EL1 Altoona Curve

Bats Hammer Erie's Bullpen in First Win of 2011

Published on April 9, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ERIE, Pa. - The Curve scored five runs on 11 hits off of the Erie SeaWolves bullpen on Saturday afternoon en route to a 6-2 win over the SeaWolves for its first win of the 2011 season. Outfielder Starling Marte turned in a career date at the plate in the win, setting a career high with four hits while also scoring a run and stealing a base.

The game was tied at one after starter Luke Putkonen departed for the 'Wolves after five innings but it wouldn't remain tied for long as Marte greeted 'Wolves reliever Rob Waite with a double to left field to start the inning. Jordy Mercer followed Marte's double with a single inside the right-field line to bring the speedy outfielder around from second and the Curve had a lead it would not give back.

Kris Watts then hit the ball through the right side while Mercer was taking off for second on a hit-and-run that worked perfectly with Mercer ending up at third and Watts on at first no one out. Shelby Ford popped out and Quincy Latimore hit a bouncing ball back to Waite that could have ended the inning but Mercer had taken off for home.

Opting to try and get Mercer instead of trying to start a double play, Waite threw home and Mercer got caught in a rundown that enabled Watts to get to third. With two away, Latimore stole second and then Jeremy Farrell singled through the middle to bring home Watts from third. Latimore also came around on the play and beat the throw home but missed home plate and was tagged out by catcher Billy Alvino for the final out of the inning.

Altoona went on to score another run in the seventh on an RBI single by Brock Holt and two more in the eighth on RBI hits by Farrell and Holt. Both Holt and Farrell each had two hits and two RBI in the win for the Curve while Watts also added two hits in his first start of 2011.

Not to be lost in the offense was the quality start turned in by LHP Aaron Thompson (1-0). Thompson, who was making his Pirates organizational debut after being claimed off of waivers this offseason, tossed six innings of one-hit baseball and allowed just one run while striking out two and walking one. The Beaumont, Texas native retired 10 in a row after issuing a leadoff hit to Jamie Johnson in the first and he also retired the last eight batters he faced in the game.

Brian Leach made his Double-A debut in relief and allowed one run on two hits with three walks over 1.1 innings of work. Michael Dubee squashed a bases-loaded, one-out Erie threat in the eighth by inducing an inning-ending double play off the bat of Bryan Pounds. He pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.

The Curve (1-2) will go for the series split on Sunday afternoon at Jerry Uht Park as they square off with the SeaWolves (2-1) at 1:05 p.m. RHP Jared Hughes will make his first start of 2011 for Altoona, after appearing for an inning of relief on Thursday night, while LHP Casey Crosby makes his first start of the year for the SeaWolves.

Pregame coverage will begin at 12:35 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network.

Check out the Altoona Curve Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from April 9, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central