Soler erratic but unhittable

Aley Soler fired five hitless innings on Saturday as the Altoona Curve cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Harrisburg Senators.

Soler (1-0), who yielded two earned runs on eight hits over five innings in two appearances out of the bullpen, worked around four walks while striking out five en route to the win in his first start of the year.

The 27-year-old Cuban right-hander walked the leadoff batter in the first and second innings before hitting a batter in the third. Despite his wildness, Soler left with a 2-0 lead, thanks to David Parrish's RBI double in the second and Andrew McCutchen's sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Parrish's two-base hit ended Altoona's streak of 25 2/3 scoreless innings against opposing starters.

Chris Hernandez yielded a run on two hits with two strikeouts in two innings before David Davidson pitched two perfect frames to complete the shutout.

Neil Walker fell a homer shy of the cycle and scored twice, Randy Ruiz went deep for the fourth time this year and Chris Truby had three hits and two RBIs for the Curve (6-6).

Juan Melo belted his first homer of the year for the Senators (3-12), who have dropped five of six.

Harrisburg starter Beltran Perez (0-1) surrendered five runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts over five innings.