Home Reading wins wild one with Squirrels
Sports

Reading wins wild one with Squirrels

Contributors

richmond flying squirrelsReading first baseman Rhys Hoskins hammered a pair of three-run homers to lead the Fightin Phils (61-24), 9-7 over the Flying Squirrels (32-52) on Tuesday night at The Diamond.

Hoskins gave the Phils the lead in the fifth inning and then snapped a 6-6 tie in the seventh, producing the victory for Reading. The slugger Hoskins currently leads the circuit with 24 homers and is second in all of MILB with 75 runs batted in.

Squirrels hurler Tyler Beede received a no-decision but did not finish five innings for the first time this season.

The Squirrels gave Beede an early 1-0 lead by socking a pair of doubles in the first inning off of Reading starter Ricardo Pinto. Steven Duggar opened the frame by hitting his third double in six games while with Richmond. Duggar came around to score on a two-bagger from C.J. Hinojosa for a 1-0 advantage. Richmond threatened again in the second inning but stranded a pair of runners to end the inning.

Beede held the Phils without a hit through the first three innings of action. Reading’s Jorge Alfaro managed the first hit off Beede in the fourth, and Rhys Hoskins added a single. However, Beede was able to strand a pair to end the inning. Beede used 52 pitches over the first four frames.

Richmond added to the 1-0 lead with a run in the third and two more in the fourth. Christian Arroyo connected on his 24th double of the season in the third, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Chris Shaw then brought home Arroyo with a sacrifice fly to shallow right center field for a 2-0 lead. The Squirrels forged ahead 4-0 in the fourth frame by taking advantage of two walks from Pinto. Steve Lerud drew a one-out walk to set things in motion and Darren Ford followed suit, placing runners on first and second. That brought the pitcher, Tyler Beede, to the plate and Beede singled to load the bases. Pinto, pitching with the bases loaded, managed to induce a ground ball to nearly get out of the inning. Steven Duggar beat out the double play throw at first and Pinto dropped the ball, resulting in two runs coming across.

Never out of the game, Reading and the league’s best offense returned fire with a six-run fifth inning to force Beede from the game. Christian Marrero walked, and Osmel Aguila was hit by a pitch, putting two runners on. After Beede struck out the pitcher Pinto, Jesmuel Valentine reached on an error to load the bases. Beede then struck out Angelo Mora for the second out of the inning. Beede lost the next hitter Alfaro, walking in Reading’s first run of the game. Dylan Cozens then delivered a two-run single and Rhys Hoskins gave the Phils the lead with a three-run homer to left center field. It was the 23rd home run of the season for Hoskins, matching his teammate Cozens for the league lead. The long ball pushed Beede from the game and for the first time this season, the Squirrels ace did not last five innings. Beede finished the outing with 4 2/3 innings pitched. He allowed six runs (zero earned) on four hits. Beede walked three and struck out five.

Pitching with the 6-4 lead, Pinto retired the Squirrels in order in inning number five, but ran into more trouble in the sixth. Hunter Cole knocked a double into left field andRyder Jones then hit a sharp hopper to first that went by the first baseman for an error, plating Cole to make it a 6-5 deficit. Steve Lerud then knocked Pinto from the game with a Crisp base hit to center. Veteran lefty Joely Rodriguez relieved Pinto and promptly yielded a pinch-hit single to Brandon Bednar, tying the game, 6-6. Pinto received a no-decision and allowed six runs on seven hits over five innings of work.

With Beede out of the game, Richmond used 1 1/3 innings from Preston Claiborne to keep the game locked up. Christian Jones followed Claiborne in the seventh and allowed a walk and infield single. Jones picked up the second out of the inning by striking out Dylan Cozens but was then lifted for reliever Tyler Mizenko to face the right-handed hitting Hoskins. Hoskins pulled through yet again for Reading,drilling his second three-run homer of the night for a 9-6 advantage.

The Squirrels scored a run in the eighth inning to pull to within two, but Hoby Milner closed out the game by picking up the final five outs of the game to earn the save. Rodriguez (6-0) earned the win and Jones (1-3) picked up the loss in the contest.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.