Reading Fightin Phils
Reading beat Hartford 5-4 on the road Thursday to sweep the Eastern League Division Series two games to none, sending the Fightin Phils to the league championship series for the first time since 2015.
Carson DeMartini set the tone at the top of the order, collecting three of Reading’s six hits and scoring twice, including a leadoff single in the second that turned into the game’s first run on a Pedro León bases-empty walk with a wild pitch. Bryan Rincon, the club’s top prospect, followed with a no-doubt homer into the second deck in right-center — his 26th of the season, tying him for the team lead. Dante Nori and Aidan Miller drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, and Nori scored on another wild pitch to make it 3-0. Miller added an RBI single in the fourth, and León tacked on another run-scoring hit in the seventh.
Hartford chipped away behind a two-run double from Braylen Wimmer and solo homers from Jared Thomas and Cole Messina, pulling within a run in the ninth before Estibenzon Jimenez struck out pinch-hitter Zach Kokoska to end it. Grant Graves (1-0) picked up the win with 1.1 scoreless innings, and Jimenez earned the save. Hartford starter Jackson Cox (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs over 2.1 innings.
Reading opens the Eastern League Championship Series Sunday at Erie, with home games to follow Tuesday and Wednesday if necessary.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs
The IronPigs dropped an 8-9 slugfest to the Syracuse Mets on Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium, falling to 67-79 on the year. Both offenses came out swinging, and neither found much use for a bullpen phone until the late innings.
Kameron Misner set the tone early with a two-run homer in the first, his eighth of the season, and he wasn’t done — a two-run single in the second put Lehigh Valley back on top before Carter Kieboom knocked in another with a base hit. Syracuse answered every push. Jefferson Rojas drove in a run with a double, then added a solo shot later in the game, and a two-run error on a Ronny Mauricio grounder kept the Mets in front. Gabriel Rincones Jr. tried to swing the momentum back with a two-run homer of his own in the third, his sixth of the year, and Nick Biddison tied things up again in the fourth with an RBI single. But a Rojas sacrifice fly in the fifth put Syracuse ahead for good. Misner finished the night with four RBIs on the strength of his two extra-base hits.
On the mound, Tucker Davidson (6-6) took the loss after allowing two runs over 4.1 relief innings. Syracuse’s Brian Metoyer (5-1) worked two scoreless frames for the win, and Zach Franklin closed it out with his seventh save, retiring the final four Lehigh Valley hitters without a run crossing.
The two clubs continue their series Friday night back at NBT Bank Stadium, with Drake Fellows starting for the IronPigs opposite Syracuse’s Justin Hagenman.
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