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Brubaker’s outing worth it

From Mirror reports

RICHMOND, Va. — One big offensive inning and some great pitching all night carried the Curve to their second straight win Monday.

J.T. Brubaker gave up just one run in eight innings, the longest regular-season outing of his career, and Altoona scored three times in the seventh for a 3-1 win over Richmond at The Diamond.

The lone run scored by the Flying Squirrels came on a solo homer by pitcher Jordan Johnson off Brubaker in the third inning. The rest of Richmond’s lineup did no damage off Brubaker, then Jesus Liranzo worked out of a jam in the ninth to finish off the win.

The Curve offense was quiet until the seventh, then with one out in that inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled and Jordan George walked against a tiring Johnson (2-3). Will Craig greeted reliever Caleb Simpson with a double, bringing in both runners for a 2-1 lead.

Elvis Escobar followed with a single, scoring Craig for a key insurance run.

Brubaker (2-1) gave up a leadoff single in the eighth inning but quickly recorded a double play. He then got a groundout to finish his stellar night, which included allowing just six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks on 102 pitches (70 strikes).

Brubaker has a 1.45 ERA through five starts, allowing just five earned runs in 31 innings while striking out 34 with only five walks.

Liranzo came on in the ninth and served up back-to-back singles to Aramis Garcia and Jerry Sands. Liranzo induced a forceout at second, then struck out Dylan Davis for the second out.

Matt Lipka stole second on the third strike to Davis, giving the Flying Squirrels runners at second and third with two outs. Liranzo escaped the trouble and earned his first save by striking out Ronnie Jebavy to end the game.

Hayes had two hits for the Curve, who managed only five for the game but made them count.

Game recap

Key player: RHP J.T. Brubaker gave up one run over eight innings for the Curve.

Key play: 1B Will Craig doubled home two runs in the seventh to give Altoona the lead.

Key stat: The Curve have won two in a row and are back above .500 after briefly dipping below that mark.

How they scored

Bottom 3rd: Johnson solo homer (0-1).

Top 7th: Hayes doubled, George walked, both scored on Craig double (2-1); Escobar single scored Craig (3-1).

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