Rivas Earns Quality Start as Somerset Drops Opener to Reading
EL Somerset Patriots

Rivas Earns Quality Start as Somerset Drops Opener to Reading

Published on July 7, 2026 under Eastern League (EL)
Somerset Patriots News Release


Somerset Patriots pitcher Xavier Rivas
Somerset Patriots pitcher Xavier Rivas
(Somerset Patriots)

The Somerset Patriots dropped the series opener against the Reading Fightin Phils 2-1 at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ on Tuesday evening.

With the loss, Somerset fell to 6-7 against the Fightin Phils this season, including a 3-4 record at home. The Patriots slipped to 35-8 when being outhit by their opponent and 13-17 in one-run contests. Somerset's 30 one-run games are the second-most in the Eastern League.

DJ Gladney's homer marked Somerset's Double-A leading 122nd home run this season. The Patriots have hit home runs in 63 of 82 games this year. Their 122 home runs rank fifth in MiLB at the time of the game's conclusion.

With 10 strikeouts by Somerset's staff, the Patriots have tallied 66 punchouts across their last six games. The staff's 855 punchouts this season lead Double-A and rank sixth in MiLB at the time of the game's conclusion. With one inning each from Michael Arias (1 K), Matt Keating (2 K) and Tony Rossi (1 K), Somerset's bullpen combined for three perfect innings with four strikeouts in relief of Xavier Rivas.

LHP Xavier Rivas (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K) earned his first career Double-A quality start across a season-best 6.0 IP. Rivas tossed his sixth consecutive outing surrendering two or fewer runs. In that span, he's tallied a 1.69 ERA, 2-1 record, 0.90 WHIP and .141 BAA with 36 K to 11 BB in 26.2 IP. Rivas punched out six total batters recording four strikeouts with his splitter and one each with his fastball and slider.

RF DJ Gladney (2-for-4, HR, 2B, RBI, R) crushed his 15th homer of the season off Jack Dallas in the sixth inning. Gladney extended his hit streak to a team-best seven games with his 18th multi-hit game of the year. Across his last seven games, Gladney is 10-for-25 with 2 HR, 6 XBH, 5 RBI and three multi-hit games. Dating back to May 2, Gladney's 15 homers are tied for second in the Eastern League and tied for fourth in Double-A at the time of the game's conclusion.

C Tomas Frick (3-for-4) recorded his first Double-A three-hit effort and the fourth three-hit game of his career. It was Frick's first three-hit game since May 25, 2025 at Winston-Salem. With two multi-hit games this season, Frick has seven multi-hit efforts with Somerset dating back to last season.

2B Connor McGinnis (2-for-4, 2 2B) smashed a career-high two doubles in his seventh multi-hit game with the Patriots. McGinnis has reached safely in eight of his last 10 plate appearances across his last three games. In that span, he's 6-for-8 with two BB, two 2B and two multi-hit games. Across his last 12 games, McGinnis is batting .378/.439/.541 with 3 RBI, 6 XBH and four multi-hit games. Since smashing his first career Double-A home run on June 16 at Portland, McGinnis has pummeled nine XBH to raise his OPS from .547 to .729 in 19 games.

Check out the Somerset Patriots Statistics

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Somerset Patriots pitcher Xavier Rivas
Somerset Patriots pitcher Xavier Rivas
   



Eastern League Stories from July 7, 2026


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