Reading Welcomes Title-Contending Yard Goats to Wrap Up First Half of Season

Fightins, Yard Goats Will Clash In Six-Game Set Starting Tuesday

By By Cory Sparks/Reading Fightin Phils

June 15, 2026

(Reading, PA) - The Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies Double-A) are playing host to the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies Double-A) for the final six-game set of the first half. The Yard Goats lead the Eastern League-Northeast division, while the Fightins boast an impressive 16-13 record at FirstEnergy Stadium. The

The first 2,000 adult fans to attend Tuesday’s game will get an R-Phils Duck-Brown Canvas Workwear Cap. There will also be a live farm animal display, and it’s Taco Tuesday with the team wearing the Los Luchadores de Reading Latino Tribute Uniforms. Wednesday is a “Moana” tribute day, with Moana co-branded merchandise available. Thursday will be the first postgame fireworks performance of the week, sponsored by your Local Kia dealers. It’ll also be a tribute to the Berkshire Mall, featuring Rays Pizza, China Max Food and some Challenge Arcade games. The Fightins will be wearing their Reading Phillies Throwback Thursday uniforms. Friday will be a day full of entertainment. The action will start with a USA Men’s Soccer World Cup watch party. The game vs. Australia will start at 3 PM with gates opening at 2:30. Along with this being Celebrate Your Faith Night, the R-Phils will wear their famous Baseballtown Tribute uniforms for Friday’s matchup. The evening will end with another fireworks show, presented by Love It Here, Go Local. Saturday’s game is a “Toy Story” tribute night, with the R-Phils wearing Toy Story themed jerseys before this week’s mega blast fireworks show, presented by R.M. Palmer Company LLC. The week ends on Sunday with a Father’s Day golf shirt giveaway, as the first 3,000 men in attendance will get a polo that celebrates 60 seasons of Phillies affiliation.

Reading (28-35) is fresh off of a 4-2 home series win against the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox Double-A affiliate). All but one game was determined by two runs or less in a six-game showdown that featured a plethora of remarkable individual performances. Erick Brito went 8-for-20 (.400 AVG) on a week where he hit a game-tying, three-run home run with the Fightins down to their final out on Friday. Raylin Heredia already has a career-best 10 home runs this season, and he slashed .348/.400/.826 on the week with a 1.226 OPS. Caleb Ricketts, after re-joining the team from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, swatted three home runs and a team-best 11 RBI over six games. Starting pitcher Adam Seminaris stole the show on Saturday, dialing up eight innings of one-run ball and tying a career-best with 10 punchouts. The eight-inning outing was the furthest a Fightin Phils pitcher has gone into a ball game since 2018, and it marked the deepest start of any Eastern League hurler this season.

Al Pedrique’s squad currently sits in the top quarter of the Eastern League leaderboard in a variety of categories. On offense, Reading is second in stolen bases (102) and is tied for second home runs (79). On the pitching side, the Fightin Phils have allowed the least amount of walks out of any staff in the league at just 195. Their 1.35 WHIP is also a league-best.

Hartford (35-27) is fresh off of a key weekend that has them with a half-game lead in the division standings entering the final six games of the first half. The Yard Goats just took five-of-seven from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays Double-A affiliate) to put themselves in primed position with a week to play. All but two games were determined by two runs or less in what could go down as a season-defining seven-game stretch. Jackson Cox (1-0) dialed up one of the more impressive starts of the week, spinning 5.1 innings of shutout baseball while allowing just three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.

The Yard Goats are a well-rounded team, ranking second in the Eastern League in doubles (120), second in on-base percentage, fourth in team earned run average (4.49) and fifth in batting average (.251).

Bryant Betancourt has proven to be a legitimate power threat for the Yard goats, leading the team in home runs (12), runs batted in (40) and has logged an impressive .853 OPS in 54 games this season. Aidan Longwell, the team’s doubles leader with 18, is hitting .289 against Reading this year with three home runs and 12 runs batted in.

The pitching matchups for this week are as follows:

Tuesday: LHP Konnor Eaton (4-0, 3.43) vs. RHP Jean Cabrera (2-2, 10.07)
Wednesday: RHP Jack Mahoney (3-0, 0.83) vs. RHP Braydon Tucker (6-3, 1.26)
Thursday: RHP Jackson Cox (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Gage Wood (0-1, 3.21)
Friday: RHP Jake Brooks (1-3, 4.07) vs. RHP Luke Russo (5-3, 4.32)
Saturday: RHP Connor Staine (4-1,4.09) vs. LHP Adam Seminaris (5-5, 2.83)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Kyle Brnovich (1-6, 6.71)

The Rockies top 30 prospects (per MLB.com) on the Yard Goats’ roster are as follows:

No. 4 - OF Jared Thomas
No. 9 - LHP Griffin Herring
No. 10 - 2B Roc Riggio
No. 19 - RHP Jackson Cox
No. 21 - C Cole Messina
No. 25 - LHP Konnor Eaton

The 2026 R-Phils season is presented by Pepsi. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter @ReadingFightins, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram @Fightins.