a chance at the series victory in the finale on Thursday morning.
America's Classic Ballpark is proud to be a part of Pennsylvania's Americana Region. Season tickets for the 2017 season are available online at Fightins.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in-person at FirstEnergy Stadium. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter at @ReadingFightins and like them on Facebook viawww.facebook.com/fightins.
