Nationals Farm Authority

FRIDAY GAME: READING 7 HARRISBURG 6 by Chip Millard

The Harrisburg Senators lost a strange game tonight to the Reading Phillies, 7-6. Early on in the game, the R-Phils dominated, scoring 2 runs on a home run in the 1st, a single unearned run in the 3rd, and 2 more runs (again on a home run) in the 4th off of Harrisburg starter Justin Echols to take a 5-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Senators mounted minor rallies in the first 3 innings but were unable to get a big hit. They also played some shoddy defense. Harrisburg started its comeback in the bottom of the 4th, using a Kory Casto single and 2-run homer to left-center by Prentice Redman to cut the deficit to 5-2. The hosts then scored 3 more times in 5th to tie the game. They loaded the bases with 1 out on an Echols leadoff single, a Tim Raines Jr. walk, and another Casto single. That brought up Redman again, and he responded with a double that landed on the LF foul line on the warning track, driving in Echols and Raines to make the score 5-4. Josh Whitesell then grounded out softly to 2nd base, knocking in Casto to tie the game 5-5. Reading responded with a run in the top of the 6th to reclaim the lead at 6-5, but the Senators immediately tied the game in the bottom of the frame, using a 2-out, nobody on dropped fly ball error to LF by the R-Phils on a ball hit by Jesus Feliciano, a walk by Melvin Dorta, and an RBI single by Raines to tie the game again at 6-6. The game stayed that way until the top of the 9th, when reliever Jeremy Plexico, in his 3rd inning of work (as a result of a worn-out Harrisburg bullpen from Thursday night’s 11-3 loss to Reading), gave up a solo home run to Reading’s Gary Burnham with 2 outs. It was Burnham’s second homer of the game. The hosts mounted a 2-out rally in the bottom of the frame after a Casto single and Redman walk, but Whitesell weakly grounded out to 2nd on the first pitch he saw to end the threat and the game.

Individual player notes:

• Kory Casto - enjoyed a 3 for 4 night with 3 singles, a walk, and 2 runs scored. He’s now hitting .296 and has OBP/SLG/OPS numbers of 410/.524/.934. Casto played solidly in LF, and made one of the best defensive plays of the game after he moved to 3rd base, robbing a Reading player of a base hit on a bunt attempt in the 9th inning by making a bare-handed play and an off-balance but accurate throw to 1st base.
• Salomon Manriquez - had a quiet 0 for 4 night at the plate. He’s now hitting .266 and has OPS component numbers of .339/.374/.713. Behind the plate, he played solidly, throwing out a baserunner after a pitch got away from him a little. (His throw did bounce into 2nd, but was accurate and quick.)
• Prentice Redman - enjoyed a big game, going 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer, a 2-run double, a walk, 4 RBI’s, and a run scored.
• Tim Raines Jr. - went 2 for 4 with 2 singles, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. He’s hitting a solid .314 since joining the Senators.
• Melvin Dorta - had a quiet 0 for 4 night with 1 walk at the plate. He did make 2 great plays in the field after moving to 2nd base however, robbing one R-Phils player of a hit after going hard to his right and throwing across his body to get the runner at 1st base to end the 8th inning, and then making a fine charge on the ball and glove hand toss to 1st on a bunt attempt to record the first out in the 9th inning.
• Justin Echols - struggled in his 5 1/3 innings of work, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits (2 homers) and 3 walks. He did strike out 5 batters.
• Jeremy Plexico - pitched well in relief but was the hard-luck loser. He worked 3 1/3 innings and gave up only one hit and one walk. Unfortunately the hit was the R-Phils’ game-winning homer in the 9th inning.

SUNDAY GAME: READING 8 HARRISBURG 1 by Chip Millard

The Harrisburg Senators gave up 8 runs over the final 2 innings to fall to the Reading Phillies 8-1, completing a 4-game sweep for the R-Phils. For the first 7 innings the game was a pitchers’ duel, as the rehabbing major leaguers Ryan Drese and Randy Wolf and usual starters Beltran Perez (Harrisburg) and Zach Segovia (Reading) continually put down minor rallies. The Senators took a 1-0 lead off of Wolf in the 3rd inning, as his opposite number Drese singled to LF to lead off the inning, Melvin Dorta walked, Tim Raines Jr. sacrificed both runners a base on an excellent bunt, and Kory Casto drove in Drese on an RBI groundout. Both Perez and Segovia continued to pitch well in the middle innings and it remained 1-0 Harrisburg until the pivotal 8th inning. The R-Phils scored 5 times in that inning, notching 2 runs off of Perez (one after he left the game) and 3 more off of an ineffective Dan Kolb. The key plays were a passed ball by catcher Josh Emmerick that gave Reading the lead and a ball that was hit up the middle with the bases loaded that deflected off 2nd baseman Dan Dement’s outstretched glove, allowing 2 more runs to score. (The official scorer ruled the play a hit, but I would have scored it either a hit and an error or an error all the way - Dement would have a hard time even making a force at 2nd but should have fielded the ball, and his inability to keep the ball in the infield allowed the runner originally at 2nd base to score.) The Senators went quietly in the bottom of the 8th, and the R-Phils tacked on 3 more runs off of Kolb in the 9th inning to make the score 8-1. The hosts failed to score in the bottom of the 9th, keeping them winless since the Eastern League All-Star Break.

Individual player notes:

• Kory Casto - like much of the rest of the lineup, he had a quiet day, going 0 for 4, though he did have an RBI and also reached base on an error. He didn’t make any plays of note, positively or negatively, in left field.
• Prentice Redman - went 1 for 4 with a single at the plate, dropping his average to .315. In RF, he misplayed a ball that fell for a hit and contributed to Reading’s 3-run 9th inning.
• Tim Raines Jr. - officially went 0 for 2 at the plate with a walk and a sacrifice bunt. Raines played solid but unspectacular in center field.
• Josh Whitesell - was 1 for 3 with a single and a walk. He also made a couple nice plays at 1st base, though he was unable to catch a foul pop-up behind 1st base near the stands on a play that was difficult but makeable.
• Melvin Dorta - went 0 for 3 with a walk at the plate and played acceptably in the field at 3rd base.
• Dan Dement - was 2 for 4 with 2 singles and was the only Senators player with more than 1 hit. He struggled somewhat at 2nd base, both on the play mentioned in the game summary above and on a ball that short-hopped him and ate him up earlier in the game.
• Ryan Drese - pitched solidly in his rehab start, pitching 3 scoreless innings and giving 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 HBP while striking out 2 batters. He also had a single, though it appeared he could have tried for a double (the ball was hit down the RF line) had he been running hard.
• Beltran Perez - took the loss in the game, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk in 4 1/3 innings. He didn’t pitch badly, but he did struggle at times running deep counts. He fell to 6-4 on the season with a 3.56 ERA (it was 3.52 coming into the game).
• Dan Kolb - had possibly his worst outing of the season, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks (2 intentional, including the first batter he faced), and 1 HBP in only 1 2/3 innings. Both of the batters intentionally walked later scored.