Portland Sea Dogs pitcher Tanner Houck throws a first inning pitch during Eastern League baseball action at Hadlock Field in Portland on Saturday, April 6, 2019. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
PORTLAND, Maine- The Reading Fightin Phils pounded out 15 hits and scored seven runs over the first four innings on Saturday afternoon, to take the first three games of a four game series with an 8-1 Eastern League baseball win over the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field.
Josh Stephen hit a hard single in the third inning to put Reading (3-0) on the board first. The run would score on the play after the ball got away from Portland right fielder Aneury Tavarez to make it 1-0. Mickey Moniak and Henri Lartigue also followed with RBI singles to make it 3-0. Portland (0-3) got one back in the bottom half when C.J. Chatham hit an RBI sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-1. The Fightin Phils came right back in the top of the fourth by putting up a four run spot, ending the day for Sea Dogs starter Tanner Houck. Moniak doubled in a run, and then Lartigue, Cornelius Randolph, and Ali Castillo followed with RBI singles to make it 7-1.
Moniak later added another RBI to end the scoring with a bases loaded walk in the seventh. Moniak is batting .417 and has driven in six runs in the first three games. Reading pitching struck out 16 Sea Dogs batters on the day, holding them to just a pair of hits. David Parkinson (1-0) went the first 5.0 innings allowing just one run, one hit, three walks, with 10 strikeouts. Jakob Hernandez and JD Hammer finished out the final 4.0 innings allowing no runs and just one hit with six strikeouts. Houk (0-1) allowed seven runs, 11 hits, three walks, with three strikeouts in his 4.0 innings of work. Daniel McGrath, Zach Schellenger, and Adam Lau worked the final 5.0 innings allowing one run, four hits, five walks, with seven strikeouts.
Portland Sea Dogs third baseman Bobby Dalbec waits on a pitch from Reading pitcher David Parkinson during action on Saturday, April 6 at Hadlock Field in Portland. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
Portland will try to salvage one game of the opening four game series Sunday afternoon at 1 pm. One of the top Boston Red Sox pitching prospects, Darwinzon Hernendez, will take the mound for the Sea Dogs.
