Whoopie Pies fall 11-8 to Reading

Chatham and Matheny each with three hits

Portland, Maine - The Reading Fightin Phils (2-1) rallied for three runs in the 10th inning and prevailed 11-8 over the Whoopie Pies (0-2) in the series opener on Friday night at Hadlock Field.

Raul Rivas led off the 10th with an RBI triple off the right-field wall off of Matthew Gorst to give Reading a 9-8 lead. Rivas later scored on a wild pitch by Gorst to make it 10-8.  Two batters later, Josh Stephen tripled and eventually, Darick Hall delivered a two-out RBI single to extend the lead to 11-8.

Jonathan Hennigan (W, 1-1) earned the victory with two perfect innings to close out the ballgame. Gorst (0-5) has suffered all his losses in extra innings this season.

Reading scored the game's first run on a two-out RBI single by Grenny Cumana to score Josh Stephen.

The Whoopie Pies tied things up in the second on a solo home run by Joey Curletta that cleared the Dunkin' video board in left-center field.

Reading exploded in the third with a six-run inning and sent 10 men to the plate against Dedgar Jimenez. Luke Williams and Jose Gomez each had two-run hits while Cornelius Randolph and Austin Bossart drove in a run apiece.

Jimenez (ND) didn't make it out of the third, the southpaw went 2.1 innings and allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits with two walks and a strikeout.

The Whoopie Pies were able to answer in the bottom half of the inning with six runs of their own off of JoJo Romero.  Jarren Duran got the scoring started coming around from first base on a throwing error at second by the second baseman Raul Rivas. CJ Chatham followed with an RBI double, then three batters later Tate Matheny hit a two-run double to cut the deficit to 7-5. Brett Netzer hit next and grounded a two-run single through the shifted infield to tie the game 7-7.

CJ Chatham gave the Whoopie Pies their first lead with an RBI double in the fourth to score Jeremy Rivera.  

Romero lasted four innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits while striking out two.

Both bullpens were excellent.  Daniel McGrath worked 3.2 innings in relief and allowed just one baserunner on an error.  Kevin Lenik pitched the seventh and held Reading scoreless. Seth McGarry of Reading went four scoreless in relief of Romero and allowed just two hits.

The Portland Sea Dogs and Reading Fightin Phils continue their three-game series on Saturday night with a 6:00 PM start at Hadlock Field. RHP Denyi Reyes (2-8, 4.69) makes the start for Portland. LHP David Parkinson (5-4, 3.63) is on the mound for Reading. Radio coverage on the WPEI U.S. Cellular Sea Dogs Radio Network begins at 5:45 PM with Mike Antonellis. The game is available on the tune-in app and MiLB.TV.

Tickets are available at 207-879-9500 or seadogs.com. Book your nine inning vacation today!