Harrison, Kingham return in Curve defeat

CURVE, Pa. - Pirates' infielder Josh Harrison worked a walk and played seven innings on Monday night as the Altoona Curve lost to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 7-3. Nick Kingham allowed four runs over five innings in his first Altoona start since 2016.
The Curve (18-16) scored two of their three runs on solo homers by Jason Martin and Will Craig while the Flying Squirrels (20-16) racked up 13 hits in their series-opening win.
Harrison, a member of the Curve's first championship in franchise history in 2010, walked during his initial plate appearance in the first inning and flied out three times before he exited the game after seven innings.
Kingham (Loss, 0-1), who pitched for Altoona for parts of the 2013, 2014 and 2016 seasons, started for the Curve on Monday to stay on his normal pitching schedule. Aside from seven hits allowed, he struck out four and walked one. After two runs in the first and an RBI triple by Luigi Rodriguez in the second, Kingham sat down eight straight batters before Rodriguez struck with his third hit during the fifth. Rodriguez scored the fourth run of the game for Richmond on a double by Ryan Howard.  
The Flying Squirrels tagged Brandon Waddell for three runs out of the bullpen. Three straight singles from the bottom third of Richmond's order produced two runs in the sixth, and Rodriguez knocked home one more in the eighth on his fourth hit of the game.
In the sixth, Martin homered for the second day in a row, a solo shot, and Jin-De Jhang drove one in on a groundout that made the score 6-2. Later in the eighth, Craig drilled a solo homer of his own to pull Altoona back within four.
Martin was named Eastern League Player of the Week on Monday and responded with his third consecutive three-hit performance and sixth straight game with multiple hits.
The Curve continue their three-game series against the Flying Squirrels on Tuesday night. Right-hander Mitch Keller (3-2, 3.44) is scheduled to start for Altoona while Richmond will start right-hander Shaun Anderson (4-1, 2.31). First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Tuesday is Two-for-Tuesday in Curve, PA, presented by Atlantic Broadband. with two-for-one specials on tickets, hot dogs and small popcorn. The ballpark gates will open at 5 p.m.
For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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