The Reading Fightin Phils have the best record in all of major and minor league baseball in large part because they can pound the ball.

The Portland Sea Dogs saw that first-hand Friday night as Reading touched starter Mitch Atkins for seven runs in 32/3 innings en route to an 11-3 Eastern League win in front of 4,462 fans at Hadlock Field.

“They have a pretty good lineup and they’re a team that will make you pay for any mistake you make,” Portland Manager Carlos Febles said. “You have to bring your best to beat them.”

It was the third straight loss for the Sea Dogs (26-46), who had 15 hits of their own, including the first Double-A home run for second baseman and top prospect Yoan Moncada, an opposite-field line drive to left-center with no one on in the fourth.

Portland’s manager wasn’t on the field to see Moncada’s home run. Febles was ejected for the second time this season two pitches after Rhys Hoskins’ three-run home run in the third – his 20th of the season – gave Reading (52-22, .702 winning percentage) a 3-1 lead.

Febles was abruptly tossed after plate umpire Chris Graham called a strike on Reading designated hitter Jake Fox to even the count at 1-1.

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“I was arguing balls and strikes, and we’re not supposed to,” Febles said. “I kind of lost it a little when he started looking at the dugout after calling a strike and I got tossed.”

Moncada, a switch hitter, went 2 for 5 with two strikeouts. The strikeouts came in his first two right-handed at-bats as a Sea Dog.

Tzu-Wei Lin, Andrew Benintendi and Jake Romanski each had three hits for Portland, with Nate Freiman and Tim Roberson adding two hits apiece. The Sea Dogs left 13 runners on.

“The story of the game was they got the big hits, we didn’t,” Febles said.

Portland also had two runners thrown out at the plate.

The second one was especially ill-timed. Trailing 7-3, Cole Sturgeon started the fifth by reaching on an error. Romanski followed with a double down the line in right. Dylan Cozens got the ball in quickly to K.C. Serna, who threw a strike to get Sturgeon.

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Atkins was making his 230th minor league start, the most among active minor leaguers. He escaped trouble in the first two innings, including striking out Cozens (19 homers) and Hoskins.

In the third inning, Andrew Pullin worked a walk and Cozens lined a double off the right-field wall. Hoskins followed with a 422-foot blast that cleared everything in left-center.

Reading pushed the lead to 7-1 with a four-run fourth that included RBI singles by Pullin and Cozens, and a two-run double to center by Fox that Benintendi wasn’t able to find in the twilight.

Pullin went 3 for 4 with two RBI, a walk and was hit by a pitch. He had three hits in his Double-A debut Thursday night.

NOTES: Boston Red Sox outfielder Chris Young’s hamstring injury Thursday triggered a chain reaction that elevated Aneury Tavarez to Pawtucket on Friday. Bryce Brentz, who started the season in Portland, was promoted to Boston and for time being will be the Red Sox’s regular left fielder. Tavarez took Brentz’s spot with Pawtucket after hitting .469 (23 for 49, two HRs) over his last 13 games in Portland. … New Sea Dogs infielder Mauricio Dubon had the day off. Dubon went 1 for 3 with a triple in his Double-A debut Thursday. On Tuesday, Dubon was in California, going 1 for 2 with two RBI for the Carolina League All-Stars in their 6-4 win against the California League All-Stars. … Sea Dogs reliever Jake Drehoff worked the ninth and struck out the side.

 


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