EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Saturday Night Magic Doesn't Carry into Sunday

Published on June 3, 2018 under Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Reading, PA) - For the second straight day, the stage was set for the Fightin Phils to fight back from a 4-3 deficit in the ninth and leave with a win against the Flying Squirrels. On Saturday night, things worked out wonderfully when Austin Bossart ended it with a base hit into left field. But on Sunday, the Fightin Phils had no answers, and Dillon McNamara delivered his third wipeout inning of the series to pick up his third save and give the Flying Squirrels a 4-3 win in front of 6,028 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

After a scoreless first inning, the Flying Squirrels went to work against Fightins starter Harold Arauz, who was looking for his first win since May 8 in Trenton. The righthander fell behind on catcher Aramis Garcia 2-0 before a sharp single into left field brought up veteran Jerry Sands. Again, Arauz fell behind 2-0 and the big first baseman walloped a two-run homer to left to put Richmond ahead 2-0.

The Fightins had an immediate response in the bottom of the inning, which started when Darick Hall worked a full count walk. Two batters later, Deivi Grullon got on with a single, and with runners at first and second, Cord Sandberg came through with a single into right field. On the play, Hall stopped at third and Grullon kept running, eventually getting tagged in between second and third for the second out of the inning. Heiker Meneses was the next batter, and his run scoring single got the Fightin Phils within a run at 2-1.

Richmond tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to a two-run single from center fielder Ronnie Jebavy, who came up as the fourth batter of the frame with the bases loaded and no outs. In the home half, Sandberg got on for the second time with a one out single and stole second to get into scoring position. Trailing 4-1, Malquin Canelo's two out base hit brought in a run to cut the margin in half at 4-2.

In the bottom of the sixth, Sandberg led off with a single for his first three-hit game of the season. Meneses picked him up again with a single of his own, and the tying runs were at the corners with no outs. Pinch-hitter Cornelius Randolph's sacrifice fly to center made it a 4-3 ballgame, but the Fightin Phils punched out after that and couldn't score for the rest of the cloudy afternoon.

With Arauz (3-3) out after six, Alexis Rivero entered and pitched his finest game of the season with three scoreless innings of relief in which he allowed just one hit. Hitless in their last three innings, the offense had one final opportunity in the eighth when Meneses reached base with a one out walk off Jake McCasland, who promptly got the last two outs before turning it over to McNamara for an easy ninth and his third save of the season.

America's Classic Ballpark is proud to be a part of Pennsylvania's Americana Region. Season tickets for the 2018 season are available online at Fightins.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in-person at FirstEnergy Stadium. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter at @ReadingFightins and like them on Facebook via www.facebook.com/fightins.

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Eastern League Stories from June 3, 2018


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