The Reading Fightin Phillies season came to an end Friday night. The Trenton Thunder completed the three-game sweep of the Fightins. Playoff baseball came back to FirstEnergy Stadium for the first time in three years.
Game 1
The Fightins got 7 strong innings out of their ace, Spencer Howard. The Phillies top Pitching prospected ended his night with a career-high 12 strikeouts. Howard was on fire through the first five innings. He struck out two batters each frame in four of the five innings. He left after 7 innings with a 3-1 lead.
The Fightins took the lead in the third inning when a Mickey Moniak sacrifice fly scored Luke Williams. A Darick Hall double drove in Alec Bohm. They added another run in the fourth when Nick Maton scored on an Arquimedes Gamboa sac fly. Trenton scored their only run against Howard in the sixth inning.
In the eight innings, the wheels came off for the Fightins. All nine batters came to the plate as the Thunder scored three runs to take the lead for good. The Thunder took game one 4-3.
Game 2
Second verse, same as the first! Game two of the series, The Fightins again got seven strong innings from their starting pitcher. David Parkinson threw 7 scoreless innings, only surrendering 3 hits. The Fightins were unable to score and dropped game 3-0. Fightins batters stranded two runners in the first, fourth and eighth innings.
Trenton was able to take the lead in the top of the tenth on a home run by Kyle Holder. Before the inning was over, Trenton led 3-0. Daniel Alvarez closed out the game to give the Thunder a commanding 2-0 lead.
Game 3
Game three the Fightins traveled to Arm and Hammer Stadium. Trenton left no doubt as they crushed Reading 12-2 to advance to the Eastern League Championships. Adonis Medina could not replicate either Howard and Parkinson’s performances. Trenton chased Medina in the second inning by scoring 5 runs. From there it was all Thunder ending The Fightin Phillies season.
Although the playoff results were not what we hoped for, there are positives to take away from the season. Bohm and Howard will absolutely be major-league players within the next two years. Moniak and Cornelious Randolph need to continue to develop. All but Randolph are slated to head to the Arizona Fall League in a couple of weeks. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bohm or Howard called up to the Phillies to help with the playoff push.
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
