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MLB

Luciano and Hardman Stay Hot, Reading’s Late Rally too much in 14-12 Loss

By Somerset Patriots
May 5, 2026

The Somerset Patriots fell 14-12 against the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Marco Luciano’s first inning home run was Somerset’s Double-A leading 11th first inning HR of the season. The 11 first inning home runs are tied for first with Sugarland (Houston Triple-A) in Minor League

The Somerset Patriots fell 14-12 against the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

Marco Luciano’s first inning home run was Somerset’s Double-A leading 11th first inning HR of the season. The 11 first inning home runs are tied for first with Sugarland (Houston Triple-A) in Minor League Baseball and lead all MLB teams. With three first inning runs, Somerset’s 29 first inning runs rank second-most in Double-A this year.

Somerset’s offense exploded for 19 hits, the second-most in a game this season, scoring a season-high 10 runs with two outs. Somerset’s 19 hits marked the third time the Patriots have mustered 17-plus hits in a game, the most of any Double-A team this season.

With three home runs in the contest, Somerset notched its eighth game with three-plus home runs. Somerset has smashed multiple homers in nine straight games and 13 of their last 15 games. Somerset’s 52 home runs this season lead all of Double-A and mark the most home runs by a Double-A team through the season’s first 28 games since at least 2005.

Over Somerset’s last 15 games, the Patriots have hit 36 home runs with 58.4% of their runs in that span coming around to score on the long ball. Somerset’s five batters with seven-plus homers lead all of MiLB.

Trent Sellers (3.2 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 3 BB, 3 K) made his fifth start of the season, tacking on three strikeouts for a team-high 30 punchouts.

DH Jace Avina (1-for-6, HR, RBI, R, BB) rocked his eighth home run of the season with a solo shot in the fifth inning. Avina extended his hit streak to a season-high tying six games. In that span, he’s hit a home run in four of those games, slashing .286/.310/1.096 with six XBH and eight RBI.

After one home run in his first 12 games, Avina has seven home runs in his last 12 games. He has raised his OPS from .482 to .764 in that span. Avina’s eight home runs this season are tied for third in the Yankees minor league system and tied for fourth in the Eastern League.

RF Garrett Martin (2-for-5, BB, 2 R) picked up his sixth multi-hit game of the season with back-to-back singles in the sixth and eighth innings. In his last six games, Martin is 8-for-27 with four HR, seven RBI and three multi-hit games.

LF Jackson Castillo (1-for-6, R) extended his team-leading hit streak to a career-high 10 games. It’s the longest hit streak by a Patriot this season.

Through ten games this season, Castillo is 16-for-39 with three XBH, seven RBI and five walks. Dating back to last season, Castillo has a hit in 12 straight games with Somerset.

2B Marco Luciano (3-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB) reached base a season-high tying five times. Luciano smashed his ninth home run of the season in the first inning, registering back-to-back at bats with a home run after hitting a solo homer in the ninth inning 5/3/26 vs. Portland. It marked homers in back-to-back games for Luciano for the second time this season.

Luciano extended his hit streak to a season-high seven games. In that span, he is slashing .480/.567/1.120 with five home runs, 11 RBI and four multi-hit games.

Luciano’s nine home runs rank tied for first in the Eastern League, second among Yankees farmhands and tied for second in Double-A. He leads the Yankees minor league system in SLG (.696) and OPS (1.107), is tied for first in XBH (16) and runs (27) and tied for third in AVG (.326), hits (30) and doubles (seven).

1B Coby Morales (3-for-6, RBI, 2 R, SB) notched his first three-hit game of his Double-A career, securing his 10th multi-hit game this season with a RBI single in the second inning.

Morales’ 24 RBI rank second in the Eastern League and third among Yankees farmhands, while his 1.020 OPS ranks second in the Yankees minor league system. Morales has reached base safely in 25 of 27 starts this season and 26 of 27 appearances overall.

3B Tyler Hardman (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 2 R) homered in his fourth consecutive game for the first time in his career. In that span, he’s mashed five homers and collected 12 RBI.

Hardman’s 26 RBI lead the Eastern League, rank second in Double-A and second among Yankees farmhands. Hardman extended his hit streak to a season-high seven games. In that span, he’s 13-for-26, with five HR, 13 RBI and four walks.

His eight home runs this season are tied for third in the Yankees minor league system and tied for fourth in the Eastern League. Over his last nine games, Hardman has raised his batting average from .200 to .289 and OPS from .727 to 1.001, slashing .467/.543/.1000 with five HR and 13 RBI in that stretch.

CF DJ Gladney (3-for-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R) tallied his third three-hit game of the season and seventh multi-hit game, notching multiple extra base hits for the second time this year.

Gladney extended his on-base streak to 19 games. The longest on-base streak by a Somerset Patriot this season, the streak marks the longest by a Patriot since Dylan Jasso reached in 28 straight games from 5/20/25 to 6/24/25.

SS Owen Cobb (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) collected his second multi-hit game of the season, extending his hit streak to a season-high four games. During the hit streak, Cobb is 5-for-14, with two doubles, two walks and six RBI.

***
Box Score

Postgame Notes

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