(ERIE, PA) - For the first time this season, the Erie SeaWolves won a ballgame when trailing after the eighth. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of the Fightin Phils, who failed to score after racing out to a 4-0 lead against Anthony Castro in the third. The 'Wolves scored
(ERIE, PA) - For the first time this season, the Erie SeaWolves won a ballgame when trailing after the eighth. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of the Fightin Phils, who failed to score after racing out to a 4-0 lead against Anthony Castro in the third. The 'Wolves scored two in the ninth to force extras, then won on Daniel Pinero's bloop single in the tenth for the Fightins first extra-inning loss on the road. The teams meet for the final time in the regular season in Thursday's roadtrip finale, with Reading looking to salvage the final game and go home with a 3-3 mark.
Castro had a fast first inning, which started when Luke Williams advanced to second on a hot smash to third that was thrown away by Issac Paredes for a two-base error. A slow grounder to first from Mickey Moniak pushed Williams to third, and he scored on a wild pitch to give the Fightin Phils a 1-0 lead without a base hit.
Reading came out quick in the second inning as well, loading the bases with no outs on walks to Josh Stephen and Arquimedes Gamboa that were sandwiched around a single by Nick Maton . On a 1-0 pitch, Jose Gomez made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to center for his 25th run batted in, but Castro would strand the bases loaded when he got Moniak to ground out to first again for the final out.
They doubled the lead in the third, loading the bases again on three straight singles from Alec Bohm , Darick Hall , and Stephen. Maton drove in the third run with a groundout, and Gamboa squibbed a single the other way to left for a 4-0 advantage. Castro allowed just one more hit when Bohm singled with two outs in the fourth, but was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into double by right fielder Derek Hill .
Connor Seabold delivered six strong innings for the second straight start, facing the minimum over his first three innings because of a caught stealing in the second and an inning-ending double play in the third. The SeaWolves eventually got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Hill led off with a single and Paredes drilled his 10th homer to left to cut the deficit in half and make it a 4-2 ballgame.
The defense helped Seabold out in a big way in the fifth and sixth. After the righthander registered two strikeouts, he walked number eight hitter Sergio Alcántara to bring up Chace Numata . The 'Wolves catcher found the gap in left center with a double, but Moniak's relay to Gamboa nabbed Alcantara at the plate for the final out. In his final disappearing act in the sixth, Seabold had the bases loaded with just one out after a pair of singles from Hill and Paredes plus a walk. Pinero smoked a line drive to third that was caught by Gomez, who threw back to first for an inning-ending double play that kept the lead at 4-2.
Erie relievers Mark Ecker and Zac Houston each spun two scoreless innings with just one hit and a walk allowed to keep the Fightin Phils off the scoreboard. In the home eighth, they'd load the bases again on three straight two-out walks, but Jeff Singer came on and bailed the R-Phils out of it with a flyout to end the threat and send it to the ninth.
Down to their last three outs, Cam Gibson led off with a walk for the SeaWolves, and Numata blooped a single down the left field line to put the tying runs at the corners with just one out. Hill's third single made it 4-3 and after a fielder's choice groundout, Jose Azocar tied the score with a two-out single to the right side on a 2-2 pitch.
The R-Phils failed to score in extras despite barreling up a few balls against Drew Carlton (3-3). Needing just a run for the win in the tenth, the SeaWolves got help when a wild pitch pushed the starter runner to third base with no outs. The Fightins then tried re-shuffling their defense with a five-man infield and two-man outfield, but Pinero served a single up the middle for a 5-4 Erie win.
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