Reading, PA- Devlin Granberg hit a game winning two-run homerun in the fifth inning Saturday night, as the Portland Sea Dogs held off the Reading Fightin’ Phillies 5-4 at FirstEnergy Stadium in a rain shortened eight innings to extend their win streak to 12 games.
Reading (26-39) took the early 1-0 lead on a first inning solo homer by Daniel Brito. Jhonny Pereda singled in Ryan Fitzgerald in the second for Portland to tie it, and then Hudson Potts and Ronaldo Hernandez had run scoring doubles in the third to make it 3-1 Sea Dogs. The two-run shot by Granberg in the fifth was his fourth since joining the team and extend the advantage to four runs. A two out rally by the Fightin’ Phillies in the bottom half of the fifth saw Bryson Stott hit an RBI single, and Jorge Bonifacio drove home a pair with a double on a ball that Granberg couldn’t come up with in right field on a diving attempt. That was the end of the scoring as the heavy rain came in the eighth putting a stop to the game.
Brayan Bello got a no-decision allowing four runs on five hits for Portland with one walk and nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Zach Schellenger (1-0) got the win in relief, while Joan Martinez got his fifth hold and Zack Kelly got his fifth save of the season. Granberg had two hits to lead the way, as the Sea Dogs improve to 39-23 and are now tied for first place in the Northern Division of the Northeast League. Brito and Stott each had two hits for Reading, and Jack Perkins (2-1) took the loss on the hill allowing five runs on nine hits in 5.0 innings. Portland goes for the six game sweep Sunday afternoon, and haven’t announced a starting pitcher as of yet. The Phillies will send RHP Julian Garcia (0-4, 10.69 ERA) to the hill in the 2:15 scheduled start.
