If there was any irony in the Reading Phillies 9-3 loss to Akron Saturday night, it was that some of the damage came against Clay Condrey, who was making a rehab appearance with Reading. Condrey, who has been on the DL since July 25.
Akron jumped on Condrey for two runs in the first inning when Beau Mills delivered a two-run home run to get Akron off to a strong start. Condrey, who pitched just one inning, was saddled with the loss.
Mike Cisco, came on after Condrey and looked out of place. Cisco made it through just two-plus innings and allowed five runs - four earned - off seven hits by Akron hitters. Michael Schwimer and Antonio Bastardo held Akron scoreless over the next four innings, but their bats went back to work against Chance Chapman. Josh Rodriguez delivered a one-out single with runners on second and third to give Akron their final two runs of the night.
On the plus-side, Mike Zagurski pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and struck out all four batters that he faced.
Reading scored two off Akron starter Eric Berger in the fourth, thanks in part to some weak fielding behind Berger. They added another run in the bottom of the eighth when Mike Spidale tripled to start the inning and then scored on a groundout by Michael Taylor.
Akron will now face the winner of the series between Connecticut and New Britain. Connecticut leads that series 2-1.