EL1 Altoona Curve

Charlie in Charge of Curve's First Win in Akron

Published on July 13, 2012 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


AKRON, Ohio - Charlie Cutler drove in Stefan Welch in the top half of the 12th inning to give the Curve their first lead of the night in an eventual, 3-2, win over the first-place Akron Aeros on Thursday at Canal Park. Cutler's first hit of the night helped secure the Curve's first win in Akron this season, a place they'd previously been 0-6 with five of the six losses coming by one run.

Welch led off the 12th inning with the game deadlocked at two and reached on an error by his third-base counterpart Davis Stoneburner. With Welch on at first, Jarek Cunningham placed a sacrifice bunt perfectly out in front of the plate to move Welch to second and set up the go-ahead hit from Cutler. Kris Harvey worked a perfect 12th for his second save of the season to seal the victory.

Curve starter Tim Alderson and the rest of the pitching staff were magnificent on Thursday night as they combined to limit Akron to just one hit after the second inning. Alderson, who gave up both runs (one earned) in the second, went on to retire the final 10 batters he faced on the night while striking out a season-best eight. He finished five innings but left in line for the loss before the Curve started their late comeback.

Altoona's first run of the night didn't come until the sixth and it was courtesy of Oscar Tejeda, who drove a ball to right that was deep enough to get Quincy Latimore in from third to make it a one-run game. It was Tejeda again in the eighth, smashing a two-out single through the left side to once again bring in Latimore, who tripled earlier in the inning, and it tied the game at two.

Things got a bit dicey for the Curve after tying it in the top of the eighth as Akron loaded up the bases with no one out against new hurler Jeff Inman but Inman pulled quite the magic act to escape the inning. He struck out Juan Diaz for the inning's first out before inducing a grounder off the bat of Jeremie Tice that first baseman Matt Curry came home with to cut down the lead runner. Inman then disposed of pinch hitter Thomas Neal by getting him to ground out back to the mound and preserve the tie.

All told, the pitching staff struck out 16 batters, the most for any game this season. Mike Colla, Harvey, Inman and Logan Kensing (2-0) combined for seven scoreless innings of relief and allowed just one hit while fanning eight. On the offensive side of the diamond, Robbie Grossman was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks to run his on-base streak to 24 games while Adalberto Santos had a hit in his first game in a Curve uniform since April 30.

Once again within a game of the .500 mark, the Curve (44-45) will meet Akron (52-39) in the second game of the four-game series beginning at 7:05 p.m. Friday night from Canal Park. RHP Kyle McPherson (1-3, 4.37) grabs the ball for the Curve in his fifth start of the season while knuckleballer Steven Wright (6-6, 2.62) toes the slab for the Aeros.

Airtime on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. For tickets and more information on the upcoming Curve homestand beginning July 19th, call 877.99.CURVE, visit AltoonaCurve.com or stop by the box office windows at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

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Eastern League Stories from July 13, 2012


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