(HARTFORD, CT) - Cornelius Randolph went yard for the second straight day, and Julian Garcia gave Reading five innings of one-run ball as the Fightins earned a split with Hartford after a 5-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Dunkin Donuts Park.Reading (37-27) (76-55) now stands 5.5 up on the Yard
(HARTFORD, CT) - Cornelius Randolph went yard for the second straight day, and Julian Garcia gave Reading five innings of one-run ball as the Fightins earned a split with Hartford after a 5-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Dunkin Donuts Park.
Reading (37-27) (76-55) now stands 5.5 up on the Yard Goats (31-32) (68-62) with just eight games remaining on the regular-season slate.
The Fightins jumped ahead in the first, after Luke Williams doubled to left-center to start the ballgame. Josh Stephen brought him in with a single up the middle to put the Fightins up 1-0.
Alec Bohm singled as well to place two on with nobody out, but Matt Whitehouse (4-4) managed to get out of it without further damage, inducing a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.
Reading tacked on a pair in the third. Stephen drew a leadoff walk, and with one down Darick Hall took a free pass as well. Randolph followed with a single to right to score Stephen, and Jose Gomez pulled a base hit through the left side to plate Hall and make it 3-0 Reading.
Hartford grabbed a run off Julian Garcia in the third. Whitehouse drew a walk to start the frame, and Vance Vizcaino brought him in with a double to get Hartford on the board.
Arquimedes Gamboa and Jack Conley opened the sixth inning with back-to-back singles against reliever Alexander Guillen. Jose Antequera pinch hit and put down a sacrifice bunt, and Williams delivered a sacrifice fly to left to boost the lead to 4-1.
Garcia (2-1) dealt five innings and allowed one run in the start, permitting four hits and two walks while collecting five strikeouts.
Randolph extended the lead to four in the seventh. With two down, Randolph crushed his second home run in as many days, a no-doubter to right for his eighth long ball of the season.
Jeff Singer tossed two scoreless innings in relief, while Jakob Hernandez and Addison each added a shutout frame to finish it off.
The Fightins return home to host the Bowie Baysox in a four-game series beginning on Monday at 7 p.m. Connor Seabold has the start against Cody Sedlock, and the game will be broadcast on 610 ESPN and the Fightins Radio Network beginning with the Fightins Pregame Show at 6 p.m.
