EL Reading Fightin Phils

Crooked Innings Plague Reading in First Loss of Series

Published on June 23, 2023 under Eastern League (EL)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Portland, ME) - A strong night from David Parkinson was not enough as the Reading Fightin Phils fell to the Portland Sea Dogs 9-5 on Friday night. It was the first win for Portland in this week's six-game series.

Parkinson was strong, going six innings and picking up a season-high nine strikeouts. He was plagued by four runs in the third inning, but aside from that the lefty was solid. He also matched. season-high in innings pitched.

Portland's Tyler Dearden led off the third inning with a double. The next batter, Tyler McDonough lined out to Oliver Dunn at second, but he attempted to throw behind Dearden and it went into left field, allowing Dearden to move to third. Dearden scored on an infield single from Elih Marrero. Chase Meidroth drove home a run with a single and Marcelo Mayer hit a sac fly to make it 4-0 Portland.

Reading responded with a run in the top of the fourth. Jhailyn Ortiz led off the inning with a single and scored on a single from Madison Stokes to make it 4-1 Portland. In the sixth, Casey Martin walked and scored on an RBI double from Oliver Dunn to make it 4-2.

The Sea Dogs tacked on two more runs in the seventh to extend their lead. A single from Meidroth and a sac fly from Mayer scored the runs and extended Portland's lead to 6-2. But, the R-Phils cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. Dunn and Stokes both reached ad came around to score thanks to singles from Cody Roberts and Matthew Kroon to make it 6-4.

But, in the eighth, Portland broke it wide open. McDonough doubled and Marrero followed with a single to score McDonough. After back-to-back walks from Jake Thompson, Nathan Hickey hit an infield fly ball that was dropped by Kroon, allowing two runs to score and making it 9-4 Portland. A Martin single scored Rojas in the ninth, but Reading fell 9-5.

De La Cruz extended his on-base streak to 37 games, thanks to two walks and a single. Dunn also moved his on-base streak to 22 games thanks to two hits. Rojas' streak of six-straight multi-hit games came to an end with an 0-3 night.

The win went to Hunter Dobbins, who was impressive over five innings in his first double-A start. Parkinson suffered the loss to drop to 2-3. Jone Jones earned the save with 1.1 innings of work, his first of the season.

Reading and Portland are back in action Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. RHP Cristian Hernandez is scheduled to start for Reading and RHP Brian Van Belle will go for Portland. Radio coverage is underway at 5:40 p.m. at rphils.com/radio. A video stream is also available on MiLB TV or the Bally Live App.

The Fightin Phils return home on Wednesday, June 28 to begin a series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants), that runs through Monday, July 3. Tickets to all games are still available at rphils.com/tickets, by calling 610-370-BALL or in person at the Customers Bank Ticket Office.

The 2023 R-Phils season is presented by Pepsi. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter @ReadingFightins, like us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram @Fightins.

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Eastern League Stories from June 23, 2023


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