Brilliant Pitching Pushes Erie Past Altoona

The SeaWolves, backed by a brilliant performance by the pitching staff, took down the Altoona Curve 2-1 on Thursday night at UPMC Park.

Erie took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third against Curve starter Kyle Nicolas. Luis Carpio led off with a single but was erased at second on a Jon Rosoff fielder’s choice. Rosoff advanced to second on an Andrew Navigato base hit. Dillon Dingler extended his hitting streak to seven straight games with an RBI single, scoring Rosoff for a 1-0 lead.

Altoona responded in the top of the fourth against Erie starter Garrett Hill. Nick Gonzales led off with a single and was doubled home by Lolo Sanchez. Sanchez advanced to third on the throw in from the outfield but Hill buckled down and struck out the side with the go-ahead run on third.

Both starters did not factor in the decision. Hill worked allowed a run on three hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts in five innings. It was the third time this season that Hill struck out nine or more hitters in the game and for the second time this season, he fell one strikeout shy of his career-high. Nicolas also allowed a run on three hits in five innings. He struck out six while walking one.

The game remained tied into the last of the eighth inning. Navigato led off and reached on an error by the shortstop Liover Peguero. Navigato moved to second on a Daniel Cabrera groundout. Altoona walked Dingler to set up a double play ball. Andre Lipcius grounded to second, Gonzalez got the runner at second but on a second throwing error by Peguero attempting to turn two allowed Navigato to score the go-ahead run.

Gerson Moreno worked a scoreless ninth with a pair of strikeouts, earning his second save of the season.

Erie reliever Chance Kirby (3-0) earned the win tossing three hitless innings. He struck out a pair without allowing a walk and lowered his ERA to 0.45.

J.C. Flowers (1-2) took the loss for the Curve allowing an unearned run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout in three innings.