READING, Pa. — On what appeared to be a night of missed opportunities, the Portland Sea Dogs made the most of some late-game chances.

The Sea Dogs left the bases loaded in the first two innings, but dominated play over the final seven innings to earn a 4-1 victory over the Reading Fightin Phils on Saturday at First Energy Stadium.

The win gave Portland (9-13) its second series win this season and first on the road.

The Sea Dogs also received another strong effort on the mound, limiting the Phils to four hits after they shut them out in a 3-0 win Friday night.

Portland starting pitcher Justin Haley left the game after just 13 pitches with an apparent right groin injury.

Simon Mercedes replaced him and was effective. He threw 58 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, allowing an earned run and striking out two. Jonathan Aro (3-1) followed and was impressive with four perfect innings with three strikeouts. It was the longest outing for both pitchers this season.

“I had confidence in all of my pitches tonight,” said Aro, who threw 44 pitches. In his previous appearance on April 27, Aro allowed seven runs (four earned) to suffer his first Double-A loss. “I felt good and hope to keep this going.”

Keury De La Cruz had a big night with two key hits. He broke the game open when he roped a one-out double off reliever Mike Nesseth (0-1) to left that scored Jantzen Witte and Oscar Tejeda in the eighth. De La Cruz also had an RBI single in the third.

Luis Martinez followed with an RBI single straight up the middle that scored De La Cruz with the final run of the three-run, eighth inning.

“Mercedes and Aro did a tremendous job,” said Sea Dogs Manager Billy McMillon. “They both threw a lot of strikes. They kept us in the game until we got some big hits. Everything has worked out for us in the first two games here.”

The Sea Dogs broke a scoreless tie in the third when Tejeda opened with a double to center and then stole third.

David Chester struck out, but De La Cruz dribbled a single down the right-field line to score Tejeda.

Reading (12-9) rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning when Gustavo Pierre doubled to left and KC Serna smacked a triple deep to center.

Portland had scoring opportunities in the first and second thanks to wildness by Reading starter Tom Windle, but failed to score.

Windle walked seven batters in his two innings of work.

In the first, Portland loaded the bases on three consecutive walks to start the game. Tejeda then lofted a fly to Reading right fielder Aaron Altheer, who threw out Mike Miller trying to score. David Chester followed with a walk to reload the bases, but De La Cruz struck out swinging to end the inning.

NOTES: Miller had two stolen bases and has a team-high five. … Sea Dogs entered the game with only six home runs and Chester, who hit a two-run homer Friday night, has the last two. … Center fielder Blake Tekotte made two nice catches, a headfirst dive in the second, and over the shoulder on in the sixth.