EL Reading Fightin Phils

Fightin Phils Pitching Strong in 7-1 Win over Yard Goats

Published on April 16, 2023 under Eastern League (EL)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Reading, PA) - A strong day on the mound, and timely hitting gave the Reading Fightin Phils a 5-1 over the Hartford Yard Goats on Sunday afternoon. The R-Phils end up salvaging two of the six games in their first home series of the season.

After a scoreless couple of frames, the R-Phils struck first for the sixth time in nine games. Carlos De La Cruz crushed his third home run of the season, all of which came in the series with Hartford. His long ball put the R-Phils up 1-0.

Reading would then tack two more on in the following inning. Madison Stokes, who was making his first start of the season and had three hits, doubled and came around when Johan Rojas lined a two-run home run down the left field to put Reading up 3-0.

David Parkinson and Brett Schulze would respectively work out of jams in the third and fourth innings, but Hartford would respond in the fifth. Colin Simpson crushed a solo shot to right field to cut the Yard Goat deficit to 3-1.

The R-Phils would threaten again in both the fifth and sixth innings. McCarthy Tatum doubled in the fifth but was erased on an inning-ending double play. Then, in the sixth Stokes reached again on a single, but was stranded when Wendell Rijo grounded into a double play.

In the seventh, after Rojas reached on a walk, Oliver Dunn stayed hot with a long triple off the right-center-field wall to extend Reading's lead to 4-1. Tatum would then fly out to center to score Dunn and make it 5-1.

Reading added some insurance in the eighth. With two on, Rijo grounded to short on what looked like a double play ball, but an error scored a run then Rojas singled to score another run to make it 7-1.

On the mound, the win went to Schulze, who was excellent out of the R-Phils bullpen. He faced four batters and struck out all four he faced. Chris McMahon suffered the loss to drop to 0-1 on the season. Parkinson looked solid for Reading over 4.1 innings pitched. He allowed one run, three hits, walked three and struck out two Yard Goats.

With the win, Reading improves to 2-7 on the season and Hartford drops to 5-4. Hartford won the series, taking four out of six games. Up next, Hartford returns home to welcome the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, while the R-Phils head up to Portland to open a six-game series on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:00 Tuesday and you can watch the action on MiLB TV.

The Fightin Phils return home on Tuesday, April 25 for the Morning Game against the Altoona Curve. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. and tickets are still available. You can purchase tickets 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.

Check out the Reading Fightin Phils Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from April 16, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central