McRae cruises but Curve fall late in Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. - Alex McRae allowed one run over seven innings but the Altoona Curve bats were held quiet in a 3-1 loss to the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Monday night at The Diamond.

The Curve (17-11) were held to just four hits in the game, two in the first inning and two in the eighth. The Flying Squirrels (12-17) scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 1-1 tie and held off the Curve in the ninth.
McRae worked seven innings for the second straight start and allowed one run on six hits, lowering his season ERA to 1.96.
Kevin Kramer singled in the eighth to extend his season-opening on-base to 25 games, the longest in the Eastern League this season.
Richmond took the lead in the eighth against Luis Heredia (Loss, 0-1) with a sacrifice fly by Ivan Castillo. C.J. Hinojosa added a run with an RBI double to extend the advantage to 3-1.
In the ninth, Reyes Moronto (Save, 5) issued back-to-back walks to open the inning to Jordan Luplow and Jerrick Suiter, but Chase Simpson grounded into a double play and Zane Chavez grounded out to end the game.
The Curve opened the scoring in the first inning with a run-scoring double by Edwin Espinal. Richmond evened the score in the fourth on an RBI double by Chris Shaw.
D.J. Snelton allowed a pair of hits in the eighth but worked a double play from Espinal to end the threat.
The Curve continue the series on Tuesday night at The Diamond. Right-hander Tanner Anderson (2-1, 1.98) is scheduled to start for Altoona, with lefty Andrew Suárez (1-3, 2.93) on the mound for Richmond. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
-CURVE-