Restituyo Extends Hit Streak to 12 in Yard Goats Loss

Final: Reading 11, Hartford 2

WP- Mick Abel (2-1)

LP- Andrew Quezada (1-2)

T- 2:31

Hartford, CT- Bladimir Restituyo extended his hit streak to 12 games, but the Yard Goats fell to the Reading Fightin Phils 11-1 on Friday night at Dunkin’ Park in Hartford. Restituyo had a single in his first at-bat in the first inning to extend the longest current hit-streak in the Eastern League, and one of the longest in all of Minor League Baseball. Grant Lavigne cranked his third home run in Hartford’s third loss in four games.

The Yard Goats’ offense applied pressure right away. Leading off the bottom of the first inning for Hartford, Restituyo lined a single into right field. Later in the inning, Zac Veen rifled a ball to the wall in right field for an RBI double, giving the Yard Goats an early 1-0 lead over the Fightin Phils.

Reading’s response came in the third inning. After Carlos De La Cruz reached base on a fielder’s choice and Johan Rojas roped a single to right field, Ethan Wilson hit a three-run home run to left-centerfield for his third home run of the series. At the end of three innings, the Fightin Phils led 3-1.

The Fightin Phils expanded their lead in the top of the fourth inning. A one-out double from Madison Stokes put a man on second base for De La Cruz, who smoked an RBI single to left field to give the Fightin Phils a 4-1 advantage.

Reading’s impressive offensive night continued in the top of the fifth inning. Drew Ellis, getting the green light on a 3-0 count, cranked a solo shot to left field. Later in the inning, after back-to-back singles from Max McDowell and Garrett Whitley, Nick Podkul smashed a three-run blast over the wall in left field, giving the Fightin Phils an 8-1 lead after five innings.

Yard Goats’ right-handed pitcher Will Ethridge had a solid outing out of the bullpen, throwing a scoreless ninth frame for Hartford and getting the heart of Reading’s order to go down 1-2-3. Then, in the bottom half of the ninth inning Grant Lavigne crushed a solo shot far over the wall in left-centerfield to make the score 11-2 Fightin Phils.

The Yard Goats and Fightin Phils play the fifth game of a six-game series on Saturday night (6:10 PM) at Dunkin’ Park. Chris McMahon will start for the Yard Goats after winning his last outing against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Lefty, Josh Hendrickson takes the bump for Reading looking for his first win of the 2023 season. Tomorrow’s game will be broadcast on AM 1410, FM 100.9 and on the iheart radio app.