READING, Pa. (May 30, 2026) — The Fightin Phils scored first yet again to take an early lead, but the Senators responded with seven unanswered runs en route to a 7-5 win Saturday night. Harrisburg now leads the series three games to two despite Reading scoring first in all five games.
The Fightins scored a run in the third on a walk, and error and an RBI groundout against RHP Josh Randall (W, 1-0) who pitched well in his Double-A debut. The right hander went five innings, allowing just the one unearned run on two hits, four walks and three strikeouts.
Reading's starter, LHP Adam Seminaris, began strongly. He retired the first ten Sens hitters, eight via the strikeout.
But then, trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Cayden Wallace and Leandro Pineda hit back-to-back infield singles. The next batter, Sam Petersen, hit a line drive down the right field line that scored them both.
Petersen tripled on the ball. In an attempt to nab Petersen at third on the play, Aroon Escobar, the cutoff man, threw the ball away and Petersen jogged home to score and put the Senators in front 3-1.
Harrisburg scored in four-straight innings from the third through seventh.
In the fifth, another run scored on Wallace's RBI double. An RBI fielder's choice groundout from Jack Rogers scored another run in the sixth, stretching the lead to 5-1.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, Kervin Pichardo drove in two with a single to push Harrisburg in front 7-1.
Reading responded with a run in the seventh against RHP Chance Huff. LHP Jared Simpson then came on and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings.
Simpson's last five outings have all been scoreless.
Against RHP Robert Cranz in the ninth, the Fightins made things interesting with three runs. After Dante Nori's second RBI groundout of the game, Bryan Rincon hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 7-5.
But Cranz responded by striking out the next two hitters to end the game and close the 7-5 win.
Sens pitching allowed only five hits but also issued nine walks. They held Reading, though, to just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position on the night.
RHP Isaac Lyon (0-1) has the start tomorrow for Harrisburg as the Senators look to take the series from the Fightin Phils with a win. First pitch is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.