(Reading, PA) - The early part of the day belonged to the Fightin Phils as they went for their second series win of the season against the Sea Dogs on Wednesday afternoon. The offense disposed of starter Dedgar Jimenez in the second inning with power, and Mauricio Llovera's home debut
(Reading, PA) - The early part of the day belonged to the Fightin Phils as they went for their second series win of the season against the Sea Dogs on Wednesday afternoon. The offense disposed of starter Dedgar Jimenez in the second inning with power, and Mauricio Llovera's home debut was really strong. But the Sea Dogs never quit, coming back with five in the sixth and two more in the seventh to force extras, where they scored four in the tenth for an 11-7 win in just under three-and-a-half hours.
Jimenez was in trouble in the second when he walked Austin Listi and surrendered a quick two-run homer to Darick Hall that hit off the light stanchion in right field for his first longball of the season. Two more walks to Henri Lartigue and Arquimedes Gamboa put a pair on base, and Raul Rivas made it 3-0 with a double into left field in just his second game. Two batters later, Cornelius Randolph blasted his team-leading third home run to right, a three-run shot that blew it open to 6-0.
The Sea Dogs bullpen kept it right there, with the R-Phils last run coming across in the third on a double from Austin Listi for his first hit of the season and another crackshot from Hall that hit off the top of the right field wall. Lefthander Matthew Kent was charged with the run that made it 7-0, but gave the 'Dogs some much needed long relief by going four-and-a-third without allowing another run.
Llovera shined in his Baseballtown debut, finishing 5.1 innings with three runs allowed on four hits with three walks and eight strikeouts. Portland loaded the bases against him to start the sixth, and ended up with six runs on a 2-RBI single from Luke Tendler , a sac fly from Tate Matheny , and a three-run home run from Keith Curcio that cut the lead to 7-5.
In the seventh, they'd tie the score against Jakob Hernandez on a leadoff single from Aneury Tavárez and a one out double from C.J. Chatham that made it a one-run ballgame. Bobby Dalbec's deep fly out pushed Chatham to third, and a wild pitch allowed the tying run to come across and change the ballgame.
Reading's only hit after the third came on an infield single from Grenny Cumana in the sixth. Their other golden chance came in the ninth when Randolph led off with a walk against righthander Andrew Schwaab . Pinch-runner Luke Williams came in as the winning run, but was caught stealing during a sequence where Schwaab (1-0) struck out the last batter he faced to complete three hitless innings of relief.
On the first pitch in extra innings, Tendler singled home Jhon Nunez to give the Sea Dogs their first lead at 8-7. Two more singles from Curcio and catcher Oscar Hernández kept the line moving, and a Tavarez RBI groundout allowed second baseman Brett Netzer to finish the comeback with a two-run single for an 11-7 victory.
America's Classic Ballpark is proud to be a part of Pennsylvania's Americana Region. Season tickets for the 2019 season are available online at Fightins.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in-person at the Weidenhammer Ticket Office at FirstEnergy Stadium. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter at @ReadingFightins, Instagram at @fightins, and like them on Facebook via www.facebook.com/fightins.
