Manchester, NH- J.P. Arencibia extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single, and Jacob Butler went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, but a standing-room-only crowd of 6,791 witnessed the Altoona Curve take the opener of a three-game series, 12-0, on Friday night at Merchantsauto.com Stadium.Jamie Romak led a power-packed Curve offense by going 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Altoona (56-71) claimed a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning against losing pitcher Robert Ray on run-scoring singles from Jose Tabata (2-for-5, SB, RBI, 2 R) and Romak sandwiched around an RBI ground out by Jim Negrych (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R).
The Curve increased the lead to 4-0 in the top of the fifth inning when Tabata singled, stole second base and scored on Romak's RBI single to center.
Ray (6-5) saw his personal three-game winning streak snapped for New Hampshire (55-72) after allowing four runs on nine hits in five innings. He fanned three.
Kyle Bloom, Ronald Belisario and Moises Robles combined for the four-hit shutout. Bloom (4-7) returned after a 54-minute rain delay in the middle of the fifth inning to earn the victory. The left-hander worked 5.1 innings, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Altoona's lead ballooned to 10-0 when it scored six runs -five earned- off reliever Jared Gothreaux in the top of the seventh inning. Shelby Ford (1-for-4, BB, SB, 2 R) walked, stole second base and scored on Negrych's single to right. Romak then delivered a two-run home run, his third, into the Poultry Products Dinner in the Den. Jonel Pacheco (2-for-5, R) and Brad Corley (2-for-5, R) followed with consecutive singles and both came around to score on a two-run double by Steve Lerud (1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R), who advanced to third when the throw home skipped by Arencibia. Melvin Dorta (1-for-5, RBI) knocked in Lerud with an infield single.
Romak's second homer of the night, and fourth of the year, was a two-run blast to right off Daryl Harang that lifted Altoona to a 12-0 win, matching its franchise record for largest margin of victory in a shutout and tying the Fisher Cats' largest margin of defeat in a shutout.
The Fisher Cats host the Curve in the middle game of their three-game series Saturday night at 7:05pm. New Hampshire sends right-hander Marty McLeary (0-0, 7.27) to the mound against Altoona right-hander Jared Hughes (1-1, 4.76). Radio coverage begins at 6:45pm on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network with Mike Murphy.
Catch an Atlas Fireworks Show after Saturday night's game. For tickets, visit www.nhfishercats.com or call (603) 641-2005.
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