EL1 Altoona Curve

Curve and Aeros Split Twinbill on Monday

Published on August 27, 2012 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


CURVE, Pa. - The Curve stormed back with a vengeance to take a win in Game 2 on Monday night after falling late in the first game to the first-place Akron Aeros in front of 5,047 at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The Curve offense exploded for a 7-1 win in the second contest after Akron scratched out three runs late in the first contest to steal a win, 4-1.

In the first game, Altoona and Akron were tied at one heading to the seventh with top prospect Gerrit Cole (3-6) having already tossed six innings. He came out to start the seventh and retired the first batter he faced before running into some trouble. Michel Hernandez and Jordan Henry singled back-to-back with one down before Cole walked his sixth batter of the game to load up the bases.

That spelled the end of the day for Cole as he turned it over to Jeff Inman to try and escape the jam. Inman got the ground ball he was looking for off the bat of Thomas Neal but Stefan Welch's throw to the plate was errant and it allowed two runs to score. After the error, Chun Chen followed with a sac fly to center that brought home the inning's third run and it had Akron in front, 4-1.

Cole finished 6.1 innings, which is a new career-high, and allowed four runs but none of them were earned due to three different Altoona errors. He also walked six and struck out four.

Things went much better for the Curve in the second game with some instant offense in the bottom of the first inning off Mike Rayl (0-1). Rayl, who was making his Double-A debut, gave up RBI singles to Matt Curry and Quincy Latimore in the first inning that had the Curve up early, 2-0.

It only got better from there because in the second inning Altoona loaded up the bases off Rayl before Andrew Lambo blasted the Curve's first grand slam of the season to blow the game open at 6-1. It was the first grand slam hit by a Curve player since Miles Durham smashed one back on July 26, 2010.

That was more than enough to put the Curve in the win column in Game Two as Mike Colla and Jason Townsend (2-0) combined to hold Akron to one run across seven innings. Townsend tossed the final four innings and walked three while giving up four hits.

With a doubleheader split in the books, the Curve (66-69) and Aeros (78-57) will play the third game of the five-game series beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. Tuesday night's game with Akron will be the final Two-for-Tuesday of the season with two-for-one offers on tickets, hot dogs and regular popcorns thanks to Atlantic Broadband.

Taking the mound in the third game for the Curve will be RHP Tyler Waldron (1-1, 5.09), who gave up just one run in 5.2 innings during his last start to open the homestand vs. Richmond. He'll be opposed on the hill by Aeros RHP Brett Brach (3-7, 4.24), who will make his third appearance of the year against the Curve.

Gates at Peoples Natural Gas Field will swing open at 6 p.m. while airtime on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. For tickets and more information on the final three Curve home games of 2012, fans can 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 August 27, 2012


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