Finol Rocks Three Hits in 8-2 Defeat
July 19, 2023 - Eastern League (EL)
Altoona Curve News Release
CURVE, Pa. - Reading packed their bats for game two of the series, knocking four home runs in an 8-2 win over the Curve on Wednesday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Altoona dropped to 6-8 in the second half, 40-42 overall this season.
Claudio Finol and Matt Fraizer paced the Altoona offense with five of the nine hits recorded by the Curve. Fraizer drove home Finol with a single in the third inning to get Altoona on the board after the Fightin Phils jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the top of the third inning.
Right-hander Aaron Shortridge was charged with the loss despite tossing 5.2 innings in a starting role for the Curve. Reading's Ethan Wilson and Max McDowell each homered off Shortridge in the second inning and Matthew Kroon added a solo shot to lead off the sixth inning and complete the line for Altoona's starter. Shortridge had allowed just seven home runs in 78 innings this season until he allowed a season-high three homers on Wednesday afternoon.
Reading added to the lead with a run-scoring single by McDowell in the sixth inning off Omar Cruz. Cruz went on to toss 2.1 innings of relief and allowed three runs after he allowed a two-run homer to Casey Martin in the eighth inning which made it 8-1, Fightins.
Altoona grabbed a run back when Finol began the ninth inning with a solo homer, his third home run of the season. Finol picked up three hits in the loss, his third three-hit game of the season.
Altoona continues their six-game set with Reading on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. The Curve send RHP Beau Sulser to the mound with RHP Mick Abel slated to start for the Fightin Phils. Pre-game coverage gets underway at 5:45 p.m. on Talk Radio 98.5 WRTA and online at www.bit.ly/CurveRadioNet.
The Curve are proud to celebrate our 25th Anniversary season in 2023. For tickets or more information, 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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