EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Zeid, R-Phils Shut Out Sea Dogs 2-0 Friday

April 29, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


(Reading, PA) -- The Reading Phillies have made a lot of noise this season with their explosive offense -- but, don't look past the club's pitching either.

Josh Zeid tossed five no-hit innings, Mike Cisco and Phillippe Aumont combined to toss four scoreless frames, and the R-Phils shut out the Portland Sea Dogs 2-0 in game one of their three-game series Friday evening on Irish Night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Zeid (1-1, 4.35) made his fifth start of the season and it was a beauty. The New Haven, CT native cruised through five innings and did not allow a hit - by far his best performance of the year. The 24-year-old walked three and fanned two batters en-route to his first career Double-A victory.

After five hitless innings, and 71 pitches, Zeid was replaced by Cisco, who has been extremely effective this season. A native of South Carolina, Cisco has made a smooth transition to the bullpen, and was solid on Friday. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed two hits over three scoreless innings in what was his fifth appearance so far this year. He lowered his ERA to an impressive 1.96 and now has 14 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched. Aumont allowed one hit in the ninth to earn his second save of the season. He's two-for-two in save chances.

Offensively, Reading (14-7) put a run on the board in the first inning off Sea Dogs starter Stolmy Pimentel (0-3, 6.75). Pimentel, who is ranked as the sixth-best prospect in the Red Sox organization by Baseball America, allowed two runs on four hits and was saddled with his third loss of the season. The right-hander also allowed a solo home run to R-Phils catcher Tuffy Gosewsich, who launched his fourth of the season. Gosewisch now has three home runs over his last two games.

On Saturday, the R-Phils will hand the ball to RHP J.C. Ramirez (3-0, 1.33). Ramirez, a native of Nicaragua, has won all three of his starts this season, and will look to make it four-straight when he gets the nod in game two. Two of his wins have come on the road, and he is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA this season.

Ramirez and the R-Phils will face RHP Stephen Fife (2-1, 4.40) on Saturday evening in Baseballtown. Fife, a third-round selection of the Red Sox in the 2008 draft, beat the R-Phils back on April 10 in Portland. Fife tossed five shutout innings in his first start of the 2011 season back on the 10th.

Coverage begins on Saturday with the R-Phils pre-game show at 5:35 p.m. Join R-Phils play-by-play broadcaster Brian Seltzer, who will have the call on ESPN Radio 1240 AM WIOV and www.readingphillies.com. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.

Check out the Reading Fightin Phils Statistics



Eastern League Stories from April 29, 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