EL1 Altoona Curve

Rojas' Blast Not Enough in 9-3 Loss to 'Ducks

Published on June 17, 2015 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


AKRON, Ohio - Mel Rojas, Jr. clobbered his first home run of the season at either level but it was not enough for the Curve as they dropped the second game of the series, 9-3, on Wednesday night at Canal Park.

The Curve struck first in the first inning on Wednesday on one of the stranger plays of the season. With Max Moroff at third and Josh Bell at first, Dan Gamache crushed a ball to left. It got over the head of Bryson Myles and down for a single before it hit the wall and bounced right back to Myles. Moroff scored easily and the Curve had the early lead. However, from the vantage point of both Bell and Gamache, it appeared that Myles had caught the ball.

Bell started back to first and Gamache ran by him as then he turned around and headed for the dugout since he thought the ball had been caught. Since Gamache had passed Bell on the bases, Gamache was ruled out for the second out of the inning. The inning stalled from there and the Curve didn't score again until Rojas' homer in the third.

Meanwhile, after a relatively easy first inning, Zack Dodson (3-3) gave up hit to Anthony Gallas and then hit Myles to put two on to start the second. He got the next two outs and appeared to be on the road to getting out of the inning but Akron got a bases-clearing double by Justin Toole that put them up, 3-1. A double immediately following by Todd Hankins made it, 4-1.

Altoona closed the gap to, 4-3, with Rojas' homer in the third but would pull no closer. Akron pulled away with two more runs in the fifth, one in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Dodson allowed a season-high six runs on eight hits to suffer his first loss against Akron this year. Entering the game, Dodson hadn't given up a run in three starts versus the 'Ducks spanning 19 innings.

Moroff finished the day 2-for-3 and now has an eight-game hitting streak. Jacob Stallings finished the day 0-for-4 and did not reach base in the loss to see his 18-game on-base streak come to a close.

Having lost the series, the Curve (37-26) aim to salvage the 12:05 p.m. series finale with Akron (33-30) on Thursday before returning home for a big homestand on Friday. RHP Chad Kuhl (4-3, 3.57) gets the nod on Thursday afternoon looking to rebound from back-to-back losses for the first time this season. He'll be opposed by Akron's LHP Shawn Morimando (4-5, 2.98).

Airtime on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network is scheduled for 11:50 a.m.

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Eastern League Stories from June 17, 2015


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