EL1 Altoona Curve

McPherson Wins First Game, Curve Win Series

Published on June 16, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


CURVE, Pa. - In his Double-A home debut for the Altoona Curve, Kyle McPherson was superb as he hurled six innings and allowed one run in a 3-1 series clinching victory against the New Britain Rock Cats on Thursday night at Blair County Ballpark.

The lone blemish on McPherson's night was a solo home run by Nate Hanson in the first inning as he worked the final five innings of his outing without giving up a run. McPherson allowed four hits and walked one with four strikeouts as he picked up his first win at the Double-A level.

McPherson (1-1) also got help from his bullpen as Matt McSwain pitched two perfect innings in the seventh and eighth and Anthony Claggett worked out of a jam in the ninth to fire a scoreless inning and pick up his first save of the season.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, the Curve got off to a solid start at the plate as Anthony Norman led the ballgame off with a single to right, followed by a single by Brock Holt to put runners at the corners with no one down. The next batter, Jordy Mercer, would tie the game on an RBI groundout followed by an RBI single by Quincy Latimore to give the Curve their first lead of the series at 2-1.

The two in the first would be all the runs Altoona would need, but they added an insurance run in the fifth as Tony Sanchez and Jose Hernandez singled with one down and Brad Chalk hit a sacrifice fly to right to give the Curve a two-run advantage, ending the scoring on the night.

Rock Cats starter Bobby Lanigan (5-5) went a season-high 7.1 innings as he kept his pitch count low and he allowed three earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Tony Davis worked the final two scoreless for the Rock Cats in relief.

For the Curve, Norman went 3-for-4 with three singles and, with the win, the team is above .500 again at 33-32 as they took two-of-three from the Rock Cats in the series.

Altoona (33-32) will welcome the top team in the Eastern League Western Division, the Harrisburg Senators, to town on Friday at 7 p.m. at BCB for game one of what is a four-game series to be played over three days. Fans are encouraged to arrive when the gates open at 6 p.m. as the first 1,000 fans through the turnstiles for will be given a Tenacious Bank to hold all of their loose change thanks to Sanitary Maintenance. Kids will also get to run the bases after the game.

RHP Aaron Pribanic (5-3, 2.86) will take to the hill for the Curve and he will be opposed by the league's leader in strikeouts, RHP Brad Peacock (7-2, 2.33) for Harrisburg. Gates open up at 6 p.m. and air time on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Check out the Altoona Curve Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from June 16, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central