Gillies' Walk-Off Single Tops off Wild Night at FirstEnergy
June 20, 2013 - Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release
READING, Pa.---Tyson Gillies hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning to cap off a Reading Fightin Phils (30-40) six-run rally as the team rolled a 9-8 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs (36-34) Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Gillies' extra-innings hit came with two men on after Anthony Hewitt walked and Sebastian Valle singled at the top of the frame. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Gillies drove home Hewitt on a hit to center field to send the Fightins to their sixth win in the past seven games.
Trailing by six runs after three innings of play, Reading added a run in both the fourth and fifth inning thanks to a monster showing by Jim Murphy. Murphy, who hit a two-run blast in the first inning, powered his second solo shot in the fourth inning. The first baseman followed it with a run-scoring hit in the fourth inning to cut Portland's lead to four runs.
Murphy struck again in the eighth inning with another single that sparked the Fightins late-inning comeback. With Murphy on base, Tyler Henson hit his fourth home run of the season (and second hit of the night) to bring Reading within two runs of Portland's hold on the game.
An inning later, Sebastian Valle picked up where Henson left off and crushed a fastball to left field as the Fightins inched closer to the Sea Dogs. Later in the inning, Albert Cartwright singled to center field and quickly advanced to third after Edgar Duran grounded a single to right field. With Miguel Abreu batting, Albert Cartwright scored the tying run after a wild pitch by Miguel Celestino.
The largest comeback of the season could only be trumped by the return of Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. Utley, who was placed on the disabled list after straining his right oblique, made his first start with the team at second base as part of his rehab assignment. The five-time All-Star made a few nice plays in the field, thwarting two stolen base attempts during the game alongside catcher Valle. He went 0-for-4 with four fly outs before exiting the game following the eighth inning.
Reading's bullpen was impressive following starting pitcher Brody Colvin's rocky start that saw him give up eight earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Leading the relief efforts was Tyler Knigge who extended his scoreless streak to 12 innings after hurling 2 1/3 innings and striking out two. Overall, Knigge, Hector Neris, Jay Johnson, and Luis Garcia tossed 7 1/3 innings with Garcia coming away with his second win at the Double-A level this season.
Top Phillies prospect LHP Jesse Biddle (3-6, 2.95 ERA) will start Thursday night as Reading looks to win their second straight series. Portland sends former reliever RHP Keith Couch (4-2, 4.31 ERA) to the rubber. Tune into Oldies 1340 WRAW-AM, Service Electric's 2Sports, or MiLB.TV for the game broadcast with Fightins play-by-play announcer Anthony Oppermann starting at 6:05 p.m.
Fightins Fillers: Murphy's four RBIs were the most in a single-game by a Reading hitter all season. With his two home runs tonight, Murphy has 13 on the season, one behind Eastern League leader Andrew Lambo of Altoona...All five of the home runs Portland starter Anthony Ranaudo has surrendered have come against Fightins batters. Three of the five were hit by Murphy...The Fightins improved to 9-8 in June following Wednesday, matching May's win total.
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