R-Phils comeback from 8-1 deficit

Travis Minix did not get a decision but gave Reading a huge lift after he pitched 3.2 perfect innings of 
relief with five strikeouts.  

By Tony Zonca

Reading, PA -- Knitting together their biggest comeback win in 10 years, the Phillies came from seven runs down and scored 12 unanswered runs in a 13-8 victory Monday over the New Britain Rock Cats.

Brad Harman (12) congratulates Jeremy Slayden (3 RBI) after his two-run homer in the 4th inning.

You have to go back to April 23, 1998, to find a bigger comeback, that one a 12-11 victory here against Portland.  A seven-run seventh inning helped produce that win.

This time it was a four-run seventh that broke things open.  Brad Harman, who was struggling up to that point, delivered a two-run single to right that put the Phillies up 10-8.  Michael Spidale scored on a wild pitch and Jeremy Slayden added an RBI single to jack the lead to four runs.

Neil Sellers delivered a solo home run in the eighth to close the scoring.  It was his 11th and tied a career high.

Unfortunately, the struggles of Phillies right-hander Kip Bouknight continued.  This time he was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits and never recorded an out in the second inning.

The Rock Cats, who came in batting .242 in their last 10 games, got well early, each batter in the lineup recording a hit through two innings.  Erik Lis knocked in three runs with a triple, David Winfree two with a double.

The Phillies (32-49) battled back to tie things at 8-8 when Joey Hammond delivered a two-out RBI double to center in the sixth.

They scored single runs in the first and second, then added three in the third on Hammond's RBI double and Mike Eylward's two-out home run to left that ended an 0-for-10 slump.  It became 8-7 in the fifth on Slayden's two-run shot, his 10th of the year.

In the meantime, Travis Minix and Josh Outman (4-4) limited the Rock Cats to one hit -- and two base runners -- over six scoreless innings.  Pat Overholt pitched a scoreless ninth.

Armando Gambino (3-4) was tagged with the loss.  The Rock Cats fell to 35-46.

PHILLERS:  Former Reading and Philadelphia Phillie Ricky Bottalico threw out the first ball Monday night.  The former all-star closer is on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs broadcast team. . . . Shortstop Jason Donald missed his fourth straight game with a hamstring strain.  According to manager P.J. Forbes he's due back Tuesday. . . . Exactly one year ago the Phillies faced Monday's Rock Cats starter Ryan Mullin here and walked off with an 8-6 victory that pushed them to 40-41. . . . After four innings, every player in the lineup from both teams had at least one hit. . . . . With his home run in the fourth, Jeremy Slayden jacked his hitting streak to eight games. . . . Jake Blalock had three hits for the Phillies.  Michael Spidale, Brad Harman, Mike Eylward, Joey Hammond and Slayden had two hits apiece.  Slayden's 58 RBIs rank second in the Eastern League. . . . The 13 runs were the most scored by the Phillies since May 18 when they drubbed Akron 14-1. . . . The Phillies finished June with a 9-17 record.

This story was posted on June 30, 2008