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Losing Streak Hits Seven with Saturday Night Defeat

Altoona has been held without a run in their last 29 innings at the plate
September 4, 2021

AKRON, OH – Oneil Cruz picked up two hits, but the Curve were held scoreless for the third consecutive game in a 2-0 defeat against the Akron RubberDucks on Saturday night at Canal Park. With the loss, Altoona has dropped seven straight games and ten of their last 12. The

AKRON, OH – Oneil Cruz picked up two hits, but the Curve were held scoreless for the third consecutive game in a 2-0 defeat against the Akron RubberDucks on Saturday night at Canal Park. With the loss, Altoona has dropped seven straight games and ten of their last 12. The Curve last plated a run in the seventh inning on Wednesday night and have been held without a run since.

Altoona saw several quality opportunities fall by the wayside on Saturday night. In the first inning Cruz singled and Ji-Hwan Bae followed him with a walk to put men at first and second. However, Rodolfo Castro bounced into a double play and after Mason Martin was hit by a pitch, Daniel Amaral struck out to end the inning.

Akron took the lead on an RBI double from Will Brennan, but that was the blemish on the line for starter Jeff Passantino who took a tough-luck loss. Passantino scattered four hits and one walk over five innings and struck out three before handing things off to the Curve bullpen.

Oddy Nunez turned in his most dominant relief outing of the season. In the sixth inning, the left-hander struck out the side in order and came back to the mound in the seventh inning to deliver an immaculate inning. Nunez struck out all three batters he faced on nine pitches to keep the game at 1-0.

Altoona nearly drew the game even in the sixth inning when Cruz began the frame with a triple off the wall in center field and after a walk from Bae, Castro lifted a fly ball to right field. Akron’s George Valera made the catch in shallow right and delivered a strike to home plate to catch Cruz for the second out of the inning and keep the Curve off the board.

The Curve pulled out all the stops in the ninth inning, trailing 2-0, using Jack Suwinski and Matt Fraizer as pinch-hitters with two outs in the game’s final inning. Both players came through with solid singles, however, Oneil Cruz went down on strikes to finish the game.

Ji-Hwan Bae matched a career-high with three walks in the game, he had previously walked three times on July 11, 2019, with Greensboro at Kannapolis.

With the loss Altoona’s record stands at 52-52, it is the first time this season that Altoona has had a .500 record since May 11 when the team improved to 3-3 with a win at Binghamton.

The Curve wrap up their six-game series at Canal Park with the Akron RubberDucks, Double-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, on Sunday night at 6:05 p.m. LHP Trey McGough (4-5, 4.04) will start for Altoona, with RHP Thomas Ponticelli (6-4, 3.11) slated for Akron.

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.