Warm Arms, Cold Bats: Curve Shutout Again
Curve, Pa. - The Altoona Curve were shutout for the second consecutive night against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and lost 4-0. With the loss, Altoona has dropped eight straight games and the offense hasn't scored a run for 25 consecutive innings.
New Hampshire struck for the first run of the game in the second inning. Andy Burns connected with his fourth home run of the year to give the Fisher Cats a 1-0 lead.
In the third, the Fisher Cats tallied a pair of unearned runs with two outs. Melky Mesa scored on an error by Altoona's defense and scored one batter later when Ryan Schimpf hooked a double down the right field line.
Schimpf connected for his second RBI of the game and gave New Hampshire a 4-0 lead in the fifth. The third baseman earned his 26th RBI of the season with two outs when he brought home Mesa, who doubled two batters earlier.
Altoona connected for three hits in the ballgame. Jarek Cunningham went 2-for-3 with a double in the fifth and a single in the eighth. Keon Broxton tallied the final hit in the game with a one-out double in the ninth and finished May with a .374 batting average.
Curve starter Nick Kingham (1-6) took another tough-luck loss after he surrendered four runs (two earned) over seven innings. The right hander struck out a season-high seven batters while walking only one. He was outdueled by New Hampshire starter P.J. Walters (1-0) hurled seven shutout innings to earn the win in his first start with the Fisher Cats this season.
Altoona (20-35) and New Hampshire (20-35) will conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The first 1,500 fans to the ballpark will receive a Starling Marte Record Holder Pot Holder along with a voucher for the Starling Marte Oven Mitt.
Starting in the series finale will be RHP A.J. Morris (5-1, 1.65) for the Curve. The Humble, Texas native's ERA is currently the best among all qualifying pitchers in the Eastern League. He will be opposed by Fisher Cats RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-1, 3.94). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Sunday's gates open at noon while pregame on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM, and the Curve Radio Network is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCuve.com, call 877.99.CURVE, or stop by the box office at Peoples Natural Gas Field.