Late Homers Lead SeaWolves Past Fightin' Phils

READING, PA - Roberto Campos had not hit a home run in 2026 before Thursday night's blast, but his second home run in as many nights put the Erie SeaWolves (43-24, 79-56) in front for good in a 6-3 win against the Reading Fightin' Phils (38-28, 68-67) on Friday night.

It seemed like the Fightin' Phils were picking up right where they left off from back-to-back nights with eleven runs when Joe Miller surrendered a home run to Aroon Escobar in the first inning and Raylin Heredia followed with a double, but the SeaWolves starter settled in quickly and escaped the frame without further damage.

Erie's offense found a hit in each of the first five innings against Reading starter Adam Seminaris but the left-hander stranded every runner on base and managed six scoreless innings on the mound. Miller matched Seminaris for his final five innings and left the game after six innings of one-run ball.

The offense picked up against the bullpens as Erie jumped on Fightin' Phils reliever Reese Dutton in the seventh. Campos led off the inning with a single before Dutton lost control of the zone, walking three of the next four batters. Viandel Pena tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Woody Hadeen laced a two-run single to right field to give the SeaWolves their first lead of the night. Dutton wiggled out of the inning with a line-drive double play that left Thayron Liranzo's bat at 107 mph.

Reading was not going down without a fight despite clinching their spot in the playoffs with Thursday night's win. Nick Biddison launched his first Double-A home run against Zane Barnhart to tie the game at three in the bottom of the seventh.

The Fightin' Phils turned to Keegan Batka for his Double-A debut in the eighth inning and Campos welcomed him to the Eastern League with a line-drive home run to right field to retake the lead for Erie. After a scoreless eighth inning by Yosber Sanchez, Liranzo hit a two-run shot in the ninth, his 18th of the season, to extend the lead to 6-3.

Moises Rodriguez slammed the door in the ninth by striking out two of the three hitters he faced in a scoreless ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.

Erie returns to the diamond Saturday night for the penultimate game of the regular season with Carlos Peña on the mound. First pitch is set for 6:45 PM.

2026 Eastern League Playoffs presented by UPMC tickets, Single-game tickets, suites, picnics, The Club by Synchrony events, and Bud Light Party Deck groups are now available by visiting SeaWolves.com, calling 814-456-1300, or visiting the UPMC Park Box Office in person.