Vieaux's Strong Outing Not Enough to Avoid Sweep by Senators
April 17, 2019 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
CURVE, Pa. - Cam Vieaux was excellent in his third start of the season but the Altoona Curve bats went silent in a 2-0 shutout loss to the Harrisburg Senators on Wednesday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
After Vieaux and Senators starter Sterling Sharp each tossed a quick, scoreless first frame, the Senators took the early 2-0 advantage in the second on Ian Sagdal's two-run homer to right, ending Vieaux's 11.2-inning scoreless streak to start the season.
The Curve threatened in the bottom of the inning when Bralin Jackson and Jerrick Suiter reached on one-out singles. Jason Delay followed Suiter's hit with a walk to load the bases for Brett Pope, but Sharp got Pope to bounce into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, holding the score at 2-0.
Vieaux (Loss, 0-1) locked in after allowing the second-inning homer, striking out a season-high seven batters with no walks in six innings, but Sharp was better and devastated the Curve lineup through the middle innings. Including Pope's double-play ball to end the second, Sharp retired 13 batters in a row, tossing four straight perfect innings from the third through sixth, until Hunter Owen's leadoff single in the seventh finally broke the streak.
Sharp (Win, 2-1), who needed just 67 pitches to get through seven shutout frames, induced three double-play grounders and recorded four strikeouts on the day.
Both bullpens were excellent after the starters exited the game. Beau Sulser retired all six batters he faced and Tate Scioneaux pitched a perfect ninth inning in relief of Vieux, while Jacob Condra-Bogan and Joan Baez each threw a scoreless inning in relief of Sharp.
The Curve brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Baez (Save, 1), but the right-hander got Logan Hill to ground out to shortstop to end the game.
The Curve fall below .500 at 6-7 for the first time this season after getting swept in a three-game series by the Senators. The club will head to Richmond tomorrow for the start of a six-game road trip. RHP Scooter Hightower (0-1, 3.48) will start for the Curve against Flying Squirrels LHP Conner Menez (0-1, 0.00).
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