READING — Zach Eflin believes in playing a well-rounded game. Just because he’s a pitcher, doesn’t mean he can’t do anything else well.
The Reading right-hander allowed just three hits in eight scoreless innings, made a couple of fine defensive plays and doubled at the plate Sunday afternoon as the Fightin Phils blanked Richmond 6-0 in an Eastern League game at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Gabriel Lino and Harold Martinez hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to power Reading’s offense as the Fightins swept the weekend series.
“I was comfortable out there, just throwing strikes, which is what I really stress,” Eflin said. “Being able to command my fastball early and get a head of hitters is crucial.
“I live by getting ahead in the count, getting the first guy in the inning out and, ultimately, just throwing a lot of strikes. And I was able to do that today.”
Eflin kept his pitch count to just 94, with 71 of them strikes. He got the lead-off batter out in seven of his eight innings.
The lone exception was the third inning, when Richmond’s Ricky Oropesa led off with a double. After a flyout, Flying Squirrel pitcher Matt Lujan tried to sacrifice the runner to third, but the 6-foot-6 Eflin dashed off the mound, snagged the ball and coolly tossed to third to get Oropesa out.
He also snagged a come-backer off Blake Miller to end the seventh inning.
“I haven’t had too many errors the past couple years — mostly just pick-off throwing errors,” Eflin said. “I really stress my glove. ... I think it’s a big category in baseball, the defensive side of pitching.”
But the pitching side of pitching was pretty good, too. Predominantly using a two-seam fastball, Eflin struck out five and walked one. He cruised through his innings, retiring the side in order in the first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
“He executed all his pitches,” Reading manager Dusty Wathan said. “He pitched in(side) well. You’ve got the wind blowing out to left field, he still pitched in well, without any fear. He pounded the strike zone.”
Before their home runs in the third, Lino and Martinez started the Fightin Phils’ offense in the second. The pair hit back-to-back doubles in the inning, scoring Lino and giving the R-Phils the early 1-0 lead.
Cameron Perkins hit a two-out double in the third before Lino’s towering homer to left. Martinez sent the ball over the wall in left-center on the next pitch.
Martinez finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Lino was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs and a walk.
Lino has enjoyed a great start to the season. The catcher has gotten praise from his prospect-laden starting rotation for his work behind the plate.
But his work in the batter’s box has also been impressive. The Venezuelan entered Sunday hitting .316 with three doubles.
“He’s kind of coming into his own,” Wathan said of Lino. “He did a pretty good job last year in Clearwater and he went to winter ball and got a chance to play every day a lot in Venezuela.
“A lot of times when the guys have success down there, it breeds a lot of confidence. And that’s his home country and that’s their major league, so I think that goes a long way when those guys get a chance to go down there and kind of become a man down there.”
Reading scored more than six runs in each of the three games in the Richmond series and are averaging 5.7 runs and 9.2 hits per game.
Even Eflin got in on the offense Sunday with his fourth-inning, lead-off double.
“I think it was a 2-2 count and I was up there just trying not to strike out like I did the first time,” Eflin said. “I ended up running into one for a double. I was going into second base and I felt like a position player. After that, I had a couple Ks, which I wasn’t happy about. But I’ll take a .250 batting average so far.”
Mac Williamson finished 2-for-4 to lead Richmond’s offense, which couldn’t get much of anything going against Eflin.
Eflin has won both his starts this season, pitching 14 scoreless innings. Ryan O’Sullivan preserved the shutout in the ninth.
“It’s cool to know that, coming over to a new organization, facing knew teams, I’m still able to get ground-ball outs, pitch deeper into games and keep my pitch-count low,” Eflin said.
NOTES: Reading second baseman Carlos Alonso left the game after getting hit on the hand with a pitch. He was taken for X-rays. Alonso’s brother is newly-acquired Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso, who attended Saturday’s and Sunday’s games. ... Sunday’s attendance was 9,271. The attendance for the home-opening, weekend series was a combined 24,558. ... Sunday’s win, coupled with Binghamton’s loss, gave Reading sole possession of first place in the Eastern League Eastern Division.
Game Summary
RICHMOND (0) — Tomlinson ss 4 0 0 0, Carbonell cf 4 0 0 0, Delfino 3b 2 0 0 0, Williamson rf 4 0 2 0, Harris lf 3 0 0 0, Oropesa 1b 4 0 1 0, Zambrano c 3 0 1 0, Lujan p 2 0 0 0, Marte p 0 0 0 0, Villalona ph 1 0 0 0, Rogers p 0 0 0 0. Totals 31 0 4 0.
READING (6) — Quinn cf 5 0 1 0, Alonso 2b 2 0 0 0, Serna ss 3 0 0 0, Altherr rf 2 1 0 0, Stassi 1b 4 1 1 0, Perkins lf 3 1 2 1, Lino c 3 2 2 2, Martinez 3b 3 1 3 3, Thomas ss-2b 4 0 0 0, Eflin p 4 0 1 0, O’Sullivan p 0 0 0 0. Totals 33 6 10 6.
Richmond (3-6) 000 000 000 — 0
Reading (6-3) 014 010 00x — 6
E — Richmond 1, Reading 0. LOB — Richmond 7, Reading 10. 2B — Oropesa, Lino, Martinez, Perkins, Eflin. HR — Lino, Martinez. SF — Martinez.
Richmond IP H R ER BB K
Lujan L,0-2 4 6 5 5 3 2
Marte 3 3 1 1 2 3
Rogers 1 1 0 0 0 1
Reading IP H R ER BB K
Eflin W,2-0 8 3 0 0 1 5
O’Sullivan 1 1 0 0 1 0
HBP — by Marte (Perkins), by O’Sullivan (Delfino). WP — Lujan. PB — Zambrano. Balk — Lujan. A — 9,271. T — 2:13.