Curve split marathon twinbill in Erie
ERIE, Pa. - With 18 innings of baseball spanning five hours and 51 minutes, the Altoona Curve split a double-header with the Erie SeaWolves on Friday night at UPMC Park, losing the first game, 8-7, in 11 innings before picking up a win in the nightcap, 5-1.
ERIE, Pa. - With 18 innings of baseball spanning five hours and 51 minutes, the Altoona Curve split a double-header with the Erie SeaWolves on Friday night at UPMC Park, losing the first game, 8-7, in 11 innings before picking up a win in the nightcap, 5-1.
Game 1
Win:
Loss: Yeudy Garcia (1-4)
Save: --
TOG: 3:33
Box Score
Game 2
Win:
Loss: Alfred Gutierrez (0-1)
Save: --
TOG: 2:18
Attendance: 4,541
Box Score
The Curve (47-40) have now won five of their last six games, including two of three in the road series against the SeaWolves (42-48).
Game 1
With the Curve leading 7-6 heading into the bottom of the 11th,
The Curve led 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, which was the last regularly-scheduled inning of the double-header opener. After a pair of walks and a wild pitch by
In the top of the eighth,
The Curve failed to score in the top of the ninth inning, and the SeaWolves put a runner at third with one out, but Keselica struck out
Tucker reached third with no outs in the top of the tenth, but Caleb Thielbar (Win, 2-0) worked out of the inning without allowing a run. Garcia stranded Rogers at third base in the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the 11th, Hill drove another go-ahead single, bringing
Erie opened a 3-0 lead with a solo homer by
In his shortest start with the Curve this season,
The Curve rallied with four runs in the sixth inning. Tucker launched a solo homer, his third of the season, to get Altoona on the board.
Later in the inning,
Keselica allowed one unearned run on one hit with three strikeouts over his two innings.
The SeaWolves stranded 15 runners on base, going 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position in the game.
Curve pitchers combined to allow 14 hits and seven walks in the game.
Game 2
A pair of fifth-inning homers by Will Craig and Tyler Gaffney and strong pitching from
Craig broke the tie with a three-run homer in the top of the fifth, his team-leading 13th of the season, that landed on the roof of the arena next door to UPMC Park. He drove his season RBI total to 64, which ranks second in the Eastern League.
Later in the inning, Gaffney drove an opposite-field, two-run homer against to extend the Curve lead to 5-0.
The SeaWolves avoided a shutout with a solo home run by
Making his first Double-A start, Hightower worked four scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Helton (Win, 4-4) allowed one run over his three relief innings with four strikeouts.
In his Double-A debut, Erie starter
Eight Curve hitters had at least one hit in the game. Gaffney and Bralin Jackson each had two hits.
The Curve now sit four games behind first-place Akron and one-game ahead of third-place Harrisburg in the Western Division standings.
The Curve and SeaWolves will play the fourth of the five-game series on Saturday night. RHP
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