(Reading, PA) - Give the Harrisburg Senators a lot of credit because they never wilted in game one on Friday night despite trailing the entire evening. The Fightin Phils had everything clicking in unison: a high-powered attack that produced three home runs, including a grand slam from Darick Hall .
(Reading, PA) - Give the Harrisburg Senators a lot of credit because they never wilted in game one on Friday night despite trailing the entire evening. The Fightin Phils had everything clicking in unison: a high-powered attack that produced three home runs, including a grand slam from Darick Hall . And the Phillies top pitching prospect, Adonis Medina , used his fastball effectively, winning his fourth straight start by tossing a season-high six innings. A 9-4 win before a FirstEnergy Stadium crowd of 6,590 got the Fightin Phils (33-24) to within a game of first place with 10 games to play in the first half.
Medina's night started well, with the righthander needing just five pitches to motor through the first because of an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play despite a one-out double from Adrían Sanchez . The power arrived in the second when Austin Listi launched his fifth home run off Senators starter Wil Crowe , who was attempting to defeat the Fightin Phils for the second time in three starts.
In the third, Austin Bossart led off with an infield single into the shortstop hole, and Medina pulled back on a bunt attempt to slash an RBI double down the right field line for his first extra-base hit and a 2-0 lead. Crowe later walked Medina in his second at-bat in the fifth, which turned out to be costly when the R-Phils loaded the bases after a single by Josh Stephen and another walk to Mickey Moniak . That's where Hall blew the game open with a no doubter to right, with his 11th dinger giving Reading its first grand slam of the season and a 6-0 lead.
The Senators didn't score until Medina's final inning in the sixth, which started when Rhett Wiseman led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. With two outs, leadoff batter Luis Garcia singled him home, but the unearned run kept Medina's earned run average at an impressive 3.44. Reading came right back in the bottom of the inning against reliever Jacob Condra-Bogan , who surrendered back-to-back two out hits to Arquimedes Gamboa and Stephen. Gamboa's second single and Stephen's seventh double of the year tacked on a pair of runs to push the lead further to 8-1.
Harrisburg made things interesting in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs before the first out was even recorded. Two singles from Austin Davidson and José Marmolejos started the frame, and four consecutive walks got the Senators within 8-4 to bring up the tying run. At that point, Connor Brogdon saved the day, getting pinch-hitter Chuck Taylor to pop out before snagging a liner off the bat of Garcia to start the Fightins fourth double play to end the threat.
Luke Williams provided the final Fightins run with his second hit on a leadoff homer on the very first pitch of the eighth inning. Brogdon later struck out three in the ninth for his longest appearance of the season, earning the three-inning save for his second at Double-A. The Fightins hit three homers and added three doubles to account for half of their hits. Gamboa, Stephen, and Williams each finished with two hits, while Listi came through with his second three-hit game of the season.
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.
