Skip to main content

Reading returns home facing elimination

e-garcia
Elniery Garcia, image- Jay Floyd

Trailing 0-2 in the divisional round of the Double-A Eastern League playoffs, the Reading Fightins return home to FirstEnergy Stadium and will need to win out to advance to the league championship series next week.

The Fightins will face the division rival Trenton Thunder beginning Friday night with three wins needed to not go home prematurely. At 89-52, Reading sported the best record in the league during the regular season. Trenton finished two games back in the Eastern Division, entering the playoffs as the Wild Card entrant.

Game three will see left-hander Elniery Garcia making his Double-A debut after posting a 12-4 record with a 2.68 ERA and 7.0 K/9 mark in 20 outings with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers this season.

The 21-year-old Dominican native asserted, following game two, that he doesn't feel pressure heading into a crucial situation.

"There's no pressure. I don't feel pressure," Garcia said with a calm delivery. "I feel normal. Like every game is the same."

In the outing, Garcia will pair up with a brand new battery mate, promising catching prospect Jorge Alfaro. The two have never been paired together before. Garcia doesn't foresee the lack of experience together presenting any concern. Afterall, he says, they both speak Spanish.

Garcia joined the Fightins prior to the series opener on Wednesday and he feels that he saw enough of the Thunder offense in the first two games of the division series to have a solid game plan when he faces them on Friday.

Trenton will counter with 20-year-old lefty Justus Sheffield on the mound. Sheffield was the 31st overall pick in the 2014 draft by Cleveland. He was acquired by the Yankees in July in the Andrew Miller trade. The Tennessee native made his Double-A debut against Reading last Friday, allowing one unearned run in four innings of work.

Reading's premiere offensive contributor, league Most Valuable Player Dylan Cozens (.276 avg, 40 HR, 125 RBI in the regular season), feels the Fightins are in a good position to advance. In fact, the 22-year-old lefty batting slugger expressed confidence.

"We're real comfortable at home," Cozens said. "We play well there, we've got good fan support and there's just something about being there in Reading, we seem to play better. "

At home this season, the Fightins sported a .718 winning percentage. Obviously, they'll need it to be 1.000 for three days, if their season is to continue.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This Guy Speaks For All of You

This individual, interviewed by FOX 29 on Friday as the Phillies arrived back at Citizens Bank Park, said it best. When asked how he felt regarding the Phillies, he told Steve Keeley that he was, "Stoked, baby!" The unidentified phanatic then proclaimed, "We are talking about the Fightins here, the Fightins! Said!" Check out the media player below, as the transcribed version certainly does not do this phireball of phandom justice. The Phillies forced game 6 of the National League Championship Series with a 4-2 victory over the Giants in San Francisco on Thursday night. Game 6 will feature Roy Oswalt vs. Jonathan Sanchez in a return pitching match up from game 2. First pitch is scheduled for 7:57 pm EST at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Be sure to tune in on 97.3 ESPN's Weekend Sports Guide with Tyrone Johnson this afternoon around 1:15pm to hear me chatting about the Phillies! 97.3 is based in Atlantic City. You can listen live online HERE . _________
Post a Comment
Read more

Who is Your Favorite Willie 'Mays' Hayes?

PhoulBallz.com is wondering which individual who has portrayed Willie "Mays" Hayes is the favorite of the public. Hayes, of course, is the character made famous in the Major League motion picture series. In Major League , Willie "Mays" Hayes was portrayed by budding Hollywood actor Wesley Snipes, who would go on to action movie superstardom. Snipes has starred in major motion pictures like the Blade trilogy, Passenger 57 , Undisputed and many more. Snipes remains an impact Hollywood actor, despite legal troubles related to income tax evasion. Snipes was replaced for the sequel, Major League II when his busy career, and possibly the film's budget, would not allow him to return, by Omar Epps. Another budding actor, Epps had previously worked with director David S. Ward, on the film The Program , and landed the role of Hayes, who had become a Hollywood action star over the off-season that occured between the two films. Epps' career portraying athletes rol
1 comment
Read more

Phillies minor leaguer Burch to use health scare as fuel

Tyler Burch, image- MiLB.com I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to exclusive interviews plus early access to features and news such as this. A missed baseball season wasn't the only challenge facing righty pitcher Tyler Burch this summer.   With persistent symptoms that began prior to spring training it was ultimately discovered, after the 2020 season was shut down due to the Coronavirus pandemic, that the 22-year-old had developed an autoimmune disease.   As symptoms that included dry mouth and frequent trips to the bathroom worsened, Burch's situation left his doctor puzzled.  And even the physician that conducted his team physical examination at the outset of spring training jokingly referenced diabetes, but did not take the possibility seriously.    The physical impacts subsided somewhat during spring training, as being more active and adhering to the team diet helped alleviate what he was experiencing. Once the base
Post a Comment
Read more