READING -First, it was the rain that dampened the spirits of Reading Fightin Phils fans gathered at FirstEnergy Stadium for the team's opening night game with Portland on Thursday.
Then, there was Portland pitcher Henry Owens.
Owens threw a no-hitter against Reading in a 5-0, rain-abbreviated victory to open the Eastern League season. Owens struck out nine and allowed only two Fightin Phils to reach base on walks before rain ended the game after the bottom of the sixth.
"It was only six innings, so it was kind of a cheap one," Owens said. "But it feels good to get the season started. I was ready to get out of Florida and up here again.
"The team had a lot of great energy," Owens added. "We jumped on them early and didn't look back."
Owens also started in a team no-hitter performance last June in which he went six innings.
"Henry Owens threw a good ball game tonight," Reading manager Dusty Wathan said. "He's got an outstanding change-up - it's the first time I've ever seen him throw."
The same couldn't be said for Reading starter Jesse Biddle.
Just six pitches into the season, Biddle watched Portland lead-off man Mookie Betts launch a home run over the left-center field wall.
Two batters later, Carlos Rivero doubled for the Sea Dogs (1-0) and scored on Henry Ramos' single in the next at-bat to give Portland an early 2-0 lead. Despite allowing four hits in his first half-inning of the season, Biddle recorded three strikeouts.
Then the rain fell harder. Fans scrambled for umbrellas or cover on the concourse. And the Fightins (0-1) didn't give them much incentive to come back to the dripping-wet bleachers.
Batter after batter fell to Owens until the tarps were hauled out to cover the drenched field after the sixth inning.
The R-Phils nearly broke through for a hit twice in the bottom of the fifth, but Portland shortstop Deven Marrero made a pick to his left and threw out Anthony Hewitt at first and Betts robbed Carlos Alonso of a hit with a leaping catch at second base in the next at-bat.
Portland added to its lead in the top of the third, when Ramos delivered a two-out single and was driven home by a Blake Swihart's triple to right field. Swihart's blast rolled to the wall and took a funny bounce away from Reading's Kelly Dugan, allowing the runners to reach comfortably.
Dugan was busy again in the fourth when Marrero hit an RBI double to the right field corner that brought home Betts, who finished 4-for-4 with three runs and an RBI.
It didn't get any easier for Biddle. He had Marrero picked off at second, but the throw to shortstop Edgar Dugan was low and bounced into shallow center. Biddle's night was over after he walked Travis Shaw on his next delivery to the plate.
"We talk about fastball command ... Jesse didn't have his fastball command," Wathan said. "When he doesn't command his fastball, that's what happens. You get behind hitters. It doesn't really matter how hard you throw or what kind of stuff you have, if you're behind hitters consistently, you're going to give up hard-hit balls."
Biddle finished the night with 3.2 innings pitched, giving up nine hits, four runs, striking out five and walking two.
Tyler Knigge replaced Biddle and got Rivero to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the inning and keep the Sea Dogs' lead at 4-0.
But Betts and Marrero continued to haunt the Fightins. The duo struck again in the sixth inning when Betts hit a two-out single up the middle and Marrero drove him in with another liner to the right field corner that extended the Portland lead to 5-0.
"I feel like we have a really good hitting team," Betts said. "We come out - no matter if it's no out, one out, two out - at any point we can get a rally started and score some runs. That showed tonight."
Marrero finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs on two doubles. Ramos went 2-for-3 with a run scored and Swihart was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The last time Reading was no-hit was Aug. 24, 2003 when they went up against New Britain's Horacio Estrada.
"(Owens) did what he was supposed to do," Wathan said. "He got ahead, used his change-up and didn't need much of a breaking ball tonight. I give him a lot of credit. He threw the ball very good ... in tough conditions."
Thursday was the first game of a seven-game homestand to open the season for Fightin Phils. They started last season on a seven-game road trip, finishing 4-3. The series with Portland is a four-game set, scheduled to continue with Game 2 today at 7:05 p.m.