EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Randolph's game-winning homer ends four-game losing streak to finish doubleheader

Published on July 23, 2019 under Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(READING, PA) - The Fightin Phils' busy stretch coming out of the All-Star break continued with a Tuesday night doubleheader against the Rumble Ponies, who escaped with a 3-2 victory on Monday night to take the series opener. The visitors did it again in game one, hanging on for a 2-1 win to send the Fightins to their first four-game losing streak of the season. The back end of the twin bill didn't look promising either, but Reading overcame deficits of 3-0 and 6-4 to earn the split. And it was Cornelius Randolph providing the final blow, a game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh for an 8-6 winner that pushed the Fightins back in front of the Ponies by seven games in the standings.

Game One Recap:

The biggest storyline coming in was the 2019 Fightins debuts of starters Connor Seabold and Tyler Viza. Seabold got off to a strong start, spinning two hitless innings with three strikeouts while flashing a fastball that touched 95. However, a leadoff walk to number eight hitter Quinn Brodey came back to bite him in the third. Ponies starter Zach Lee laid down a sacrifice bunt, and two singles from Sam Haggerty and Patrick Mazeika helped Binghamton push the first two runs across.

Reading had several chances against Lee, who worked around back-to-back singles by Randolph and Josh Stephen with one out in the second. In the third, Darick Hall drilled his team-leading 17th home run to cut the deficit in half and make it a one-run game.

Seabold (0-1) didn't allow another run across four innings, and Aaron Brown got his hands dirty with three innings of one-hit relief plus a two-out double when he came to bat in the fifth inning. Lee (3-0) struck out Arquimedes Gamboa to send it to the sixth, and ended his outing with a double play after Mickey Moniak led off with a single. Eric Hanhold closed out it out with his second save, picking up a pair of strikeouts in a perfect seventh for the Ponies second straight one-run victory.

Game Two Recap:

Viza's return started ominously, with Binghamton sending seven to the plate in the top of the first, and coming away with three runs on four singles. Playing in comeback mode for what seemed like most of the ballgame, the Fightin Phils took their first lead against knuckleballer Mickey Jannis in the home second.

Hall led off with a double, and scored on Randolph's opposite field single into left for the Fightins first run. A groundout to second moved Randolph to third, where he'd score on a wild pitch to make it 3-2. Austin Bossart knocked a double into the left field corner, and after Raul Rivas was hit by a pitch, Viza was unable to lay down a sacrifice bunt which resulted in Bossart getting forced out at third base. Fortunately, Luke Williams had the answer, and the leadoff man continued his strong month with a go-ahead two-RBI triple into right-center.

The lone problem in the game was Binghamton's two-out hitting, which produced singles in five straight innings starting in the second. In the third, two hits from the top of the lineup allowed David Thompson to silence the crowd of 5,882 with a three-run homer to left that put the Rumble Ponies back in front 6-4.

Reading's resilience showed in the fifth when they chased Jannis on back-to-back singles from Hall and Randolph to open the inning. With runners at the corners, Jose Gomez produced a sacrifice fly off reliever Joseph Shaw to make it a 6-5 game. Two batters later, Raul Rivas tied it with a two-out double into left center on the very pitch of the at-bat.

Jeff Singer and Addison Russ (2-5) worked the sixth and seventh, and didn't allow anything aside from a single each. Facing extra innings in the bottom of the seventh, Hall drew a leadoff walk against Joe Zanghi, and Randolph sent everyone home with a two-run bomb to right for his sixth homer of the season and an 8-6 final.

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 TODAY, call or TEXT 610-370-BALL, and download the Fightins game and promotional schedule at fightins.com/calendar.

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Eastern League Stories from July 23, 2019


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