Mick Abel Sharp in R-Phils Win

BOX SCORE

(Portland, ME) - A strong start from Mick Abel and an offensive outburst powered the Reading Fightin Phils to a 10-1 win over the Portland Sea Dogs on Friday night.

Reading struck first right out the gate when Oliver Dunn blasted a solo home run over 400 feet to right-center field. Dunn's first home run of the season put the R-Phils up 1-0 just two batters into the game.

The Sea Dogs would respond in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run of their own. Matthew Lugo would blast one over the Maine Monster in left field. Lugo's first long ball of the season evened the game at one.

The R-Phils would explode offensively for three runs in the fourth inning. Matthew Kroon doubled to deep left field to score to Fightin Phils and then Wendell Rijo punched a single back up the middle to score Kroon and put Reading up 4-1. Reading would load the bases with two outs and chase Portland starter CJ Liu from the contest after only 3.2 innings pitched.

New Portland pitcher Rio Gomez would quickly get hit around by the R-Phils. Gomez hit Johan Rojas with a pitch, then Dunn lined a double down the right-field line to put the Fightin Phils up 7-1 at the end of the fourth.

Abel was pulled with two outs in the fifth inning after 4.2 innings pitched and looked strong tonight. The Phillies' number-two prospect struck out five batters while giving up three hits and one earned run.

Taylor Lehman followed Abel out of the bullpen and keep Portland's bats quiet. The lefty went 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit, no runs and striking out two Sea Dogs' hitters.

The runs continued to pour on in the sixth inning for Reading. With bases loaded, Dunn knocked in another run, this time with a walk. Carlos De La Cruz followed with a fly out to right field that scored Nick Podkul to make it 9-1 R-Phils. Kroon then flew out to left center to score Rojas on a sacrifice fly to get into double digits for a 10-1 Reading lead. It's the first time all season the Fightin Phils scored double-digit runs.

Dunn would single again in the eighth on a groundball to shortstop for his third hit of the day. He also reached in all five at-bats tonight against Portland. It was already Dunn's sixth multi-hit game of the season and his first three-hit game since Apr. 9, 2022, which came when Dunn played for Somerset against the Reading Fightin Phils.

Lehman would pick up the win for Reading to improve to 1-0 on the season, while Liu suffered the loss to drop to 1-1 for Portland.

With the win, Reading improves to 4-9 and Portland falls to 9-4. The teams have now split the first four games of this week's six games series with two day games on tap this weekend. The two teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. You can watch the action on MiLB TV.

The Fightin Phils return home on Tuesday, April 25 for the Morning Game against the Altoona Curve. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. and tickets are still available. You can purchase tickets at rphils.com/tickets, by calling 610-370-BALL or in person at the Customers Bank Ticket Office.

The 2023 R-Phils season is presented by Pepsi. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter @ReadingFightins, like us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram @Fightins.