SeaWolves End Road Schedule with Loss
The Erie SeaWolves were nearly shutout for the second consecutive day, when they fell to the Altoona Curve 5-2 at PNG Field in Altoona on Sunday afternoon. A.J. Ladwig only lasted 3.2 innings in a brief start, while Erie only collected five singles in the game, scoring their only runs
The Erie SeaWolves were nearly shutout for the second consecutive day, when they fell to the Altoona Curve 5-2 at PNG Field in Altoona on Sunday afternoon. A.J. Ladwig only lasted 3.2 innings in a brief start, while Erie only collected five singles in the game, scoring their only runs on two bases loaded walks with two outs in the ninth inning.
After casting aside the first seven batters of the game, A.J. Ladwig hit a snag in the third inning when he walked a batter, and Grant Koch followed with a long two-run home run to left field. The walks hurt Ladwig (L, 5-7) again in the fourth inning, when he surrendered another pair followed by a two-RBI double by Matt Fraizer. The double knocked Ladwig out of the game, and ended his streak of consecutive starts with at least five innings pitched at 13 games.
Henry Martinez took the next leg of the game for Erie, spinning 2.1 scoreless innings before the stretch, while Chavez Fernander struggled to throw strikes in the seventh inning. Fernander walked two batters and threw a wild pitch to allow Altoona’s fifth run to score before ending the inning, but he recovered to toss a scoreless eighth inning.
The Erie offense found no success against Trey McGough for Altoona. The left-hander spun seven scoreless innings, holding Erie to just four hits while striking out five batters. McGough (W, 5-5) did not walk a batter in the outing. Yerry De Los Santos took the eighth inning for Altoona, using a double play to help maintain the shutout. Taking the ninth inning, Cristofer Melendez lost control of the game. The usual closer for Altoona hit two batters and walked three, forcing in two runs without a hit. Altoona had to go to another bullpen arm in the ninth inning, turning to left-hander Nathan Kirby. Kirby (S, 1) struck out Daniel Cabrera on three pitches to end the game.
Erie returns to UPMC Park for the final series of the season on Tuesday, September 14 to begin a series with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m.