CURVE, Pa. - The Altoona Curve edged out the Akron RubberDucks with a 12th-inning, walk-off victory, 3-2, in their home opener on Thursday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.With one out and a runner at for Bligh Madris , the outfielder for Altoona roped a walk-off RBI single into right field,
CURVE, Pa. - The Altoona Curve edged out the Akron RubberDucks with a 12th-inning, walk-off victory, 3-2, in their home opener on Thursday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
With one out and a runner at for Bligh Madris , the outfielder for Altoona roped a walk-off RBI single into right field, giving the Curve (6-2) the win over the RubberDucks (1-7) to conclude their extra-inning game of the season.
The Curve opened the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out and Jerrick Suiter on second base, Hunter Owen broke the scoreless tie with an RBI double into the left field corner to give the Curve a 1-0 lead off 'Ducks reliever Brennan Bernardino.
The RubberDucks answered with a run of their own to tie the game, 1-1, in the top of the seventh when Tyler Krieger, who hit a leadoff double, scored on a balk by Curve reliever Vicente Campos .
Curve starter Cam Vieaux tossed six shutout innings with four strikeouts and four walks, extending his scoreless streak to 10.2 innings to start the season, before giving way to the bullpen.
Right-hander Matt Solter started for the Ducks and only lasted four innings but did not allow a run.
The game remained tied, 1-1, through nine innings, as both bullpens traded zeros on the scoreboard.
Yeudy Garcia for the 10th tossed a scoreless tenth inning thanks to Bralin Jackson , who cut down Li-Jen Chu at the plate after making the catch on a fly out for an inning-ending 7-2 double play. In the bottom of the frame, Altoona left two runners in scoring position as James Karinchak worked Akron out of a jam with three strikeouts.
The RubberDucks took a 2-1 lead in the tenth on Andruw Monasterio's sac fly to right, but the Curve weren't done. Altoona tied the game at 2-2 when pinch-hitter Robbie Glendinning reached on an error by Akron second baseman Krieger with two outs, scoring Owen from third base. Glendinning was the final out of the inning when he tried to score from second on a wild pitch, sending the game to the 12th inning.
Tate Scioneaux (Win, 1-0) pitched a quick, scoreless top of the 12th for the Curve, before the offense finished the job.
Game two of Altoona's four-game series with Akron continues Friday at 6 p.m. Right-hander Scooter Hightower (0-0, 3.00) gets the ball for the Curve and will be opposed by RubberDucks right-hander Zach Plesac (0-0, 3.00).
The seven-game homestand continues with Free Shirt Friday giveaway, presented by M&T Bank, as the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a free t-shirt. It's also FastPlay Friday, featuring free lottery tickets with the code of the week from the Pennsylvania Lottery. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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