Reading romps to Game 3 win over Bowie in Eastern League Championship Series

BOWIE, Md. - The Double-A Bowie Baysox won big Wednesday night but lost big tonight. Now they'll have to win any way they can the next two nights to claim the Eastern League championship.

Reading's Fightin Phils hammered Bowie 9-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Eastern League Championship Series. Bowie had evened the series with a 10-3 win last night at Reading.

Ranked as baseball's No. 43 best prospect at the end of last season by Baseball America, Reading right-hander Jake Thompson, 21, held the Baysox to one run over seven innings and two batters. Acquired by Philadelphia in July in the Cole Hamels trade, Thompson gave up just four hits in his 97-pitch outing. Thompson slowed a Bowie offense that had scored 39 runs in its first six playoff games.

The Fightin Phils took a 1-0 lead in the third on an unearned run. KC Serna led off with an infield single and advanced to second on pitcher Chris Lee's throwing error. He went to third on a groundout and scored on J.P. Crawford's sac fly.

Reading extended its lead with a two-out, two-run double in the fourth from Harold Martinez and it was 3-0. When Nick Williams led off the fifth with a solo homer, Marcel Prado came on to replace Lee.

Lee went four innings plus one batter, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned) with two walks and one strikeout.

Reading turned this into a blowout, scoring five times in the sixth. The Fightin Phils' No. 8 and 9 hitters drove in three runs and their top four hitters combined to drive in six runs.

Down 9-0, Bowie got on the board in the sixth when Mike Yastrzemski doubled and later scored on Quincy Latimore's infield single. It was Latimore's 10th RBI in seven playoff games. Tucker Nathans led off the ninth with a homer for Bowie and a second run scored on a two-out error.

Bowie faces a must-win game on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. when right-hander David Hess faces Reading right-hander Ben Lively. Hess pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit last Saturday night in the playoffs against Altoona.

A few postgame quotes:

Bowie manager Gary Kendall on Thompson's outing: "He is a guy that can get his secondary stuff over the plate. He can pitch backwards. He's got good enough velocity and keeps you honest all the time. He was just in control out there. We had never faced him but we knew the scouting report. He was as good as his billing."

Bowie starter Lee on his outing: "Did the best I could. Tried to pound the zone and tried to keep my team in there. They got some hits and hit my mistakes. I have to do better the next time."

Yastrzemski on having to win two straight to win the title now: "We know what we have to do. We've been in a like situation with Altoona. We have a lot of good players on this team with experience. We have guys that have played in World Series and guys that have played for championships in Single-A and Triple-A. All we have to do is stay focused on one pitch at a time and we are very capable of that."