By Tiffany Williams –
READING, Pa. — The Portland Sea Dogs saw their three-game winning streak come to an end Friday night with a 6-3 loss to the Reading Fightin Phils in the opener of a three-game series at FirstEnergy Stadium.
With the loss, Portland fell to 7-12 in the second half of the Eastern League season and 41-45 overall. The Sea Dogs now sit in fourth place in the Northeast Division standings. Reading improved to 9-10 in the second half and 34-52 on the year.
The Fightin Phils opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning. Paul McIntosh led off with a single and advanced to second on a walk issued to Alex Binelas. Dylan Campbell then singled home McIntosh to make it 1-0. Caleb Ricketts followed with a walk to load the bases, and Erick Brito delivered an RBI single that, combined with a Sea Dogs error, allowed Campbell to score. Cade Fergus capped the inning with a sacrifice fly that brought in Ricketts, pushing the Reading lead to 4-0.
Portland responded in the top of the seventh inning. Ronald Rosario led off with a single and advanced to second on another single by Marvin Alcantara. Ahbram Liendo followed with an RBI single to put Portland on the board. After a pitching change, Mikey Romero ripped a two-run triple, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
However, Reading answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Carson Demartini doubled, and Felix Reyes drew a walk. A double steal moved both runners into scoring positions before McIntosh delivered a clutch two-run single to extend the Fightin Phils’ lead to 6-3.
Right-hander Chuck King (3-2) earned the win for Reading, tossing five shutout innings while allowing just two hits and two walks and striking out two. Portland starter Dalton Rogers (2-3) took the loss after giving up four earned runs on five hits over 3.2 innings, with three walks and three strikeouts. Reading’s Tommy McCollum secured his sixth save of the season with 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.
The series continues Saturday night, July 19, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Left-hander Payton Tolle (0-0, 1.93 ERA) is set to make the start for Portland, while right-hander Koyo Aoyagi (0-2, 10.61 ERA) will take the mound for Reading.