TODAY'S GAME
WHO: Sea Dogs (Jarod Plummer 7-5) at Reading Phillies (Mike Stutes 7-5)
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
READING, Pa. — The pitching matchup Tuesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium appeared one-sided, on paper anyway.
The Reading Phillies started left-hander Joe Savery, Philadelphia's No. 1 pick in 2007, who leads the Eastern League in wins.
On the other side, the Portland Sea Dogs went with Blake Maxwell, Boston's 40th-round pick in 2005 who carried a 6.26 ERA.
When the game finally ended, it was Maxwell and the Sea Dogs who were celebrating a 12-1 rout.
Thrust into the Portland rotation after Junichi Tazawa was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket a few days ago, Maxwell retired the side in order in three of his five innings and limited Reading to one run on three hits, striking out five.
"He did a very nice job," Sea Dogs Manager Arnie Beyeler said. "He kept the ball down, got some ground balls. He minimized innings and made big pitches. He was pounding the (strike) zone."
Maxwell was 2-5 with a 7.62 ERA in nine starts before Tuesday night. But with his sidearm delivery, he kept the Phillies off balance with offspeed pitches and helped Portland move into a tie with Trenton for the second playoff berth in the Southern Division.
Although Portland ranks next to last in the league in pitching, its starters have allowed 11 earned runs in 62 innings (1.60 ERA) over the last 11 games.
Savery, meanwhile, was trying to become the third minor leaguer to reach 13 wins, but he lost for the third straight outing.
He struggled with his control for the fifth consecutive start, walking three and falling behind several other hitters.
"We all go through ups and downs," Reading Manager Steve Roadcap said. "Right now he's throwing through a down and he's going to have to battle through it."
After pitching superbly in June (5-0, 1.76 ERA), Savery slipped to 2-3 with a whopping 8.46 ERA in five July starts. At the end of last month, he was 10-1 with a 3.08 ERA. Now he's 12-4 with a 4.41 ERA.
Savery encountered trouble in every inning but the fifth, his last one. Reading's bullpen was much worse, allowing nine hits, four walks and nine runs over the final four innings.
Ryan Kalish and Jon Still each had three hits and three RBI for Portland. Josh Reddick went 3 for 3 before fouling a ball off his foot and leaving the game.
"It stiffened up on him," Beyeler said. "He's OK. He'll probably get it looked at (today). He'll be day-to-day."
Portland scored in the first inning for the second straight night. Reddick led off with a double off the right-field wall, moved up on a groundout and came around on Jorge Jimenez's sacrifice fly.
Reading quickly tied it in the bottom of the first. Quintin Berry led off with a single, reached second on a walk, stole third and scored on Neil Sellers' single to left. But that was it for the Phillies.
The Sea Dogs threatened in the second before scoring in each of the next two innings. In the third, they loaded the bases on three singles with no one out. Lars Anderson drove in a run with a groundout before Savery escaped when Yamaico Navarro popped up to second.
In the fourth, Juan Apodaca walked, reached second on a sacrifice and scored on Reddick's third single, giving Portland a 3-1 lead.
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