Delay's four hits aid comeback win over Senators

CURVE, Pa. -- The Altoona Curve pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth and held on in the ninth for a 6-4, comeback win over the Harrisburg Senators on Sunday at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Altoona took three of the four games to hand Harrisburg its first road series loss of the season.
The game was tied, 4-4, in the eighth when Logan Hill doubled off the wall in right-center and Hunter Owen walked to put runners at first and second with one out for Jason Delay . Already 3-for-3 on the afternoon, Delay battled with Senators (29-13) reliever Jacob Condra-Bogan (Loss, 1-1) and delivered a go-ahead, RBI single to right-center. The next batter, Bralin Jackson , brought home an insurance run with a fielder's choice grounder to give the Curve (22-20) a 6-4 lead.

Tweet from @AltoonaCurve: CLUTCHMake it a four-hit day for @jdelay5 as he drives in the go-ahead run in the eighth!������8��� Curve 5, Harrisburg 4 pic.twitter.com/jIdBAOjfKv
The Curve trailed 4-2 after the fifth inning, but the bullpen shut it down once again. Beau Sulser allowed two one-out hits but worked out of a jam in the sixth and went on to throw two shutout frames. Angel German (Win, 1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for his first Doulbe-A win and Blake Weiman (Save, 1) earned his first Double-A save with a perfect ninth inning.
Pedro Vasquez started for the Curve and allowed one run on just two hits through four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth. Tres Barrera started the inning with a double and after an error by Hill at first base, three straight singles from Luis Garcia, Chuck Taylor and Ian Sagdal completed a three-run inning for the Senators. Vasquez gave up four runs, but only one earned run, in five innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
Senators starter Tyler Mapes worked 5.2 innings and was chased from the game after Delay's RBI double in the sixth. Mapes gave up four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks, before giving way to Condra-Bogan.
Delay finished with his second four-hit game of the season and pushed his batting average to .394. He also racked up two doubles, two RBIs and two runs. Owen hit his 10th home run of the season, a towering solo shot inside the left-field foul pole in the second inning, and reached base safely three times. Hill's eighth-inning double extended his on-base streak to 16 games and his hitting streak to eight, both season-highs for any Curve player.
With wins in three of four games over Harrisburg, the Curve pull within seven games of the first-place Senators with 28 games remaining in the first half.
With the completion of their four-game series with the Senators, the Curve hit the road for their longest road trip of the season: a 10-game, 11-day tour to New Hampshire, Portland and Trenton. Following Monday's (tomorrow) off day, the Curve start a three-game series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Left-hander Sean Brady 1-3, 9.00) gets the ball for the Curve against Fisher Cats right-hander Patrick Murphy (2-4, 3.35).
Following the long road trip, the Curve will be back at PNG Field on Friday, May 31 for the start of a three-game home series with New Hampshire. First pitch is at 6 p.m. and gates open at 5 p.m. For the second time this season, the Curve will play as the Allegheny Yinzers and wear special Yinzers jerseys, presented by Keller Engineers. Yinz will also be treated to post-game Pittsburgh Sports-themed FIREWORKS, presented by Altoona Honda, and Pittsburgh-style food upgrades with fries, coleslaw and pierogies at the concession stands. Friday's game is also Graduation Night and a FastPlay Friday, featuring free lottery tickets with the code of the week from the Pennsylvania Lottery.
-CURVE-