EL1 Harrisburg Senators

Valdez the Hero as Sens Stun Curve

Published on July 15, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Harrisburg Senators News Release


Jesus Valdez crushed a walkoff, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Harrisburg Senators escaped with a 9-7 win over the Altoona Curve on Thursday evening at Metro Bank Park. Valdez hit two home runs and drove in six in the ballgame.

The Senators (45-47) scored the first five runs of the ballgame, and the last four, seeing their early 5-0 lead evaporate over the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, when Altoona (55-35) scored seven to take a 7-5 lead. But a four-run ninth, capped off by Valdez' walk-off bomb, gave victory back to the Senators.

The five early runs for the Sens came in the first and third innings, off of Altoona starter Jared Hughes. The first three came in the first inning, in which the first four men to come to the plate reached base safely. Brad Coon walked to lead off the inning, and then came around to score when Danny Espinosa tripled to right-center field. Marvin Lowrance also worked a walk, and then Valdez drove in Espinosa with a single. After a strikeout, Tim Pahuta scored Lowrance from third base with a groundout, and put the Sens in front 3-0.

In the third, Lowrance slapped a one-out single, and set the table for Valdez. Valdez then slugged the first of his two home runs, a two-run shot that brought home Lowrance and increased the lead to 5-0. But the Curve roared back in the sixth, getting three runs off of Sens starter Aaron Thompson, on a single, a double, and a home run. The homer came off the bat of Matt Hague, and scored Josh Harrison; Harrison's double drove in Gorkys Hernandez.

Then, in the seventh inning, with Cole Kimball on to replace Thompson, Anthony Norman hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run to score Brandon Jones, and tie the game at five. Chase d'Arnaud followed with a walk, and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Harrison, and the Curve had its first lead of the game. Altoona would tack on one more run in the eighth, when pinch-hitter Yung-Chi Chen drove in Jordy Mercer on a sacrifice fly.

Reliever Ramon Aguero came in to pitch the ninth for the Curve, in a save situation with the 7-5 lead. He induced a groundout from pinch-hitter Edgardo Baez, but then walked Chris Marrero, and gave up a bloop single to Coon. Espinosa then hit a deep sacrifice fly to centerfield, which scored Marrero and moved Coon to third. After a Marvin Lowrance walk, Valdez blasted his three-run shot, and the ballgame was over.

Zech Zinicola (2-3) picked up the win for the Sens, as he was the pitcher of record after firing a perfect ninth inning in relief. Aguero took the loss for the Curve, and is now 0-2 on the season.

Game two of the four-game series between the two teams is Friday night at 7 PM at Metro Bank Park, with LHP Ross Detwiler (1-1, 3.48) scheduled to pitch for the Senators. Left-hander Jeff Locke will make his first start of the season on the mound for Altoona. Fans can hear all the action on 1460 AM The Ticket and www.senatorsbaseball.com, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 PM.

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Eastern League Stories from July 15, 2010


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