Curve swept in Wednesday doubleheader by Yard Goats

Altoona drops sixth straight game as Hartford walks off in game two

By Fletcher Keel

July 20, 2016

Win: Alex Balog (2-0)
Loss: Alex McRae (3-5)
Save: Matt Carasiti (28)
TOG: 1:51
Attendance: ----

Win: Austin House (5-0)
Loss: Montana DuRapau (2-1)
Save: --
TOG: 2:20
Attendance: 352

CURVE, Pa. - The Altoona Curve dropped both games of Wednesday's doubleheader to the Hartford Yard Goats, falling in the first game 4-2 and dropping the second game 2-1, at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

Pat Valaika walked the Yard Goats off in game two, singling against Curve reliever Montana DuRapau (Game 2 Loss, 2-1) to score Jan Vasquez and give Hartford a 2-1 victory, completing the series sweep for the Yard Goats.

Altoona (52-43) has now dropped a season worst six consecutive games, while Hartford (52-42) has won five straight.

The Curve took a 1-0 lead in game two on an Eric Wood RBI groundout to score Erich Weiss in the top of the fourth inning, but the Yard Goats responded in the bottom of the fifth with an Ashley Graeter RBI single, tying the game at 1-1.

John Kuchno started the second game for Altoona in his first start since the 2014 season, and allowed just one run on four hits in 4.2 innings, walking one and striking out four.

In the first game, Hartford scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning against Altoona starter Alex McRae (Game 1 Loss, 3-5), as the Yard Goats strung together four straight hits and scored on a Noel Cuevas RBI single and a Ryan McMahon two-run triple to take a 3-0 lead.

The Curve responded with in the top of the second off Yard Goats starter Alex Balog (Game 1 Win, 2-0) on a two-run double from Jonathan Schwind to cut the lead to 3-2.

Hartford scored in the bottom of the fifth on a Rosell Herrera RBI single, giving the Yard Goats a 4-2 advantage.

Yard Goats relievers Rayan Gonzalez and Matt Carasiti (Save, 28) faced the minimum as each tossed a scoreless inning, including a perfect top of the ninth from Carasiti, who collected his Eastern League best 28^th save.

Harold Ramirez extended his hitting streak to twelve games with a sixth-inning single, while Barrett Barnes saw his hitting streak come to an end at eleven games. Eric Wood also saw his 15-game on base streak come to an end.

Altoona welcomes the Akron RuberDucks for the first of a four-game set on Thursday with a 7 p.m. first pitch from PNG Field. Right-hander Clay Holmes (8-5, 4.27) will open the series for Altoona while left-hander Rob Kaminsky (4-6, 3.83) will get the start for Akron. It will be a Throwback Thursday presented by Rocky 104.9 as it will be 80s Night at the ballpark. Fans can advantage of $1 Juniata brand Kunzler hot dogs, $2 Yuengling 16 oz. drafts and regular sodas. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.

-CURVE-