R-Phils take opener with Richmond

Right-hander Tyler Cloyd fired seven scoreless innings, and the Reading Phillies (12-6) cruised past the Richmond Flying Squirrels (8-10), 6-0, in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Cloyd (3-0) was in command throughout, and earned his third win in his third Double-A start of the season.  He scattered five hits, walked none and struck out five.  Cloyd has collected victories in each of his last two starts against the Squirrels.

With two outs and the bases clear in the bottom of the first inning, Squirrels’ left-hander Jason Stevenson made a mistake to Darin Ruf.  Ruf decked a 3-1 fastball over the wall in left field for a 1-0 R-Phils lead.  It was the second home run of the season for Ruf, both of which have come off of Stevenson.  Ruf also notched a solo-home run off Stevenson at The Diamond.

Stevenson settled in and set aside 10 of the next 11 batters to work through the fourth inning.  However, the fifth inning proved problematic.  He allowed an inning-opening single, but got a double-play to keep the bases clear with two outs.  Inexplicably, the lefty lost his command and walked the next four batters, pushing a second Reading run home for a 2-0 lead.  Stevenson issued free passes to Troy Hanzawa, Cloyd, Tyson Gillies and Cesar Hernandez.

Stevenson (1-3) departed after walking Hernandez to force in a run.  He was saddled with the loss over 4 2/3 innings.  He conceded two runs on just three hits, walked five and struck out two.  It marked the second consecutive loss for Stevenson at the hand of the R-Phils.

Reading put the game away with four runs in the seventh inning to take a 4-0 lead.  The bulk of the damage was incurred by right-hander Jake Dunning.  Dunning allowed an RBI single from Ruf before departing after an inning-and-two-thirds.  Right-hander Edwin Quirarte came on and balked a run in.  He then conceded a two-run double to Jiwon James that capped the scoring for the evening.

Reading right-handers Tyson Brummett each worked a scoreless inning of relief to close out the win for the R-Phils.  Reading is now 3-1 against Richmond on the season.

The Squirrels and R-Phils continue their three-game series on Wednesday night at 6:35 PM.  RHP Chris Heston (1-1, 1.59) will make the start for the Squirrels against RHP Trevor May (3-0, 3.18) for the R-Phils.  Pregame coverage will begin at 6:05 PM on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.