Ross, Dumitru Homer in Lightning-Fast Victory
Published on April 18, 2026 under Eastern League (EL)
Altoona Curve News Release
CURVE, PA .- The Curve picked up their second straight victory, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field. With great pitching on both sides, the Curve set a franchise record for the fastest 9-inning game, played in just one hour and 47 minutes.
Portland starter John Holobetz set down 13 straight hitters to start the game until Titus Dumitru slammed a solo homer over the centerfield wall to take a 1-0 lead. Holobetz went on to finish seven innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with a career-best 11 strikeouts. It was the most strikeouts by an opposing pitcher since Chesapeake's Alex Pham struck out 11 Curve batters on April 22, 2025.
Dominic Perachi turned in a brilliant outing and earned his first win of the season, tossing six scoreless frames. Perachi induced three double play balls in his first five innings and picked up three strikeouts on a tidy 75 pitches, 49 strikes.
After Landon Tomkins turned in two scoreless innings of relief, Shawn Ross slammed his second home run of the season off reliever Jedixson Paez. The two solo homers hit by the Curve were the only hits recorded by the home team, P.J. Hilson drew a walk in the fifth inning to account for the only other baserunner for Altoona.
Jaycob Deese tossed a scoreless ninth to lock down his first Double-A save, working around a one out single.
Altoona will wrap up the series against Portland on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Altoona will send RHP Khristian Curtis to the mound to face Portland's LHP Hayden Mullins.
For tickets and more information on the Altoona Curve, 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 4 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.
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