(READING, PA) - The Fightin Phils looked to top pitching prospect Spencer Howard to be the stopper in Friday night's series opener against the Trenton Thunder. With both teams having arrived in Baseballtown very early in the morning, Howard was tasked with taking on former first round pick Clarke Schmidt
(READING, PA) - The Fightin Phils looked to top pitching prospect Spencer Howard to be the stopper in Friday night's series opener against the Trenton Thunder. With both teams having arrived in Baseballtown very early in the morning, Howard was tasked with taking on former first round pick Clarke Schmidt in his Double-A debut. The righthanders battled with mid-90s fastballs, and eventually, the Fightins took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. But the Thunder came back with one in the sixth for the tie, and tagged Jakob Hernandez (5-1) with his first loss thanks to two in the eighth in a 7-5 win before 7,905 at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Thunder put a pair on in the top of the first thanks to a bloop single by Kyle Holder and a two-out walk to cleanup hitter Brandon Wagner . Howard got to 0-2 on designated hitter Isaiah Gilliam, but hung a breaking ball which was sent into the right field pool for a 3-0 Trenton lead.
In the bottom of the second, the Fightin Phils got a two-out homer of their own when catcher Henri Lartigue sent a high drive into left after Josh Stephen had opened the inning with a single. In the fourth, Thunder catcher Kellin Deglan made it 4-2 with his seventh home run, marking the first time in 45 career starts that Howard surrendered two homers in a single game. He'd finish five innings after 81 pitches, including 54 strikes, and permitted five hits with three walks while registering three punchouts.
Shortly after the Thunder went ahead 4-2, the Fightins took their first lead in the home fourth. Back-to-back singles from Darick Hall and Stephen put the tying runs on base, and Cornelius Randolph cut the deficit to one with an RBI double over the head of right fielder Rashad Crawford . After a walk to Lartigue loaded the bases with one out, second baseman Jose Antequera came through with a bouncer back up the middle to drive in a pair and put Reading in front 5-4.
In the sixth, the Thunder tied the score against lefthander Jonathan Hennigan on a two-out single from second baseman Hoy Jun Park at the top of the lineup. They'd go ahead for good in the eighth against Hernandez, who recorded the first two outs on just five pitches before walking number eight hitter Wendell Rijo . A pickoff attempt back to first resulted in a rundown, but Rijo scampered to third when the throw down to second deflected off him into left field. Matt Lipka broke the tie with a flared double down the right field line, and Park brought in his second run with his own double to push the lead to 7-5.
Down to their last three outs in the ninth, the Fightins got the first two batters on when Lartigue walked and Antequera was hit by a pitch from Greg Weissert . Another walk to Nick Maton loaded the bases and put the winning runs on with just one out, but Weissert struck out both Alec Bohm and Hall to earn his first Double-A save and send the R-Phils to just their second four-game losing streak of the season. Bohm finished 2-for-5 with a double, Randolph added two doubles, and Stephen had three hits for the first time in his 98th game.
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