(Reading, PA) - The Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies Double-A affiliate) will welcome the Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees Double-A affiliate) to FirstEnergy Stadium for the teams’ second series showdown of the 2026 campaign. The Fightins and Patriots split their mid-April bout 3-3, as big league rehabbers Zack Wheeler, Gerrit Cole and Anthony Volpe all made appearances in the six-game set.
Tuesday is the first 11AM Education Day Game of the season, and as always, all active military and veterans will get $3 off of box seats. Wednesday is a 90’s Baseball Tribute with “Sandlot” co-branded merchandise available for the game’s attendees. Hard Work in School Pays Off students can also utilize their tickets at FirstEnergy Stadium for this contest. Thursday is an animated racecar tribute with “Cars” co-branded merchandise available for purchase. The Fightins will also be wearing their Reading Phillies Throwback Thursday Uniforms. Friday’s game is a Bob Marley Tribute theme with a postgame concert and Friday night fireworks. Saturday will be the back end of a back-to-back fireworks sequence, and it’ll mark the first Mega Blast Fireworks show of the 2026 season, where fans can witness the largest fireworks show in stadium history! The R-Phils will also be dawning their Star Wars jerseys with there being a jersey auction and raffle afterwards. Lastly, Sunday’s contest is a Mother’s Day special. The first 2,000 women to arrive at America’s Classic Ballpark will receive an R-Phils Tote Bag. All fans will also be able to run the bases after the conclusion of this series finale with Somerset.
The Fightin Phils (13-13) just split their road series with the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies Double-A affiliate) 3-3. This series also included a season-high 15 run trouncing, as the Fightins put up an 11 spot in the third inning of game three. This was the first time the Fightins had scored 10+ runs in a single frame in three years, when they scored 10 against Hartford on June 12, 2023.
Bryan Rincon socked two more home runs in this series, upping his tally to four round-trippers in the last pair of series. In all, the Phillies’ no. 29 prospect (per MLB pipeline) went 7-for-21 (.333) with two long balls, three RBI and a .500 on-base percentage. Raylin Heredia stayed red-hot at the plate, logging his first multi-home run game of the season on May 3rd. Heredia also continued to pace the Eastern League in doubles, as he now has 12 through the team’s first 26 contests. Alex Binelas also leads the league in home runs with nine. Binelas had eight homers in 68 games with the R-Phils this past season; he has surpassed that mark in about a third of the time.
The Patriots (12-15) dominated their series against the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox Double-A affiliate), taking their home matchup by a tally of 5-2. Somerset continued to mash and now sports a league-best 49 home runs, 10 more than second place Reading through 27 games played. The Patriots scored nine or more runs in four of the seven games played, and they won games five and six of this by a combined total of 24-3.
Five different Patriots hitters have at least seven home runs, with Marco Luciano and Garrett Martin leading the team leaderboard with eight apiece. Luciano is on a six-game hit streak, hitting 9-for-21 (.429) over that timespan. The former San Francisco Giants big leaguer also leads all Patriots mashers with a 1.034 OPS. DJ Gladney has a hit in seven of his last eight contests, and the Somerset left fielder socked a solo home run (his first of the season) on May 2. Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. was called up to the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, last week. The team has struggled on the road, going just 3-9 in those contests.
The pitching matchups for this week are as follows:
- Tuesday: RHP Trent Sellers (0-1, 7.56) vs. RHP Kyle Brnovich (0-2, 5.87)
- Wednesday: RHP Cade Smith (1-1, 5.30) vs. RHP Gabriel Barbosa (0-0, 3.00)
- Thursday: LHP Xavier Rivas (1-2, 7.07) vs. RHP Braydon Tucker (3-2, 1.73)
- Friday: RHP Jack Cebert (1-0, 3.38) vs. RHP Luke Russo (4-1, 5.95)
- Saturday: LHP Kyle Carr (2-3, 6.95) vs. LHP Adam Seminaris (1-3, 3.34)
- Sunday: RHP Chase Chaney (1-2, 4.28) RHP Kyle Brnovich (0-2, 5.87
The Yankees top 30 prospects (per MLB.com) on the Patriots’ roster are as follows:
- No. 11 - Kyle Carr (LHP)
- No. 16 - Cade Smith (RHP)
- No. 19 - Jace Avina (OF)
- No. 23 - Xavier Rivas (LHP)
- No. 25 - Jack Cebert (RHP)
- No. 28 - Eric Reyzelman (RHP)
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.