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Reading, PA - The Fightin Phils discovered some of their old magic early against Rumble Ponies starter Corey Oswalt, who was pitching for the first time since starting the All-Star Game for the East. When Mitch Walding and Angelo Mora hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning, it looked like Reading was on the right track as they took their first lead of the series. But the Ponies had answers and a 5-3 win before a wonderful crowd of 8,407 allowed them to pull within half a game of the Fightin Phils for second place in the division.
Cole Irvin was making his fourth Double-A start in the third game of the series, trying to stay perfect after winning his first three games. He and Oswalt each went three up and three down in the first, right before the Fightins got back-to-back home runs from Walding and Mora with one out in the second. Nick Rickles and Drew Stankiewicz followed with singles, but Oswalt (7-3) turned his night around and would allow just one more hit over the next four innings.
The Rumble Ponies comeback began in the third when Oswalt helped himself out with his second homer of the year: a splash shot that ended up in the pool in right to make it 2-1. Binghamton went ahead for good in the fourth after loading the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly from Kevin Taylor locked the game at two, and a single from Tomás Nido put the Ponies up 3-2.
More action arrived in the seventh when a Fightin Phils error opened the door to two more Rumble Ponies runs. L.J. Mazzilli then continued his impressive series with his second of three hits, an RBI single that extended the lead for Binghamton to 5-2.
The Fightin Phils final push came in the seventh against Rumble Ponies reliever Corey Taylor, who promptly allowed a leadoff single to Rickles. After two strikeouts, Zach Coppola smoked a triple away from the outfield that ended up at the base of the center field wall to cut the deficit to 5-3. Unfortunately, that's as close as the Fightin Phils would get, and their fourth straight loss set up the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 2:05.  
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.