The Erie SeaWolves opened their season with a 4-2 series win on the road to the Reading Fightin Phils. The 'Wolves kicked off their 2021 Double-A Northeast season on Tuesday May 4th with a 12-4 victory, the first of 3 straight wins; They then lost 2 back-to-back before wrapping things up with a 7-5 victory on Sunday May 9th.
Reading Series Recap
Paul Richan took the mound for the first game of the series for what was the first AA start of his career. He pitched 4 innings before being replaced for the 5th inning. He gave up 5 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs (All via the longball) with 4 strikeouts. Jacob Robson hit a 2-run homerun to give the 'Wolves an early lead in the 2nd, Dylan Rosa hit a 3-run shot as part of a 4 run 6th inning for Erie and Yariel Gonzalez crushed a 3-run homerun in the 8th to give the 'Wolves some breathing room. Max Green was allocated the win in his first AA appearance on the back of 2 shutout innings which saw the SeaWolves score 6 total runs, taking an 8-3 lead after going behind 3-2 in the 4th. Erie took the first game 12-4 to start the season off strong
Pedro Payano was on the bump for the second game which saw him claim the W and the SeaWolves continue to dominate. Payano pitched 5 full innings giving up only 1 hit, 3 walks and conceding 0 runs whilst striking out 5 of the 17 Reading batters he faced. Brad Bass, Wladimir Pinto and Gerson Moreno then combined for 0 Earned Runs, however 2 unearned runs scored in the 6th. Runs for the 'Wolves were far between but certainly not few, a total of 14 runs were scored in just 3 innings. The highlights of these were a grand-slam by Josh Lester in the 3rd inning to give Erie a 6-0 lead and another grand-slam by highly touted Tigers prospect Riley Greene in a 6-run 9th inning to cap off a 5 RBI night for the prospect. Erie won the game, comfortably, 14-2.
Elvin Rodriguez was the starter in the third game, pitching 4 innings, striking out 6, giving up just 2 hits and 1 walk. He combined with Mark Leiter Jr to shut the Fightins out through 6. Erie amassed a 5-run lead in that time, with what turned out to be the winning run being scored by Arquimedes Gamboa on a flyball double by John Valente in the 6th inning. Homeruns by Gonzalez and Kreidler in the 1st and 3rd innings, respectively, rounded off a much more subdued night for the Erie offense. Billy Lescher gave up 2 runs in the 7th and Joe Navilhon conceded 2 in the 9th to make things tense for the 'Wolves, but Navilhon held on for the save to secure a 5-4 victory for the SeaWolves.
The slowing momentum carried on into the fourth game as A.J. Ladwig took the mound giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts leading to him being given the loss. Cale Coshow came in in relief in the 5th, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 1 strikeout in 0.2 innings to put the SeaWolves in an 0-8 hole, before being replaced with 2 outs to go in the 6th. The Erie offense couldn't make up the deficit with Juan Centeno's 2-run homerun in the 6th representing the biggest dent in the score line for the 'Wolves as they lost 4-8 in their first defeat of the season.
The SeaWolves were unable to bounce back in the fifth game of the series on Sunday as the pitching dug holes the offense couldn't climb out of. Ricardo Pinto started the game giving up 3 runs on 2 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts; Brad Bass then conceded 2 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks and 0 strikeouts. Max Green took over in the 6th and was able to limit the damage, conceding just 1 run and striking out 4 in 2 innings. Gerson Moreno closed out the game in typically efficient style but was unable to salvage the win. The offensive performance was equally as dismal, scoring just 4 runs on 10 hits and leaving a total of 14 runners stranded on base. The lone spark was Drew Wards 8th inning 2-run homerun to make things tense at the end, but eventually the SeaWolves fell 4-6 with Pinto being awarded the loss.
The final game of the season saw Paul Richan make his second start of the campaign, conceding just 1 hit and 0 runs in 4 innings, with 2 strikeouts. Joe Navilhon stepped in for the 5th and 6th innings conceding just 1 run, a solo shot by Reading's Colby Fitch, and striking out 5 before Henry Martinez took over in the 7th. Martinez conceded 4 runs on 3 hits with 1 walk and 1 strikeout, earning the win (baseball, eh?) as the SeaWolves offense exploded in the 8th. Angel De Jesus stepped in for 1.1 innings to close out the game and earn the save. All of Erie's runs came in the 7th inning as the 'Wolves batted around so that Jacob Robson scored a run to start the inning on a Drew Ward single and then caped off the inning with a 3 RBI double to give Erie a 7-5 victory to cap off the road trip.
Looking ahead to Akron
The Akron RubberDucks come to town for the SeaWolves home opener at UPMC Park, which will host its first professional ballgame in 2 years after being renovated during the suspended 2020 season. The RubberDucks sit top of the west division with a perfect 5-0 record, leading the league in pitching with a combined ERA of 1.80; 2 pitchers have yet to concede a run, 2019 2nd round pick Juan Hillman and Dominican Francisco Perez.
The SeaWolves will look to combat the 'Ducks pitching with their own league best hitters. Erie lead the league in every category besides triples and stolen bases, with 3 players having a batting average of .400 or above. It's fair to say Erie represent much tougher competition than Akron's previous opponents, Binghamton, who sit 11th in the league in hitting and 9th in pitching; So the SeaWolves will look to truly test the RubberDucks and put together a dominant home stand in front of their own fans for the first time since September 2019.
Coverage of every game this weeks series against Akron is available to stream via a payed MiLB subscription or radio coverage is available for free HERE
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