Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Lehigh Valley snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday night in Moosic, rallying for three runs in the ninth to beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 8-6 at PNC Field. The win kept the IronPigs’ hold on the season series against their rivals and preserved their grip on the IronRail trophy.
Kameron Misner set the tone early with an RBI single in the first, then delivered the biggest swing of the night in the eighth. Down to their last strikes with two outs, Misner drove a line drive into the right-field seats for a solo home run, his 19th of the season, tying the game after Scranton had gone back in front. Carter Kieboom was steady all night, tying the game with a sacrifice fly in the third, scoring the go-ahead run on an error in the sixth, and adding an RBI single for insurance in the ninth.
The real drama came in the final frame. Trailing after a Scranton safety squeeze in the eighth, Lehigh Valley got a pinch-hit double from Gabriel Rincones Jr. to start the ninth, and Robert Moore followed with another double to tie it. An error on the play put Moore at third, and Christian Cairo singled him home for the lead. Kieboom’s two-out single then plated Cairo for a cushion.
On the mound, Max Lazar picked up the win in relief despite allowing a run over 1.1 innings, improving to 5-1. Kirby Snead worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth, striking out a batter before inducing a game-ending double-play for his second save. The bullpen effort papered over a shaky start in which Scranton’s Tyler Hardman had put the RailRiders ahead with a three-run homer in the second. Lehigh Valley and Scranton close out their series Sunday afternoon, with Drake Fellows starting for the IronPigs against Adam Kloffenstein.
Reading Fightin Phils
Reading’s offense went cold Saturday night in Hartford, managing just six hits in a 9-0 shutout loss to the Yard Goats. The Fightins had few bright spots at the plate, but two of their better prospects kept swinging the bat well even in defeat.
Bryan Rincon, Philadelphia’s number five prospect, doubled and singled in three at-bats, while number six prospect Aroon Escobar collected two hits in four trips. Beyond that, Reading struggled to generate much traffic, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranding seven runners on base.
The trouble started early against starter Adam Seminaris, who was tagged for a leadoff homer by Colorado rehabber Kyle Karros in the first and never found a rhythm. Hartford loaded up for three more in the third on a bases-clearing shot from Jared Thomas, then tacked on three more in the fifth before Seminaris was pulled after facing five batters. He finished with seven runs allowed on a season-high 12 hits over four innings, dropping to 11-9 on the year.
Reading’s bullpen at least stopped the bleeding. Daniel Harper worked two scoreless innings in relief, allowing just a hit and a walk while recording three strikeouts. Reese Dutton was touched for two runs in the seventh when Cole Messina crushed a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, for the final margin. Aaron Combs threw a clean bottom of the eighth, striking out two batters in the inning.
Reading, now 65-65 overall, wraps up its road trip against Hartford on Sunday before returning home Tuesday for a season-closing homestand against Erie. The Fightins still control their playoff destiny, sitting a magic number of six away from clinching an Eastern League postseason berth with seven games to play.
Jersey Shore BlueClaws
Jersey Shore beat Hub City 7-5 on Saturday night in Spartanburg, holding off a late Spartanburgers rally to salvage a game in a series the BlueClaws had otherwise lost. Home runs from Kodey Shojinaga and Wuilfredo Antunez powered the offense in front of a small hometown crowd for starter Tanner Gresham, a Charlotte native pitching less than an hour from where he grew up.
Hub City struck first when Antonis Macias led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer, but Shojinaga answered in the second with a solo shot of his own, his second of the year, to even the score. Jersey Shore then broke the tie for good in the third, scoring three times on an RBI single from Nate Humphreys, a sacrifice fly from Shojinaga, and an RBI single from Antunez. With the score 5-2 in the fifth, Antunez put the game further out of reach with a two-run homer to right-center, his first since rejoining Jersey Shore in late August, that made it 7-2.
Gresham turned in a solid outing, allowing three runs — two earned — over five innings with five strikeouts against three walks, and improved to 3-5 on the season. Hub City chipped away late, but Titan Kennedy-Hayes worked around an unearned run in the ninth to close it out, picking up his fourth save of the year and taking over the team lead in that category. Shojinaga finished with three hits and Antunez added two in the win.
Jersey Shore and Hub City close out the six-game series, and the regular season, Sunday afternoon at 2:05, with lefty Juan Amarante taking the ball for the BlueClaws.
Clearwater Threshers
Clearwater kept rolling at BayCare Ballpark on Saturday night, beating the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 8-2 to hand the Mussels their fifth straight loss, matching the longest skid of Fort Myers’ season.
Phillies number two prospect Aidan Miller, working his way back on an injury rehab assignment, provided an early spark by leading off the bottom of the first with a 109 mph double and later scoring on a Reece Moroney single.
The Threshers pulled away with a three-run third inning against Fort Myers reliever Jackson Sleeper, stretching the lead to 5-1. Clearwater tacked on single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to push the margin to 7-2, and Cade Climie capped the scoring in the seventh with a base hit that brought home a run. From the fifth inning on, Clearwater’s pitching staff faced the minimum number of batters, systematically shutting down any Fort Myers rally attempt.
Fort Myers starter Jason Reitz, making his first appearance since a forearm strain sidelined him in late July, lasted just 1.1 innings. Reliever Callan Fang kept the Mussels within shouting distance for a stretch, striking out six Threshers over 3.1 innings, his second-highest strikeout total of the season, before Clearwater’s offense pulled away for good.
The win continued a dominant homestand for Clearwater, who improved to 74-54 on the season. No Threshers hitter left the yard in this one, but the balanced attack, with contributions up and down the lineup, was enough to extend the win streak over Fort Myers to five games as both clubs closed in on the end of their regular seasons.
Home Runs — September 5, 2026
Lehigh Valley – Kameron Misner (19)
Jersey Shore – Kodey Shojinaga (2)
Jersey Shore – Wuilfredo Antunez (15)
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