Rijo Walks It Off For Reading's First Win
BOX SCORE - Somerset 3, Reading 5 The Reading Fightin Phils notched their first victory in a walk off win against the Somerset Patriots, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon. Wendell Rijo sent a ball deep to left field in the bottom of the ninth to score Madison Stokes and send the
BOX SCORE - Somerset 3, Reading 5
The Reading Fightin Phils notched their first victory in a walk off win against the Somerset Patriots, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon. Wendell Rijo sent a ball deep to left field in the bottom of the ninth to score Madison Stokes and send the crowd home happy. The bullpen shined in the win, not allowing a baserunner after the fifth inning.
Elijah Dunham started the scoring in the first with a two-run homer. Somerset added a run in the third to increase their led.
Reading was trailing 3-0 heading into the seventh. Josh Ockimey led things off with a single and came home on Jonathan Guzman's home run, the R-Phils first of the season.
In the bottom of the eighth, behind by just one run, top prospect Jhailyn Ortiz smashed a ball out to left to tie things up at three.
The team sent up the heart of the order in the ninth. Stokes was able to turn a blooper into a double to get in scoring position. Rijo followed and absolutely unleashed a ball out to left field taking the 5-3 win. This was Reading's first victory of the season and first walk-off.
Southpaw Josh Hendrickson got the start for the R-Phils. He recorded four strikeouts while allowing three runs on three hits in three innings of work. McKinley Moore allowed a hit and a walk in two innings. Zach Warren threw a clean frame striking out two. Francisco Morales stunned in his first outing as a relief pitcher. He retired all six batters he faced. Brian Marconi (W, 1-0) came in in a tied top of the ninth and shut down the Patriots batters.
The Double-A affiliate of the Phillies will return home on April 19 with a 6:45 start against the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals). Come celebrate the beginning of a great summer with us! Visit rphils.com/tickets, the Weidenhammer Ticket Office, or call 610-370-BALL to secure your tickets to a game!
Reading travels to Akron to take on the Rubberducks for a six game set from April 12-16.
The 2022 season is presented by Pepsi.
America's Classic Ballpark is proud to be a part of Pennsylvania's Americana Region and was voted the #1 stadium in all of Double-A by MiLB's Ben Hill. Follow the R-Phils at rphils.com, on Twitter and TikTok at @ReadingFightins, on Instagram @fightins, and like them on Facebook via www.facebook.com/fightins for all information.