PORTLAND, Maine — Nate Freiman clobbered a one-out three-run home run in the eighth inning to rally the Portland Sea Dogs by the Reading Fightin Phils 9-8 Sunday afternoon in an Eastern League baseball game at Hadlock Field in front of 6,631 fans.
Portland snapped a four-game losing streak and have six wins against the Fightins this season.
The Sea Dogs finished 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position, squandering two great opportunities in the sixth and seventh, but rallied against losing pitcher Hoby Milner (4-1) in the eighth.
Andrew Benintendi ignited the comeback with a single and Cody Decker doubled off the wall. Freiman’s homer was his fifth and his third over the Maine Monster.
The top three in the Portland lineup, Yoan Moncada, Mauricio Dubon and Benintendi, reached base 10 times.
Austin Maddox (2-0) worked two scoreless frames, stranding two runners in the ninth to earn the win. Nik Turley fanned struck out seven over three scoreless innings in relief of McAvoy.
Portland scored three runs in the first off starter Tyler Viza, receiving a two-run double by Benintendi, who scored on an error by third baseman Harold Martinez.
Martinez made up for that error, slamming a three-run homer in the second, tying the game at three.
Reading scored in three straight innings, taking a 6-3 lead in third. Rhys Hoskins reached on a run-scoring fielder’s choice, Jake Fox added a two-run single.
Portland responded in its half of the third, cutting the deficit to 6-5 on a two-run single by Cole Sturgeon.
Kevin McAvoy’s final inning was the fourth and he surrendered a two-run homer to Jorge Alfaro, giving the Phils an 8-5 lead. Dubon nailed a run-scoring double in the fourth, making it 8-6 Reading
On Saturday night, the Fightin Phils picked up eight runs and 10 hits in just three innings, defeating the Sea Dogs 8-4..
Portland’s Tzu-Wei Lin hit his first Double-A homer, a towering solo shot to right in the first inning.
Reading went to work right away in the first inning, knocking Teddy Stankiewicz (L, 2-7) out of the game after just two outs as he gave up four hits and three runs.
Andrew Pullin gave the visitors a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer. Jake Fox added a run-scoring to left field.
The Phils scored two in the fourth on Aaron Brown’s single off Ben Taylor. Ty Buttrey gave up three runs on four hits in the seventh.
Portland’s Mauricio Dubon knocked in two runs with two outs in his second Double-A start. In the fifth, Dubon made it 5-3 with a run-scoring single and cut the deficit to 8-4 with an infield single in the seventh.
Reading’s Alexis Rivero tossed the final 2 ⅓ innings on one hit to earn his first Double-A save.
Portland’s Tim Roberson smacked two doubles off the Maine Monster.