Stephen Drives in Decisive Run in 10th as R-Phils Hang On in Portland
(PORTLAND, ME) - Josh Stephen finished with three hits, knocking in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning of a back-and-forth battle, as the Fightin Phils outlasted the Portland Sea Dogs, 8-7 in 10 innings on Monday night at Hadlock Field.Reading (34-25) (73-53) extended its lead to five games over
(PORTLAND, ME) -
Reading (34-25) (73-53) extended its lead to five games over Hartford and 5.5 over Portland in the Eastern Division, with just 14 games remaining in the regular season.
The Fightins grabbed the lead against
Reading added on in the second, again with two outs.
Portland (28-30) (55-70) came back to tie it in the bottom half against
Bohm tied it again in the fifth.
On a 2-2 offering, Bohm launched one off the bottom of the videoboard beyond the left-centerfield fence for his 13th Double-A home run, and 20th total this season, knotting the game up at four.
Reading broke the tie in the sixth, after
Williams came through for his second RBI of the night, a liner that caromed off the back of the pitcher Wade for a single to plate Maton and give Reading a 5-4 lead.
Moniak followed by ripping his league-leading 13th triple of the season to right field, bringing in both Lartigue and Williams to make it 7-4.
With
Russ inherited a one-out, bases-full situation with a one-run lead, and delivered. He induced a grounder to first off the bat of Rivera that resulted in a force out at home, then struck out the pinch hitter
Down to their final two outs, Portland tied it in the ninth on
With Bohm opening the 10th as the free runner at second, Reading cashed in to retake the lead. Stephen delivered a long single off the right field wall with one out, plating Bohm to put the Fightins back on top, 8-7.
The Sea Dogs refused to go down easily in the bottom of the 10th.
With Curletta starting the inning at second,
After an eight-pitch battle, Hernandez cut down Rivera on strikes for a big second out, before Rivera and Portland manager Joe Oliver were subsequently ejected for arguing. Hernandez then got Madden to pop out to Maton at second to end the three-hour and 31-minute battle.
The middle game of the three-game set will take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m.