EL1 Altoona Curve

Curve Swept After Wild Finish in Baseballtown

Published on August 4, 2019 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


READING, Pa. - It took two pitches in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Reading Fightin Phils to erase a one-run deficit and beat the Altoona Curve, 9-7, on a walk-off, two-run homer by Phillies top prospect Alec Bohm on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Curve (55-57, 19-25) trailed the Fightin Phils (67-46, 28-18), 4-2, with two outs in the top of the ninth before rallying to take a two-run lead. Jason Delay crush a game-tying, two-run blast over the left field wall to even the score. Jerrick Suiter kept things going with a pinch-hit single to center and two walks by Reading closer Addison Russ to Oneil Cruz and Darnell Sweeney loaded the bases. On the first pitch from new R-Phils reliever Garrett Cleavinger (Win, 3-0), Jared Oliva sent a two-run double past Bohm at first to give Altoona the lead.

Reading rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth, including RBI doubles from Arquimedes Gamboa and Henri Lartigue, against Blake Cederlind. Cederlind fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth before the two-run ninth and struck out four.

As the game went to extra innings tied, 6-6, Altoona took another lead when the placed runner, Oliva, scored on a fielding error at third base. Reading responded immediately in their half of the 10th when Mickey Moniak singled home the placed runner on the first pitch by Curve reliever Joel Cesar (Loss, 2-4) to tie the contest at 7-7. One pitch later, Bohm parked the game-winning dinger over the center field wall for his second homer of the series.

Reading jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning with a pair of two-run homers off Curve starter Domingo Robles. R-Phils pitcher Adonis Medina got aboard with a single to center moments before Luke Williams snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run shot to left-center. Robles bounced back to record the second out, but he lost Bohm to a two-out walk and extended the inning for Darick Hall, who hit his 20th homer of the season two pitches later and made it a four-run third.

Robles held the Fightin Phils to two hits outside of the third inning, both by Moniak, a single in the first and a two-out triple in the fifth.

On the mound for Reading, Medina threw six, one-run innings after his previous two starts saw him give up 12 runs in 6.2 frames. He racked up eight strikeouts, gave up two hits, walked three and served up an opposite-field, solo homer to Bligh Madris in the fifth for Altoona's lone run on his watch.

Madris recorded his second RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to put the Curve within two runs during the seventh.

Yeudy Garcia took over on the hill for Altoona in the sixth and pitched a pair of scoreless innings. He did not give up a hit and struck out two hitters with one walk allowed.

Oliva's double in the ninth was his 100th hit of the year, the first Curve player in 2019 to reach triple digits.

Reading swept the three-game series to hand Altoona just their third losing sweep of the season. The walk-off defeat was the fifth of the year and second on a road trip that saw the ballclub go 1-6.

The Curve begin a seven-game homestand on Monday with the first of a four-game series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Right-hander Nicholas Economos (0-2, 9.00) will start for Altoona against Richmond left-hander Caleb Baragar (3-4, 3.80). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at PNG Field.

The ballpark games open at 5:30 p.m. for Wild West Night and a Curve Bandana Giveaway thanks to LAMB Solutions and Nuts For You. All group sales for Monday's game will benefit Easter for Eli. Each Monday is a Mitsubishi Monday as fans can visit Five Star Mitsubishi for free grandstand seats to that Monday's game. For tickets or more information about upcoming promotions, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.

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