Long Balls Not Enough In Doubleheader Sweep
BOWIE, MD – The Curve hit three home runs across two games but dropped both ends of their doubleheader at Bowie on Tuesday night at Prince George’s Stadium falling in the opener, 3-2, and, 6-4, in the finale. Altoona’s record stands at 56-56 after play on Tuesday night while the
BOWIE, MD – The Curve hit three home runs across two games but dropped both ends of their doubleheader at Bowie on Tuesday night at Prince George’s Stadium falling in the opener, 3-2, and, 6-4, in the finale. Altoona’s record stands at 56-56 after play on Tuesday night while the Baysox have jumped into the second playoff position in the AA-Northeast League.
Jack Suwinski hit his fourth homer with Altoona, 19th overall, in the fifth inning of game one to account for the first hit for the Curve. Bowie starter Gray Fenter retired 13 straight batters to begin his outing until a walk by Canaan Smith-Njigba with one out in the inning. It would be the only runs for the Curve, who left the bases loaded in the sixth inning against the Baysox bullpen.
Roansy Contreras made his third start since returning from the injured list and was charged with the loss after allowing three runs in 3.1 innings pitched. He tossed 58 pitches, the most since his return from the IL, struck out four and did not walk a batter. Bowie held a 2-0 lead after his second pitch of the game when former Pirates farmhand Patrick Dorrian hit a two-run homer to left-center. Brad Case allowed an inherited run to cross home in the fourth inning in relief of Contreras and settled in to throw two scoreless innings after that.
In game two of the doubleheader, the Baysox sprinted out to a 6-0 lead after four innings as they broke through against righty Osvaldo Bido with four runs across in the fourth inning. Bido allowed six runs, five earned, on five hits and three walks and suffered his eighth loss of the season. The 25-year-old right-hander struck out seven, just the second time since July 10 that a Curve pitcher has struck out at least seven batters.
Altoona mounted a rally with the long ball when Ji-Hwan Bae demolished a three-run blast in the fifth inning. Bae’s sixth homer of the season plated Josh Bissonette and Grant Koch to cut the Baysox lead to 6-3.
Mason Martin hammered his 22nd homer of the season to begin the sixth inning that traveled an estimated 436 feet, however, it would mark the end of the night for Altoona’s scoring.
Bae reached base in both ends of the doubleheader, pushing his on-base streak to a team-best 24 games on the season. Stretching back to August 15, Bae is batting .345 with a .462 on-base percentage.
The Curve continue their series with the Baysox on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. LHP Omar Cruz (3-4, 3.43) will start for Altoona, with RHP Grayson Rodriguez (6-1, 2.80) slated for Bowie.
For tickets or more information about Curve Baseball, 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.
.@masonmartin7 demolishes his 22nd homer of the year and it's a 6-4 game!
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) September 15, 2021
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