Sea Dogs drop 3rd straight to Fightin Phils

The Portland Sea Dogs saw a hard-fought comeback effort erased in the top of the ninth inning Saturday at Hadlock Field, falling 5-2 to the Reading Fightin Phils in Eastern League action.

Portland had knotted the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single from Mason White, briefly swinging momentum in the home team's favor. But the bullpen could not hold the tie, as reliever Reidis Sena ran into trouble after retiring the first batter of the ninth. Sena issued back-to-back walks before Reading's Raider Tello delivered an RBI single. Pedro Leon followed with a slow roller that found its way past the bag at third base, allowing another run to score, and Raylin Heredia added an RBI single of his own to push Reading's lead to three.

Reading drew first blood in the opening inning when Bryan Rincon launched his 20th home run of the season. Tello nearly added to the total in the third, sending a deep drive to center field, but Portland's Will Turner climbed the wall and reached over to rob him of a home run, preserving the early one-run deficit for a few more innings.

The Sea Dogs answered in the bottom of the third after Justin Gonzalez reached on an error and later scored on a groundout by Johanfran Garcia, evening the game at 1-1. Tello struck again for Reading in the seventh, driving in a run with a single to put the Fightin Phils back in front, 2-1, a lead that held until Portland's eighth-inning rally.

Starting pitcher Michael Sansone turned in a strong outing for Portland, allowing just one run on two hits across six innings of work. He struck out six and walked three, giving the Sea Dogs a chance to stay in the game.

The loss is Portland's third straight and drops them 3 1/2 games behind Reading in the Eastern League's Northeast Division second-half standings. Meanwhile, Binghamton and Somerset both picked up wins on Saturday, pushing themselves a full game ahead of the Sea Dogs in the standings.

Roman Anthony, the Boston Red Sox outfielder who has been on a rehab assignment with Portland since Tuesday, was not in the lineup Saturday. He has appeared in three games with the Sea Dogs during his current stint.

The two teams are set to continue their series at Hadlock Field, with Portland looking to snap its skid and close the gap in the division race.