READING, Pa. — Jeremy Hazelbaker and his Portland Sea Dogs teammates sure didn’t expect to climb aboard the team bus Saturday night still without a victory this season.

They were turned back for the fourth straight game, falling to the Reading Phillies 4-1 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Phillies (4-0) continued to get strong pitching and pounce on every mistake by the Sea Dogs (0-4). Reading outscored Portland 24-11 and didn’t make an error; the Sea Dogs had eight.

“Of course we’re surprised,” said Hazelbaker, who scored the Sea Dogs’ run in the eighth inning. “We felt really good coming out of spring training, but this is a long season and it’s a grind, and we’re definitely not going to let these first four games, this first series, get to us. We’re going to come out next series expecting to win just like we expect to win every game.”

One night after facing the top pitching prospect in the Phillies’ system, Trevor May, the Sea Dogs ran into David Buchanan.

He used a devastating change-up to strike out a career-high nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two singles and a walk.

“It worked for him,” said Hazelbaker. “He got a lot of guys to swing over the top of it and he buried it well. He threw it where he wanted it, and we just bit on it tonight.

“That’s the thing about baseball: It’s a long season and we’re sure going to face him again. We know what to look for and what’s on the table.”

The Sea Dogs didn’t score until Buchanan left. Hazelbaker led off the eighth with a single and stole second. Ryan Dent followed with a walk and Heiker Meneses singled to load the bases with none out.

But J.C. Linares popped out and Kolbrin Vitek grounded to first, driving home Hazelbaker. Bryce Brentz, who struck out his first three times up, flied to left to end the inning.

“That’s the thing with us,” said Hazelbaker, “there’s been a couple of games where we’ve been down, we got people on, we got hits, we made late pushes. We’re just not getting those timely hits where we need them. That’s just one minor thing of our game I’m confident we’re going to turn around.

“We’re still putting the bat on the ball, still making good contact, it’s just not falling in.”

Portland starter Chris Hernandez, making his Double-A debut, went five innings, allowing four hits, all singles, and three runs. He hurt himself with three walks in the fourth, when the Phillies scored three times.

The Sea Dogs batted .236 in the series. The Phillies batted .311. The 4-0 start is the Phillies’ best in at least 30 years.

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