The Harrisburg Senators lost a strange game tonight to the Reading Phillies, 7-6. I say strange because it featured some good plays, probably even more bad plays, a comeback by the Senators from a 5-0 deficit, and a game-winning home run by Reading with 2 outs in the top of the 9th. 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 (more on that below). 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 (he also homered in the 1st). 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 (capping a bad night for him) to end the threat and the game.
General game notes:
- The home plate umpire had a very inconsistent strike zone early in the game, making some fans (including yours truly) get on his case, but he gradually became more consistent in his ball/strike calls.
- The Senators, and Josh Whitesell in particular, had a game to forget in the field. Whitesell officially committed 1 error, botching a throw to 2nd on what could have easily been a 3-6-1 double play. Instead, the Senators got no outs on the play and ended up giving up an unearned run in the 3rd. Later in the game he also made another bad play that was ruled a steal; Jeremy Plexico had a runner picked off at 1st, but Whitesell tried throwing the ball before he caught it and ended up missing the ball entirely, allowing the runner to get to 2nd base. Finally, Whitesell also was involved in another botched pick-off attempt, though the big culprit on the play was SS Seth Bynum. The Senators were facing a 1st and 3rd situation with 2 outs in the 3rd inning after the Whitesell error, and Justin Echols made a fake to 3rd, throw to 1st move that worked, initiating a rundown. Whitesell forced the runner towards 2nd and threw to Bynum. Bynum then went after the retreating runner, but the runner at 3rd broke for home when Bynum got the throw. Bynum nearly had the runner who was going back to 1st before deciding late to throw to the plate. The throw was not in time, and the other runner made it to 2nd. As a result of 2 aforementioned failed pick-off plays, Salomon Manriquez was charged with 3 steals, none of which were his fault.
- Senators manager John Stearns made a creative switch in the 6th inning to try to save his bullpen. He brought in Jesus Feliciano to play LF, moved Kory Casto from LF to 3rd base, moved Melvin Dorta from 3rd base to 2nd base to replace Dan Dement, and brought in Jeremy Plexico to pitch, replacing replace Justin Echols, and batted Plexico in Dement's #6 spot and Feliciano in Echols #9 spot. Plexico later batted for himself in the 8th inning.
- Outfielder Frank Diaz was placed on the 15 day DL retroactive to earlier in the week to let him get some rest from a nagging back injury.
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. He boosted his batting average to .319 in 135 at-bats since joining the Senators and has an excellent .420 OBP and .526 SLG.
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. His ERA increased to an ugly 5.23 on the season.
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. Plexico's record is now 2-2 and he has a 3.61 ERA.
MILB.com box score
