EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Ramirez, R-Phils Win Second-Straight, Beat Squrrels 7-4 Saturday

Published on July 2, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Reading, PA) -- Steve Susdorf and Matt Rizzotti each homered, J.C. Ramirez (7-7, 4.06) was good over six innings, and the R-Phils beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-4 on Saturday evening in game three of their four-game series from FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, PA.

Susdorf added his sixth home run of the season in the sixth inning, and it helped Reading beat the Flying Squirrels for the second time in the series. The 25-year-old ripped three hits on the evening and was a triple short of the cycle. A native of Valencia, CA, Susdorf raised his average to .329 and has been solid over his last 10 games.

The Fresno State product, who helped take his team to a College World Series championship in 2008, is now hitting .361 with a home run and five RBIs over his last 10 games. In fact, Susdorf has been even more impressive over his last five games -- hitting .500 with a home run and three RBIs.

As for Ramirez, the 22-year-old allowed four runs on four hits over six innings en-route to his second-straight victory. The Nicaraguan native fanned a season-high nine batters and walked two on Saturday evening. After struggling through the month of June, Ramirez has seemed to have turned a corner. He's put four-straight solid starts together - going at least six innings in each.

Reliever Derrick Loop came on in relief of Ramirez and tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Josh Zeid pitched the final two innings and allowed one hit over two scoreless frames to earn his first save of the season. Zeid, a native of New Haven, CT, fanned four batters and now has seven strikeouts over his last two appearances (3 innings).

Reading scored two runs off Richmond starter Ryan Verdugo (5-4, 4.04) in the first inning, and six in all against the California native. In all, Verdugo allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits over five innings and was saddled with the loss.

The R-Phils went back over the .500 mark with the victory -- their second-straight. They were also helped out offensively by Rizzotti and Carlos Rivero. Rizzotti launched his 15th home run of the season in the fifth inning and finished the game 1-3 with three RBIs. Rivero, a member of the Phillies 40-man roster, went 3-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.

The two teams will conclude their series on Sunday. Reading will send RHP Tyler Cloyd (1-1, 4.06) to the hill, while RHP Henry Sosa (4-0, 1.61) gets the nod for Richmond.

Coverage begins with the R-Phils pre-game show on ESPN Radio 1240 AM WIOV and readingphillies.com at 6:05 p.m. Brian Seltzer will have the call for all of the action. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

Check out the Reading Fightin Phils Statistics

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



Eastern League Stories from July 2, 2011


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