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EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Fightins drop finale to Sens 4-3 but still finish roadtrip at 5-3

May 27, 2019 - Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Harrisburg, PA) - It was a very well-played series between the Fightin Phils and Senators all weekend at FNB Field, with strong starting pitching and standout defense highlighting the five games. With a doubleheader sweep on Sunday night, the Fightin Phils ensured themselves of back-to-back series wins after taking two out of three in Richmond earlier in the week. Monday's Memorial Day matinee was flying by, but eventually the Sens went up 4-1 and held on for a 4-3 final to steal the final game in two hours and 17 minutes.

Making his first start against the Fightins, righthander Wil Crowe was right in the thick of things all day long. Facing his counterpart JoJo Romero, Reading's starter led off the third inning with a booming double into left center before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Arquimedes Gamboa soon continued his impressive series with a sacrifice fly to right for his seventh run batted in and a 1-0 lead, which looked like it would hold with Romero on point.

Romero was perfect for four-and-a-third innings, retiring the first 13 Senators he faced until Jose Marmolejos singled in the fifth in his return from Triple-A Fresno. Romero then got the next two outs, with a strikeout of Tyler Goeddel giving him four over five scoreless frames.

The turning point came in the bottom of the sixth, which started with a leadoff single from shortstop Luis Sardinas. Crowe's sacrifice bunt pushed the tying run to second with one out, but Romero inched closer with a flyout from Chuck Taylor to bring up Adrian Sanchez. On 2-2, Romero got a swing-and-miss for what should have been the final out, but the ball bounced away from catcher Austin Bossart to put runners at the corners. And on the very next pitch, Austin Davidson lined a singled back up the box to tie the score.

Harrisburg would soon take the lead in the home half of the seventh, chipping away with two outs when Goeddel smacked a double into left field. Sardinas' second hit skipped off the third base bag for an RBI and a 2-1 lead, and Crowe jumped on a 2-0 pitch for his first career home run and a 4-1 advantage.

On the mound, Crowe controlled the middle innings, and retired 10 straight before Jose Gomez led off the top of the eighth with a single. Two batters later, Mickey Moniak pulled a line drive into right field, bringing up the middle of the lineup with the tying runs on base. Adam Haseley knocked Crowe (5-3) out of the game with a double to left that made it 4-2, and closer Aaron Barrett was brought in to pick up the last five outs.

With a shift on for Darick Hall, the big first baseman pulled a hard grounder into right that scored Moniak to cut the deficit to 4-3. Barrett then ended the inning with a flyout, leaving Haseley at third base as the tying run. Barrett earned his 10th save with three groundouts in the ninth, as the Fightins finished the game by outhitting the Sens 8-6. Haseley and Cornelius Randolph combined on half of those with two hits apiece, and Jakob Hernandez threw the last inning-and-a-third after Romero (0-2) took his second loss on the trip in his longest and strongest effort of the season over 6.2 innings.

America's Classic Ballpark is proud to be a part of Pennsylvania's Americana Region. Season tickets for the 2019 season are available online at Fightins.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in-person at the Weidenhammer Ticket Office at FirstEnergy Stadium. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter at @ReadingFightins, Instagram at @fightins, and like them on Facebook via www.facebook.com/fightins.

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Eastern League Stories from May 27, 2019


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