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EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

R-Phils Smack 3 Homers in 8-5 Loss at Akron

June 4, 2019 - Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(AKRON, OH) - Luke Williams, Darick Hall, and Austin Listi all left the yard on Tuesday night, but the Fightin Phils dropped the series opener to the Akron RubberDucks, 8-5 at Canal Park.

Grenny Cumana extended his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games, finishing 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

With Trenton's loss at Hartford, Reading sits 1.5 games behind the first-place Thunder in the first half division, with two weeks remaining.

The RubberDucks (29-27) leapt ahead in the bottom of the first, plating four runs on six hits off starter Bailey Falter (4-4). Ernie Clement led off with a single up the middle on Falter's first pitch, and Eastern League Player of the Month Ka'ai Tom followed with a two-run homer, his 10th of the year.

After Falter got Wilson Garcia to fly to right for the first out, Akron proceeded to knock three consecutive singles, pushing the lead to 4-0 on RBIs by Mitch Longo and Alexis Pantoja.

The Fightins cut into the deficit in the second, when Cumana led off with a double to left off Tanner Tully. With one down, Luke Williams struck a two-base hit to left-center, scoring Cumana to make it a 4-1 game.

Akron (29-27) expanded its advantage in the third when Garcia and Longo opened the frame with back-to-back doubles, and Nellie Rodriguez added an RBI single to put the RubberDucks up 6-1. Tom's RBI single an inning later pushed the Fightins deficit to six.

Williams led off the fifth inning by cranking a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left for his second home run of the season, making it a 7-2 game.

Garrett Cleavinger took over in relief of Falter in the fifth. Nellie Rodriguez added a solo shot in the inning to put Akron up 8-2.

Reading kept it close, as Mickey Moniak singled up the middle to lead off the sixth. Hall then jumped on a 1-0 pitch and crushed a bullet two-run homer to right for his 10th long ball of the second, cutting the deficit to 8-4.

Cleavinger settled in to work three innings in relief, and racked up a season-high six strikeouts while permitting a run on two hits on the night. The lefty struck out the final five batters he faced.

Listi brought Reading to within three in the eighth inning, driving the first pitch he saw from reliever Kyle Nelson out to left for his fourth long ball of the year. The homer was the first earned run Nelson has permitted all season in 23 innings of work between Lynchburg and Akron.

The Fightins battle the RubberDucks in game two of the three-game series on Wednesday, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Mauricio Llovera will take the hill for Reading against Jake Paulson. The game will be broadcast on 610 ESPN and the Fightins broadcast network beginning at 6:30 p.m.

America's Classic Ballpark is proud to be a part of Pennsylvania's Americana Region and was voted the #1 stadium in all of Double-A by MiLB's Ben Hill. Follow the Fightins on Twitter at @ReadingFightins and like them on Facebook via www.facebook.com/fightins. Purchase tickets at the Seidel Auto Group Deck TODAY - call or TEXT 610-370-BALL, and download the Fightins game and promotional schedule at fightins.com/calendar.

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