Curve Drops Tenth Straight Home Game
Published on May 14, 2003 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
(ALTOONA, PA) -- Maybe the upcoming road trip will bring some luck to the Altoona Curve.
Reading pounded out 14 hits Wednesday in handing the Curve its 10th straight home loss and fifth defeat overall, 9-6.
A School Kids Day crowd of 6,929 at Blair County Ballpark watched Altoona (17-19) fall behind early and then come up short in a late-inning comeback attempt.
Reading (18-18), which has won 10 of its last 11 games to pull to the .500 mark, plated three runs in the first to set the tone. Run-producing singles by Jeff Inglin and Uriel Casillas were the key hits in the inning.
The Curve rallied with single runs in the first and fifth innings. Brett Roneberg's sacrifice fly got Altoona on the board. Shawn Garrett made it 3-2 with a solo home run to left center in the fifth. Garrett's longball was his team-leading seventh of the season and the Curve's first homer at Blair County Ballpark since April 26.
Reading scored one in the sixth and four more in the seventh to build its advantage to 8-2. Casillas had the third of three straight singles in the sixth to knock in a run. In the following frame, a bases-loaded walk to Jorge Padilla, a two-run single by Inglin, and a sacrifice fly by Aaron McNeal accounted for the tallies.
The Curve got back into the game with a four-run eighth. Four straight hits against reliever Mike Wilson plated a pair of runs and left runners at the corners with nobody out. Chan Perry and Ray Navarrete each counted RBI singles in the initial part of the rally. Joe Caruso knocked home a run with a ground out and Shaun Skrehot made it 8-6 with a two-out single to score Navarrete.
Reading scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth and Frank Brooks got the Curve in order in the bottom of the inning for his second save.
Seung Lee (4-1) pitched six effective innings (two runs, four hits) to notch the victory for the Phillies. Curve right-hander Ben Shaffar (1-2) allowed three runs on six hits over four innings in taking the defeat.
Altoona begins an eight-game road trip Thursday with a 6 p.m. game in Binghamton. Curve lefty Sean Burnett (2-2, 2.82) will be opposed by Mets' right-hander Jake Joseph (2-2, 4.01). After a four-game weekend set in Binghamton, the Curve plays four at New Haven.
Eastern League Stories from May 14, 2003
- Orioles Affiliate Comes to Trenton This Weekend - Trenton Thunder
- Curve Drops Tenth Straight Home Game - Altoona Curve
- Aeros Dynamics - Akron RubberDucks
- Bud Smith, Great Homestand and more - Reading Fightin Phils
- Eastern League News - EL1
- Morning Game Returns to Baseballtown - Reading Fightin Phils
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