Nine ‘Ducks Cross Home in Wednesday Defeat

AKRON, OH – The Akron RubberDucks plated five runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead and held on for a 9-5 victory over the Curve on Wednesday night at Canal Park.

Roansy Contreras made his first start for the Curve since June 30 at Hartford and threw two innings in his return from the injured list. Contreras allowed a single in the first inning and struck out a pair and surrendered his lone run on a solo homer by Marcos Gonzalez in the second inning. In two innings, he allowed two hits, one run, did not walk a batter and struck out three on 37 pitches, 24 strikes.

The game was tied at one after two innings as the Curve faced rehabbing Indians RHP Aaron Civale for the first five innings of the game. Jack Suwinski picked up an RBI single in the second inning and the Curve added an RBI double from Grant Koch in the fifth as their lone runs off Civale who struck out six in his third rehab start as he makes his return from a sprained right middle finger.

Akron plated five runs in the fourth inning off Osvaldo Bido who pitched in a piggyback role for the Curve on Wednesday night. Bido was charged with the loss after allowing seven runs, four earned, on nine hits and one walk across four innings pitched. Bido struck out six in his first relief outing since his first season as a pro in 2017. Curve pitching struck out 12 batters in the game as Will Gardner and Shea Murray each recorded strikeouts late in the game.

Suwinski led a nine-hit attack at the plate with two hits at the dish. Mason Martin added his 23rd multi-hit game and his 69th RBI of the season on a seventh inning single. Martin is now tied for the AA-NE League lead with 69 runs batted in on the campaign. Koch picked up his first multi-hit game with Altoona, with a double in the fifth and a single in the seventh.

After the top three batters in Altoona’s order started the game 0-for-9 at the plate, Oneil Cruz and Ji-Hwan Bae each drove in a run in the seventh inning with Cruz adding a single in the ninth.

The Curve will continue their six-game series at Canal Park with the Akron RubberDucks, Double-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. LHP Omar Cruz (2-3, 3.54) will start for Altoona, with RHP Peyton Battenfield (4-0, 2.53) 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.

WE SEE YOU @josh_bissonette! An outstanding play to pull one out of the dugout!

LISTEN: https://t.co/aioWvW3Svf pic.twitter.com/d7LvXTE9jM

— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) September 1, 2021