Reading, PA- Needless to say, the Portland Sea Dogs are on a big time hot streak. Devlin Granberg and Ronaldo Hernandez each hit a homerun and had two hits a piece, and Frank German pitched 5.0 solid innings en route to their 11th consecutive win 4-1 over the Reading Fightin’ Phillies at First Energy Stadium Friday night.
The teams swapped runs over the first two innings, with Granberg hitting a solo homerun for Portland in the top of the first and Rodolfo Duran hitting into a doubleplay that scored a run for Reading in the bottom of the second. The Sea Dogs (38-23) took the lead for good when Granberg scored from third base on a wild pitch in the fourth inning, and Hernandez added a solo homerun in the same frame for a 3-1 advantage. Pedro Castellanos finished the scoring with an RBI single in the fifth.
German (3-4) allowed one run on three hits with three walks and five strikeouts to pick up the win on the hill for Portland. Alex Scherff pitched 2.0 perfect innings to pick up his first save of the season. Jhonny Pereda also had two hits on the night. Josh Hendrickson (3-1) took the loss on the mound for Reading allowing four runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 6.0 innings. The Phillies (26-38) were held to just three hits. The Sea Dogs who are now without Triston Casas, Joey Meneses, Ronaldi Baldwin, and Denyi Reyes who have gone to compete in the Summer Olympics are just one game behind the first place Somerset Patriots (NY Yankees) in the Northern Division of the Northeast League. Game five of the six game series is scheduled for Saturday night with RHP Brayan Bello (0-0, 3.06 ERA) toeing the rubber for Portland, while Reading counters with RHP Jack Perkins (2-0, 3.09).
