EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Fightins pitching carries them to series win in Richmond

Published on July 7, 2019 under Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Richmond, VA) - Approaching the franchise-record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in Sunday's series finale against the Flying Squirrels, the Fightin Phils got another dominant effort from their staff in their final trip to The Diamond. Despite allowing a run in the first which ended the streak at 21.2 innings, the Squirrels wouldn't score for the rest of the afternoon after shutout losses in games two and three. The big inning came in the third, when the Fightins sent eight to the plate and got a tying double from Luke Williams and a game-winning two-RBI triple from All-Star Grenny Cumana on the way to a 4-1 final.

Making his first start since his rookie season in 2015, Seth McGarry was making his third appearance after firing four scoreless innings in each of his first two games back. He walked Flying Squirrels leadoff hitter Bryce Johnson, and also walked Jalen Miller with one out to clog the bases. Johnson eventually got to third on a steal and throwing error from catcher Henri Lartigue, and Jacob Heyward got the Squirrels their first run since the second inning of game one with a sacrifice fly.

McGarry struck out against Flying Squirrels starter Brandon Lawson for the first out in the top of the third, and Arquimedes Gamboa reached for the second time with a single to put the tying run on base. The shortstop stole his 17th base to tie Williams for the team lead, and Williams promptly came through with a hard double to left to tie the score. A five-pitch walk to Cornelius Randolph brought up Cumana, and Saturday night's hero delivered again with a 2-RBI triple to right that eluded the diving attempt of Jacob Heyward. The lead grew to 4-1 when Lawson (2-5) uncorked a wild pitch, and he'd later come out after four-and-a-third innings in what eventually became his third loss in as many starts against the R-Phils.

Jakob Hernandez followed McGarry after three innings, and improved to 5-0 with two hitless innings of relief. Garrett Cleavinger worked around three hits to register a scoreless sixth, and Jeff Singer finished his two innings with four strikeouts to lower his earned run average to 1.96. In the ninth, Addison Russ converted his 13th save, needing just six pitches to retire the side and keep the Squirrels stuck on four hits for the entire ballgame.

Offensively, the Fightin Phils got two hits apiece from Gamboa and Cumana while Randolph (1-for-3) and left fielder Josh Stephen each added two walks. The Fightin Phils closed out their regular-season series against the Flying Squirrels with a 12-5 record, including an 8-2 mark at The Diamond.

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 July 7, 2019


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