Harrisburg squeaks by Curve in another one-run game

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Altoona Curve suffered a second straight last at bat loss to the Harrisburg Senators on Tuesday at FNB Field with a 5-4 final score.
With the game tied in the bottom of the eight for the second straight day, the Senators (16-2) broke a 4-4 tie against Curve (8-10) reliever Jake Brentz (Loss, 0-1) with a lead-off triple to left-center by Adrían Sanchez coupled with a one-out, RBI single to center by Drew Ward.

Harrisburg erased a two-run Curve advantage with four runs in the fourth inning highlighted by a go-ahead, three-run blast by Ian Sagdal. Harrisburg starting pitcher Erick Fedde singled in Tyler Goeddel, who hit a one-out triple, for the first run. Luis Garcia hit a soft grounder to second that resulted in one out at the bag but a wide throw by shortstop Stephen Alemais pulled Logan Hill off first to continue the inning. Adrían Sanchez then singled to set up the three-run homer by Sagdal.
The four-run frame against Curve starter Cam Vieaux broke up a stretch of 24.1 straight scoreless innings by Altoona starting pitchers. Vieaux tossed five innings in the start and allowed those four runs on five hits, two walks and struck out one.
The Curve scored first in the game when Hunter Owen turned on the first pitch he saw in the second and parked a solo homer in the left field seats, his fourth of the year. Altoona added another run with a pair of singles and a passed ball during the third. Alemais connected on an infield single to third base and moved to third base on a bloop single to shallow left field by Bligh Madris . On the first pitch to the next batter Hill, Senators catcher Spencer Kieboom mishandled the pitch from Fedde as Alemais sped home to score.
Altoona clawed back to tie the game with single runs in the sixth and eighth. Bralin Jackson led off the sixth with a single, moved up to second on a groundout and scored on a steal of third coupled with a bad throw by Kieboom. In the eighth, Owen pulled a triple over the bag at third deep into the left field corner and set up a game-tying sacrifice fly off the bat of Mitchell Tolman .
Fedde fanned 11 Curve hitters over 5.1 innings with two of the three runs he allowed being earned on eight hits. Dan Jennings (Win, 1-0) made his Nationals organization debut and picked up the win after blowing a save in the eighth prior to James Bourque (Save, 3) slamming the door shut in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
The Curve went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and struck out a season-high 16 times, one shy of tying the single-game franchise record.
Madris and Owen each collected two hits as seven different hitters recorded base hits while Yeudy Garcia led the pitching superlatives with two perfect innings of relief.
The series with Harrisburg concludes with day baseball on City Island on Wednesday. The Curve will turn to right-hander Scooter Hightower (0-2, 5.02) to make the start against Senators righty Sterling Sharp (2-1, 3.71).
Altoona returns home on Friday, April 26 for a six-game homestand against the Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Erie SeaWolves. Promotional highlights include Free Shirt Friday on April 27 and the Horseshoe Curve Neck Pillow giveaway on April 28. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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