(Reading, PA) - The Reading Fightin Phils (25-18: 55-57) fell to the visiting Chesapeake Baysox (24-19; 53-58) by a final score of 5-2. The Baysox evened out the series with both teams having won two of the first four games.
MLB’s 33rd-ranked prospect and Phillies No. 1 prospect Gage Wood towed the slab for Reading on the night and set the tone with two punchouts in the first inning.
Chesapeake plated the game's first run in the top of the second. The first two batters of the inning reached base, and all it took from there was an Anderson De Los Santos groundout to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Anthony Eyanson showed why he is the 49th-ranked prospect and the second-ranked prospect in the Orioles system, limiting the Fightins to only one hit while grabbing four strikeouts in the first three frames.
Thomas Sosa (13) doubled the guests' lead in the top of the fourth with a solo home run into the Redners Event Center.
Reading threatened in the bottom of the frame with runners on the corners but could not get the zero off of the scoreboard yet.
Aron Estrada (19) launched another solo home run in the top of the fifth to bring the score to 3-0.
Wood’s night was finished after five frames, which matched his longest outing in professional baseball. The Arkansas alum finished with six strikeouts and allowed three earned runs, two of them coming by way of the long ball.
Pedro Leon got the zero off the board in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double and was followed by a Raylin Heredia RBI single, reducing the Baysox lead to one.
Dom Keegan (4) responded in the sixth with yet another Chesapeake solo home run, restoring the lead back to two and landing the score at 4-2 in favor of the guests.
Eyanson was pulled from action after 5.1 innings. The 21-year-old logged his second-longest start of the year, punching seven batters' tickets along the way.
The Baysox tacked on another run in the top of the seventh, manufactured by Frederick Benscome himself. Benscome walked, stole second, stole third, and then crossed the plate through a throwing error from Fightins pitcher Mavis Graves.
Micah Ashman entered in the seventh and struck out the first five batters he faced en route to a perfect two-inning performance for the visitors.
Jack Dallas and Tristian Garnett twirled scoreless innings out of the Reading bullpen in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to keep the deficit at three.
Carson DeMartini got the bottom of the ninth started by reaching second on a fielding error, but Richard Guasch retired three in a row to finish off the night in Baseballtown. Guasch collects his first save of the season for his work.
Eyanson (6-0) picked up the win. He secures back-to-back wins with the Baysox in his first two starts since being traded.
Wood (0-2) is handed the loss. The righty is still in search of his first win for the Phillies organization.
The Fightins finished the night going a poor 2-14 with runners in scoring position, and leaving seven men stranded on the basepaths. Leon and Heredia were bright spots, both picking up two hits and an RBI each.
Reading returns to the field on Saturday against the Chesapeake Baysox at 6:45 p.m. RHP Braydon Tucker is scheduled to start for Reading, and he will go opposite RHP JT Quinn for Chesapeake. Pregame radio coverage is underway at 6:25 p.m. on the Reading Fighitn Phils Radio Network. A video stream is available via MiLB TV or the Bally Live App.
The Fightin Phils remain home through Sunday against the Chesapeake Baysox, Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Friday night features fireworks, with Thursday's show sponsored by Recovery Awareness Night thanks to Berks Counseling Center and SOS Berks, and Friday's by PSECU. Saturday is the 28th Annual Harley Night with an R-Phils Harley Game Cap Giveaway for the first 2,500 adults, along with postgame fireworks, thanks to American Crane and Equipment Corporation. The series ends Sunday with an R-Phils Team Photo for the first 2,000 kids, with a pre-game player autograph session for kids at 4 PM, thanks to Berkshire Hathaway.
Tickets to all games are available at rphils.com/tickets, by calling 610-370-BALL, or in person at the Customers Bank Ticket Office.
The 2026 R-Phils season is presented by Pepsi. Follow the Fightin Phils on Twitter @ReadingFightins, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram @Fightins.