Curve bats silenced on Saturday in Portland

PORTLAND, Maine. - The Altoona Curve left seven runners on base over the last four innings and dropped a 3-0 shutout loss to the Portland Sea Dogs on Saturday at Hadlock Field.
The Curve (66-55) were handed their seventh shutout loss of the year while the Sea Dogs (53-69), who have allowed the most runs in the Eastern League in 2018, matched the Akron and Erie pitching staffs with a league-high 10th scoreless performance.

Sea Dogs starter Matt Kent (Win, 9-8) held the Curve hitless over the first five innings and needed just 57 pitches to do so. He retired his first 11 batters until Bryan Reynolds drew a two-out walk in the fourth. Kent's night ended with two hits allowed over 6.2 scoreless innings, four walks and three strikeouts.
Alfredo Reyes ended Kent's no-hit bid in the sixth with a one-out single that led to Altoona's best scoring opportunity. With Portland leading 1-0, Kent walked Cole Tucker next and Reyes pulled off a steal of third base to put the tying run 90 feet away. With the infield playing in, Ke'Bryan Hayes grounded a ball out to second base and Reyes broke halfway home before he was hung up between the bases and tagged out by Portland second baseman Deiner Lopez.
The Curve left five on the bases in the sixth and seventh combined including a bases-loaded situation during the seventh. Jin-De Jhang and Stephen Alemias picked up a pair of singles in the ninth but were also left on to end the game. Jhang reached base three times total in the game in addition to two walks by Kent while Alemais picked up two hits, including a double, in his return to the Curve lineup.
The Sea Dogs struck first for the second night in a row during the second inning against Cam Vieaux (Loss, 8-4). Bobby Dalbec doubled and scored the game's first run on an RBI single from Danny Mars. Vieaux saw his pitch count soar after 31 pitches in the inning and 12 alone to the second batter Jhon Nunez, who fouled off eight tosses from the Curve starter.
Vieaux settled in after that long second frame but Portland chased the lefty in the sixth after two more runs. The Sea Dogs got a quick score on the second double of the game from Dalbec to plate Michael Chavis, who reached on a lead-off single. Two batters later, Jordan Betts knocked in Dalbec on a double off the Maine Monster to make it 3-0 in favor of the Sea Dogs.
Logan Sendelbach recorded the last two outs of the sixth to strand Betts at second. Sendelbach finished out the game on the hill for Altoona with 2.2 scoreless innings and did not allow a hit.
The Curve and Sea Dogs conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Hadlock Field. Altoona will start right-hander Dario Agrazal (4-3, 2.54) against Portland left-hander Kyle Hart (7-8, 3.55).
After the current road trip, the Curve return to open the final homestand of the regular season against the Harrisburg Senators, Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, for two games beginning on Wednesday, August 22. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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