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Offense continues to struggle

Next stop

Today: Altoona at New Hampshire, 11:35 a.m.

Pitchers: Curve RHP Scooter Hightower (2-4, 5.63) vs. Fisher Cats RHP Patrick Murphy (2-4, 3.35)

Record: 22-22

From Mirror reports

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The Curve offense couldn’t do much of anything against a pitcher with an ERA near 7.00, and for the second straight night a poor showing at the plate led to a loss.

New Hampshire handed Altoona a 2-1 loss Wednesday night, coming on the heels of a 5-0 shutout win Tuesday. The first two games of the Curve’s season-long 10-game road trip have seen the club score a total of one run on eight hits.

The subpar offensive showing wasted a strong outing by lefty Cam Vieaux, who struck out a career-high 10 batters over six innings. Vieaux (2-3) gave up two runs on eight hits and no walks in a tough-luck loss.

New Hampshire scored both of its runs in the fifth inning, getting a solo homer from Chad Spanberger and RBI double by Forrest Wall.

The Curve’s lone run came in the sixth on a solo homer by Jerrick Suiter,

That’s all the visitors could muster off Fisher Cats righty Hector Perez (3-2), who came in with a 6.82 ERA.

Perez got off to a rough start this season with a 10.69 ERA in April, but he’s been much better this month with a 3.18 ERA entering his start Wednesday.

Curve manager Michael Ryan said a long road trip like the team is on now can be a turning point for a club, helping everyone come together as it did late last season on such a trip. But so far this trip has been a tough one with the back-to-back poor offensive games.

The teams will wrap up the series with a morning game today, then the Curve will head to Portland for four games.

Game recap

Key player: RHP Hector Perez held the Curve to one run on five hits over six innings to get the win.

Key play: The Fisher Cats scored twice in the fifth inning, including a solo homer by RF Chad Spanberger.

Key stat: LHP Cam Vieaux struck out a career-high 10 for the Curve, but the offense struggled once again and has scored just one run on eight hits the first two games of the series.

How they scored

Bottom 5th: Spanberger solo homer (0-1); Capra singled, scored on Wall double (0-2).

Top 6th: Suiter solo homer (1-2).

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