Fightins smash Sea Dogs, 8-3, on Ruth Hartman bobblehead night
The Reading Fightin Phils returned to FirstEnergy Stadium with a vengeance Friday night.
After scoring only one run in their 3-1 loss to the Portland Sea Dogs Thursday night, the Fightins lit up the scoreboard, scoring 8 runs on 13 hits. It's their first win of the season with a 1-1 record.
Three players combined to gather nine out of the 13 hits, which is two more than the seven hits the Sea Dogs had all game. Jorge Alfaro had four, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while Angelo Mora went 3-for-4 and J.P. Crawford went 2-for-4.
Normally, Alfaro would be the standout, but Mora stole the show.
Not only was the 23-year-old a triple away from the cycle, but in his second at-bat Mora blasted a pitch off Sea Dogs pitcher Mitch Atkins that sailed over the green roof above the pool deck in right field.
With all the offensive power, starter Ben Lively's outing almost gets forgotten. The 24-year-old went six innings and struck out seven Sea Dogs to pick up the win. What's more impressive is that Lively sat down 10 batters in a row through four innings.
The 6-foot-4 pitcher has something on Portland. His seven strikeouts are the most for Lively since May 3, 2015 when he struck out nine against, who else, but Portland.
The victory followed an emotional pre-game ceremony of the Fightins honoring "Queen of Baseballtown" Ruth Hartman, who passed away this past November. Before the game, Hartman was inducted into the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame as well as having flowers placed at her memorial red seat next to the Fightins' dugout.
The Fightins also honored Hartman by giving bobbleheads away that were modeled after Hartman's time as a player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Reading will return to the park Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. when Nick Pivetta will face off against Portland right-hander Kevin McAvoy.