Gorski Dishes Three Home Runs in Reading Loss

The Reading Phillies tagged Darin Gorski for three home runs and defeatedthe Binghamton Mets 4-1 Friday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in the opener of afour-game series. The B-Mets were held to six hits and had just one runnerreach third base.

TheB-Mets used the longball to grab the lead in the first against starter EthanMartin, acquired four days prior in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Wilmer Flores welcomed Martin to the Eastern League with a solo homer to leftfield. It was Flores’ fourth homer as a B-Met and 14th overall thisseason.

Itwas the only damage Binghamton put on Martin (1-0). The righty settled down andnavigated through six innings without allowing another runner to reach third base.Martin allowed just four hits, struck out six and issued only one walk.

Readinganswered back forcibly in the bottom of the first against Gorski. After twoquick outs, Darin Ruf launched his 19th home run of the season intothe left field seats to tie the game at one.

Thegopher ball bit Gorski again in the fourth. Leandro Castro started the rallywith a double to left and came home when D’Arby Myers put a two-run shot overthe left field wall, giving Reading a 3-1 lead.

Readingused one more home run to extend their lead in the sixth, Gorski’s finalinning. Ruf led off the frame and crushed a 1-1 pitch to left for his 20thhomer of the year. Gorski finished after allowing four runs on five hits oversix innings. He walked just one and struck out a season-high eight.

Binghamtonfailed to change their offensive production after Reading dipped into thebullpen. Jay Johnson worked around a leadoff single in a scoreless seventh andJuan Morillo posted a shutout eighth. Given a three-run lead, Justin Friendlocked down his 16th save of the season with a blank ninth.

Gorski(6-6) allowed multiple home runs for the sixth time this season. The southpawhas surrendered ten in the last four games.