(Reading, PA) - The Reading Fightin Phils (29-38) leapt back into the win column with a 4-2 victory over the Hartford Yard Goats (38-28) on Friday night. Reading snapped a four-game skid with the victory and drew the season series to an 8-8 tie. With a Somerset Patriots loss, Hartford clinched the Eastern League-Northeast division title.
Bryan Rincon (10) started the game off with a bang, smacking a lead-off home run to right field to lift Reading to a 1-0 lead in the opening frame.
The Fightin Phils kept their foot on the gas pedal in the bottom of the third inning. The R-Phils hits leader, Raylin Heredia, singled home Rincon on a line drive to right field.
Pedro León was trailing behind Rincon on the play, but Hartford left fielder Conner Capel threw him out on a bouncing throw to home plate. The Fightins led 2-0 after the first three stanzas.
Reading notched two more runs in the fourth, as Riley Tirotta picked up his first RBI with the team on a fielder’s choice, scoring Alex Binelas. Jordan Dissin grounded into another fielder’s choice, plating Erick Brito to give the R-Phils a 4-0 lead.
Hartford was held scoreless through the first six frames before Capel (12) smacked his sixth home run in three days. The 29-year-old’s two-run home run plated Braylen Wimmer, making the score 4-2.
Alex McFarlane retired the first two before putting runners on first and second with an out to spare. He struck out Cole Messina to snap the Fightins’ four-game losing streak.
Luke Russo (6-3) got the win and had one of the best nights of his career. He tied a career-best seven innings, allowing just two earned runs on five hits with a walk and six punchouts.
Jake Brooks (1-4) took the loss, matching a career-best seven innings with four runs on nine hit with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
McFarlane (8) got his team-best eighth save of the season, dialing up his fastball to as high as 99 miles per hour on the radar gun.
Rincon’s home run gave the Fightins a lead they would not relinquish, while Binelas, León and Luke Ritter all logged multi-hit performances.
The Fightin Phils return to the field on Saturday against the Hartford Yard Goats, Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, at 6:45 p.m. LHP Adam Seminaris will start for Reading, and he will go against RHP Connor Staine for Hartford. Pregame radio coverage is underway at 6:40 p.m. on the Reading Fightin 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 Hartford Yard Goats. Friday features fireworks sponsored by Love It Here, Go Local. Saturday is a Carpenter MEGA Blast Fireworks show, thanks to RM Palmer Company. The series and homestand end on Sunday with the first 3,000 men 18 & older receiving a Father's Day Golf Shirt Celebrating 60 Seasons of Phillies Affiliation, thanks to Redner's Markets & Quick Stops, "Preferred Grocery Store of the R-Phils."
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.