EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Avoids Sweep with Win Over Squirrels

Published on August 1, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


RICHMOND, Va. - Bryan Morris tossed five innings and allowed just one earned run to notch his first win since June 23 as the Altoona Curve avoided the sweep with a, 6-2, win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA - San Francisco Giants) on Sunday night at The Diamond in Richmond.

Altoona once again gave its starter an early lead to work with by scoring two runs in the top of the second inning. Miles Durham reached on an error by the shortstop Ryan Lormand to start the inning and then stole second base with Anthony Norman at the plate. After Durham moved to third on Norman's groundout and Yung-Chi Chen was hit by a pitch, Jose de los Santos came through with his second sacrifice fly in as many games to bring home Durham.

Morris (5-4) then helped his own cause with a double to left field that brought Chen in from first and Altoona had a, 2-0, lead.

The Squirrels scored a run off Morris in the third to cut the lead to one but the Curve answered right back in the top of the fourth. Chen singled with one away and de los Santos reached on another error by Lormand to put two on. Chase d'Arnaud came up later in the inning with two outs and singled into left field to bring both Chen and de los Santos home and run Altoona's lead to, 4-1.

Richmond scored its final run of the game in the fourth on an RBI single by the pitcher Clayton Tanner. Tanner (7-7) tossed six innings for the Squirrels and gave up five runs in the game but none of them were earned due to the three defensive miscues by Richmond in the field.

Curve pitching battled all night long as Morris, Tom Boleska, Ramon Aguero, Anthony Claggett and Michael Dubee all combined to strand 13 Squirrels on the bases. Richmond out-hit Altoona, 15-9, but stranded the 13 men on the bases and was 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

The Curve added single runs in the fifth, on a Matt Hague sacrifice fly, and in the ninth on a Hague double. The Bellevue, Wash. native finished the game 1-for-4 with two RBI. Hector Gimenez was a perfect 3-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored for Altoona while d'Arnaud finished 2-for-5 with the two RBI.

Strikeouts were once again a key part of Altoona's pitching arsenal as the five hurlers combined to strike out 11 more batters. On the road trip, Curve pitching struck out 80 batters in seven games.

First-place Altoona (61-46) has an off day on Monday and returns to BCB at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday to open up a four-game, three-day homestand against the Akron Aeros (56-50). The Curve sends LHP Justin Wilson (8-6, 3.06) to the mound in game one against Akron's RHP Alex White (6-4, 1.49). In the second game, Altoona goes with RHP Jared Hughes (11-7, 4.62) while the Aeros counter with RHP Paolo Espino (9-4, 4.00).

Tuesday is a Two-for-Tuesday presented by Atlantic Broadband and KRAFT Singles at Blair County Ballpark. Fans can receive two-for-one offers on tickets, hot dogs and small popcorns during Tuesday night's doubleheader. It's also the Altoona First Savings Bank "First Game of the Month."

Pregame coverage begins at 5 p.m. on flagship ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network. Great seats are still available for the four-game, three-day homestand by calling 877.99.CURVE, visiting www.AltoonaCurve.com or stopping by the box office at BCB during normal business hours.

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Eastern League Stories from August 1, 2010


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