In a battle that saw both starting pitchers put together a remarkably resilient performance, the Erie Seawolves were silenced yesterday at UPMC Park in a 1-0 loss to the Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia’s AA affiliate), whose lone run in the top of the ninth inning broke a scoreless deadlock in Game 1 of the best-of-three Eastern League Championship Series.

After securing their fifth consecutive Southwest Division Title on Thursday in a 5-3 win at Richmond, the Erie Seawolves turned to #40 Joe Miller (Left-Handed Pitcher) and asked him to shut down Reading’s prolific offense in his first postseason start with Erie. He responded accordingly.

Joe Miller took to the mound and produced a career outing, striking out seven Reading batters while only allowing three hits and walking two batters in his seven complete innings of work. His 93 pitches and 25 batters faced in this game marked the longest outing of his professional career. After giving up a leadoff, first-pitch single to #4 Bryan Rincon (Short-Stop), Miller’s play proved that he had the heart of a champion. In the top of the fifth inning, #13 Aroon Escobar (Second Baseman) hit a single, and Miller then walked #51 Pedro León (Left-Fielder). #48 Caleb Ricketts (Catcher) hit a sacrifice bunt and was out at first, but he advanced the runners to second and third base with just one out. Miller forced #16 Bryson Ware into an infield popout and struck out Rincon to strand two Fightin Phils on base and escape the inning. 

Miller retired the first three batters in the sixth, and Erie’s manager, Tony Cappuccilli, kept him on the mound in the seventh inning. He only needed eleven pitches to take down three more Reading batters.

#28 Luke Russo (Right Hander Pitcher) went throw-for-throw with Miller in the 20 batters he faced, and the support of his bullpen and one pivotal crack of a Reading bat made all the difference in this pitcher’s duel. Russo pitched five complete innings, conceded five hits, walked one runner, and tallied three strikeouts. A #6 Luke Shliger (Catcher) double with one out in the bottom of the fourth put Erie in scoring position, but Russo struck out #26 Andrew Jenkins (First Baseman) and forced #23 Chris Meyers (LF) to line out to right field to strand Liranzo at second. #44 Thayron Liranzo (Designated Hitter) hit a double in the fourth and was followed by a Shliger single to put runners in the corners with one out. But Jenkins hit into a double-play to allow Reading to exit another inning unscathed.

Russo exited the game with 67 pitches in the bottom of the sixth and #19 Mavis Graves (LHP) inherited a runner on first and second. Graves struck out the first two batters he faced and made Shliger ground out to houdini Reading out of another inning. 

#21 Tanner Kohlhepp (RHP) continued Erie’s shutout through the eighth inning, but the elite day for the pitching staff came to a screeching halt when #31 Moises Rodriguez (RHP) walked the first three batters he faced to begin the ninth inning. #22 Colin Fields (RHP) entered the game in relief of Rodriguez, but the damage had been done. 

Fields retired Pedro León to get the first out of the inning and force the runners to stay put, but Caleb Ricketts hit a sacrifice flyout to right field to drive in #23 Raylin Heredia (Right Fielder) to finally break the scoreless tie and take a 1-0 Reading lead.

#99 Estibenzon Jimenez (RHP) had a one-two-three bottom half of the frame, ending the game with a #36 Zyir Hope (RF) groundout, Liranzo strikeout, and Shliger groundout. Pan (5-0) was credited with the win, and Rodriguez (3-1) was charged with the loss. 

Erie finished with five hits, one more than Reading’s four, and both teams left plenty of runs on the table. Reading left eight runners on base and Erie left five. Shliger, who hit two grand slams in Erie’s 18-6 home win against Richmond one week ago, recorded two hits and #16 Woody Hadeen (SS), #24 Peyton Graham (2B), and Thayron Liranzo recorded one. Caleb Rickets led the way for the Fightin Phils with two singles and the go-ahead sacrifice flyout to drive home the winning run, with Rincon and Escobar each recording the additional two hits for Reading.

In its first postseason appearance since 2019, Reading is now just one win away from its first outright Eastern League Championship since 1995. The Fightin Phils will host Game 2 at FirstEnergy Stadium today at 6:45 p.m. The Seawolves, meanwhile, are still in the golden era of their franchise’s history, and they must win today to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in Reading on Wednesday at 6:45. Erie is no stranger to the championship series, having played in it for the past five seasons, but they will need to embody the heart that they saw from Joe Miller on the mound yesterday to win two in a row and clinch their third Eastern League Championship.