Curve score six in fourth, knock off 'Ducks

CURVE, Pa. - Six runs in the fourth inning held for the Altoona Curve in a series-opening win, 6-4, over the first-place Akron RubberDucks at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Friday.
With the victory, the Curve (58-49) move within five games of the RubberDucks (65-46) atop of the Western Division standings.

Will Craig drove a bases-loaded, two-run single to center that plated the first runs of the game in the fourth against Kyle Dowdy (Loss, 3-5), who was making his first outing in the Indians organization since a trade from Detroit on July 31. Logan Hill knocked in two more on a single of his own to build a 4-0 lead. Arden Pabst put an exclamation point on the six-run frame with a two-run homer over the left field wall, his first at Double-A.
Tweet from @AltoonaCurve: GONE.Arden Pabst cracks open a two-run homer, his first at Double-AWe're leading 6-0 in the 4th inning #FullSteamAhead pic.twitter.com/ImJt5cqh2j
Unable to get on the scoreboard against Eduardo Vera (Win, 5-3) in the first four innings, Akron's comeback attempt started with a solo homer by Daniel Salters in the fifth. The RubberDucks plated two more in the sixth with a sacrifice fly from Connor Marabell and Ka'ai Tom followed with an RBI single to put the 'Duck within three.
Vera tossed 5.2 innings and struck out five, walked three and allowed three runs to win his fourth decision in his last five starts. Despite a leadoff triple in the first by Sam Haggerty, Vera held Akron off the scoreboard. He danced around danger in the second when a runner reached scoring position with no outs and used double plays to erase runners in the second and third innings.
Akron loaded the bases in the eighth inning with three straight singles off Yeudy Garcia . Garcia induced an RBI groundout by Mark Mathias before giving way to Matt Eckelman (Save, 4) to close out the frame and strand two more Akron baserunners. Eckelman retired all four batters he faced including two strikeouts in the ninth to close out the victory.
Tweet from @AltoonaCurve: FINAL - Curve 6, 'Ducks 4Matt Eckelman throws a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the save and the Curve take the series opener pic.twitter.com/2h2URoAgKw
Craig's two RBIs in the first inning ran his season total to 88, the third-most in a single season by a batter in Curve history behind Adam Hyzdu (106, 2000) and José Bautista (90, 2005). Craig and Hill each collected two hits in addition to their two RBIs in the fourth inning.
Tweet from @AltoonaCurve: One swing, two runs @WCraigers22 drives a two-run single and we've got a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning pic.twitter.com/mJFuqC1bhj
The Curve and RubberDucks continue their series on Saturday at 6 p.m. with right-hander Luis Escobar (2-0, 3.38) pitching for Altoona opposite left-hander Sean Brady (5-6, 4.32) for Akron.
 
The ballpark gates will open at 5 p.m. for the Josh Bell bobblehead giveaway to the first 1,000 fans, the first baseman of the 2018 Fans' Choice All-Time Curve Team, presented by Peoples. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
 
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