Domingo goes distance, dominates 'Ducks

CURVE, Pa. -- Domingo Robles fired a complete-game shutout on 95 pitches as the Altoona Curve defeated the Akron RubberDucks, 5-0, on Monday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The Curve (66-67, 30-35) set a new franchise record with their 17th shutout victory of the season as Robles (Win, 4-6) held the RubberDucks (60-73, 26-38) to five hits and one walk in the longest outing of his career. The previous single-season club record was 16 scoreless games pitched by the 2015 Curve.

The complete-game shutout for Robles was his second of the season following a June 8 effort in a seven-inning game for his first Double-A win, which was also versus Akron.
Robles retired the first six batters of the game and faced the minimum through three frames after a double-play grounder erased a lead-off single in the third. The left-hander then worked around two one-out singles in the fourth, picked off a lead-off base runner in the fifth and retired the final 10 batters he faced, a streak that started with the last out of the sixth. Robles worked five 1-2-3 innings, struck out five batters and became the second Curve pitcher to throw a nine-inning, complete-game shutout this season, joining Sean Brady , who tossed one this past Friday, August 23 in Bowie.
Danny Salazar started for Akron and worked a scoreless first inning on eight pitches in an MLB rehab appearance from the Cleveland Indians. Eli Morgan (Loss, 6-4) took over in the second and tossed a 1-2-3 inning on 10 pitches before the Curve helped out Robles with some run support in the third. The Curve loaded the bases with one out for Bligh Madris, who broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single that deflected off Morgan's glove and rolled to the back of the right side of the diamond. Logan Hill was up next and ripped a two-run single into left to put the Curve ahead, 3-0.
Altoona tacked on two more runs against Morgan in the sixth on a two-run single to right from Adrian Valerio . Jerrick Suiter started the frame with an infield single and Brett Pope followed with a hustle double on a soft liner served into left that set up second-and-third for the Curve. Morgan was done after the sixth as the right-hander surrendered five runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Madris, Hill and Valerio all had two hits in the win while Hill and Valerio each drove in two runs.
The Curve and RubberDucks continue their four-game series on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Right-hander Pedro Vasquez (7-4, 2.97) gets the ball for the Curve against Akron right-hander Kyle Dowdy (0-0, 3.94).
Gates will open for fans at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. It's Two-for-Tuesday at the ballpark as fans can cash in on 2-for-1 specials on tickets, hot dogs and small popcorn, presented by Atlantic Broadband. For tickets or more information about upcoming promotions, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.
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