Photo courtesy Reading Fightin Phils

Fightin Phils 6, Senators 0

• An early wake-up call and a constant drizzle lulled the Senators into sloppy defensive play and non-existent production at the plate. The 9:35 AM game time can be used as an easy excuse as it messes with a player’s routine, but the Reading Fightin Phils looked just fine under the same conditions in the early morning. Reading scored three runs off Harrisburg starter Blake Treinen and all could be attributed to mental or physical errors.

• Monday marked the fifth straight loss this season when the Senators have played in the AM (out of six total so far). In those five losses, the Senators have committed ten errors and allowed 35 runs. It’s a small sample size to be sure, but it’s an alarming trend nonetheless.

• It would be an understatement to say that Reading starter Austin Wright had not been good against the Senators the first two times he faced them this season. It would probably be more accurate to say that he was lit up like a Christmas tree. In only 5.2 innings, Wright had allowed a whopping 14 runs on 15 hits and five walks. Harrisburg was batting .517 against him before Monday. .517!!! But Wright silenced the Senators bats as he scattered two hits over 5.1 scoreless innings and earned his first win of 2013.

• It’s not unusual to see pitchers pinch-hit early in National League style games. So, when Caleb Clay pinch-hit in the fifth inning it might not have seemed like such a big deal. But with Josh Johnson still on the temporarily inactive list, the Senators short bench for this series consisted of a backup catcher and two position players. A three-game set against Richmond is slated to begin on Tuesday and they either need JJ to return or a reinforcement from Potomac to give them much needed flexibility.

• The Senators’ roster issues were exacerbated in the fourth inning when Ricky Hague was pulled from the lineup for unknown reasons.