CURVE, Pa. - Jordan George led a 10-run outburst for the Altoona Curve with five RBIs and four hits in a 10-2 win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Saturday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.Tweet from @AltoonaCurve: 🖐��� It's a FIVE-RBI night for @ZGeorge_7 A two-run single stretches the lead
CURVE, Pa. - Jordan George led a 10-run outburst for the Altoona Curve with five RBIs and four hits in a 10-2 win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Saturday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The Curve (55-47) responded with 14 hits one night removed from a two-hit shutout by the Rumble Ponies (49-56) pitching staff on Friday while Binghamton left seven runners in scoring position in the loss. Altoona now has a 5-1 record this season against the Rumble Ponies.
George set a new career high as the second Curve hitter this season to reach five RBIs in a game, joining the Eastern League RBI leader Will Craig , and became the fifth player to have a four-hit game this season. All four of George's hits were singles.
His first hit of the game was in the first inning moments after the Curve scored the first run of the game on a single by Craig and his league-best 82nd RBI. George's second single gave Altoona a 3-1 lead in the third and he knocked in two runs on singles in the fourth and eighth.
Eduardo Vera (Win, 4-3) earned his third win in four starts since the all-star break with 5.2 innings. He allowed two runs, walked three and fanned three. In a 1-1 game during the second, Vera connected on his first professional hit and drove home the go-ahead run.
Following George's first RBI of the night with Altoona leading 3-1, Logan Hill and Christian Kelley had back-to-back sacrifice flies to open up a 5-1 edge over Binghamton starter Justin Dunn (Loss, 4-3). Dunn, the Mets' No. 4 prospect according to MLB.com, allowed a total of seven runs on 10 hits by the Curve.
Binghamton relievers Stephen Nogosek and Joe Zanghi surrendered three total runs following Dunn's departure after five innings. With Altoona leading 7-2, Cole Tucker greeted Nogosek with a solo homer to right, his fourth of the season. Altoona loaded the bases in the eighth against Zanghi to set up George's second two-run single and ran his RBI total to five.
Patrick Biondi briefly tied the game, 1-1, during the second when he dropped an RBI single between three Curve defenders in right-center. Vera's two walks in the fifth led to a run for Binghamton following an RBI single by the Mets top prospect Andrés Giménez. Vera left the game with the bases loaded in the sixth after two hits by the Rumble and an intentional walk. Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb was summoned from the bullpen and induced an inning-ending groundout to first base on his first pitch of the night to preserve a 7-2 lead.
The relief trio of Hartlieb, Matt Eckelman and Tate Scioneaux teamed up to no-hit the Rumble Ponies over 3.1 innings. Two walks by Hartlieb in the seventh were the only Binghamton baserunners to get aboard facing a Curve reliever.
Altoona scored 10 runs at home for the second time this season (June 15 vs. New Hampshire) and for the seventh time overall on the campaign. Bryan Reynolds doubled and singled for his sixth multi-hit game over his last 10 games. Craig (2-for-4, double) and Tucker (2-for-5, home run, double) also had multiple hits.
Saturday's crowd of 7,685 was the second-largest attendance of the season (July 4) and the fourth game over the PNG Field capacity of 7,210.
The Curve and Rumble Ponies wrap up their series at 2 p.m. on Sunday with right-hander Luis Escobar (2-0, 3.75) pitching for Altoona against Binghamton right-hander Kevin McGowan (0-1, 13.50).
The ballpark gates will open at 1 p.m. with a Curve toothbrush giveaway to the first 500 fans, presented by Hollidaysburg Family Dental. There will also be an appearance by Spongebob Squarepants, presented by the Comics Vault. Each Sunday in Curve, Pa. is a Ritchey's Dairy Curve Kids' Club Game. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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