After a brief rain delay to the start of the game, Reading took the mantle of early scoring from Erie, and plated a pair of runs in the first inning. Following a leadoff single, Jorge Bonifacio lined a two run home run to left field. McCarthy Tatum led off the second inning with a solo home run off of Erie Insurance Arena to give Reading a quick three run lead.
Joey Wentz had begun to recover on the mound after the early home runs, and retired nine consecutive batters into the fifth inning until a walk, a hit batter, and a single brought a fourth run across for Reading.
Brad Bass tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless ball out of the bullpen, but Yaya Chentouf was roughed up to follow. Reading collected three extra-base hits and scored two runs off of Chentouf, extending the lead to four runs after Erie had begun to close the gap.
Reading widened the gap in the ninth inning against Ruben Garcia. A trio of hits, an error, and a sacrifice fly created the final three runs.
After falling behind early, Erie did what they could to scratch Josh Hendrickson of Reading, but only came up with two runs in the third inning. With two runners on base, Dillon Dingler tripled off of the right field wall to score the pair, his third triple of the year with Erie. Hendrickson tossed five innings on the mound with only the two runs allowed.
Erie made another push in the seventh inning with a pair of doubles from Drew Ward and Riley Greene, but it only lead to one run. Brian Marconi sliced through the Erie offense to earn the save, striking out five batters.
Erie and Reading continue their six game set on Wednesday. Erie will continue to participate in Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversión and transform into the Erie Piñatas for the first time this season. The UPMC Park game day experience will be transformed with Latin music, colorful decorations, specialty food & drink items, and custom Erie Piñatas caps and jerseys to worn by the players. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.