Aeros Finally Play and Split Double Header with Curve
Published on May 7, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ALTOONA, PA - The Akron Aeros and the Altoona Curve split Thursday's doubleheader after three straight days of rain postponed games. The Aeros took game one by the final score of 5-1 to extend their winning streak to six games. In game two, the Curve snapped that streak with an 8-2 victory before 4,724 fans at Blair County Ballpark. Akron now stands at 19-5 on the season, while Altoona is 7-18.
In game one, Hector Rondon (5-0) came to the mound after eight days of rest including four consecutive games postponed by rain, and proceeded to retire the first 14 hitters that he faced. He carried a perfect game into the fifth inning before a single in the form of a Steve Lerud blooper to center field broke up the gem. The Aeros got Rondon a run immediately in the first against starter Jared Hughes (0-4) with a two-out single to right by Beau Mills. Carlos Santana followed that up in the third with an RBI double to the wall in left-center to give the Aeros an early 2-0 advantage.
Another run came in the third as Jose Constanza put down a bunt single to open the inning, and eventually came around to score on a double play ball hit by Mills. Two more runs came around in the fifth inning on a Carlos Rivero sacrifice fly scoring Jerad Head and a wild pitch scoring Constanza. Then in the seventh inning, an infield single by Jason Delaney and a double by Jonel Pacheco chased Rondon out of the game and Neil Wagner came on to close the books on a 5-1 seven-inning victory for the Aeros.
The Aeros never led in game two of the doubleheader, as Altoona picked up three runs in the first inning off spot-starter Erik Stiller (1-1) despite only having one infield single in the entire frame. One run scored on a fielder's choice, while the other two came around on a Damaso Espino throwing error and then an Espino pass ball. The Aeros cut the lead to a single run in the top of the third on an RBI single from Constanza and an RBI groundout from Rivero.
Altoona answered back with two runs in the bottom of the third against Michael Crotta (2-0). Pedro Lopez scored on the first Aeros balk of the year, courtesy of reliever Carlton Smith. Brad Corley then came around to score on a sacrifice fly to give the Curve a 5-2 advantage. Corley struck again with a solo home run in the fifth inning to bump up the lead, and then the Curve brought in two more runs in the bottom of the sixth off Josh Judy to bring the final score to 8-2 on the afternoon.
Game two ended the Akron Aeros six-game winning streak, while two hitting streaks fell apart during the games. Niuman Romero ended his five-game hitting streak by going 0-3 in game one, and then Damaso Espino snapped his five-game streak with a 0-3 performance in game two.
The Aeros return home for the first Fireworks show of the year on Friday night for a 7:05 game against the Harrisburg Senators. Jeanmar Gomez (1-0, 1.80 ERA) is expected to take the mound for Akron against Adrian Alaniz (1-0, 1.80 ERA) of the Senators. The game broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 WARF-AM and online at www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Aeros at (330) 253-5151.
Eastern League Stories from May 7, 2009
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- Quintana goes 4-for-5 with grand slam in Fisher Cats 12-0 win - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Rock Cats Fall To New Hampshire, 12-0 - New Britain Rock Cats
- Rondon Cools Curve in Game One - Altoona Curve
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