There is no question that Jerrick Suiter is dialed in at the plate right now.

The right fielder singled in all four plate appearances, and has reached base in eight consecutive at bats.

Suiter scored once and drove in a run in Altoona’s 6-5 win over Binghamton. He is now hitting .315 on the year.

“I’m being patient and trying to get my pitch in every at bat,” Suiter said. “I made a couple of adjustments with (hitting coach Kevin Riggs) earlier in the season and they’ve been paying off.”

The TCU alum said he’s been standing taller at the plate in recent at bats.

“I was almost Bagwell-esque before,” Suiter said. “I’m seeing the ball better and I’m putting the barrel on the ball more. That’s going to lead to more hits.”

Suiter said he considers himself a contact hitter.

“Especially with two strikes,” he said. “Striking out is probably the thing I hate most in the game, so I’m going to do everything I can to put the ball in play.”

Once a two-sport athlete at TCU, Suiter said he eventually realized that baseball was his ticket.

“I went on to TCU and played defensive end for a little while, but ended up getting hurt,” he said. “The baseball coach and I got together and eventually decided that I would just stick with baseball.

“I loved football, and it was a lot of fun playing, but I knew in the long run that baseball was going to be my thing.”

Two of the Curve’s best pitchers did not have their best stuff, but both labored through adversity to provide their team a chance to win.

A night after the Altoona bullpen pitched six scoreless innings, Alex McRae found himself in a position to be a stopper for the Curve once again. McRae (7-4) made it through five-plus innings and allowed only two earned runs.

“This was a really tough game for me,” McRae said. The right-hander said he gained some confidence from the fact that he could grind his way to a victory despite not having complete control. Curve manager Michael Ryan agreed.

“He’ll be the first to admit that he didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but he still battled,” Ryan said.

McRae’s grit was on full display when he retired Luis Guillorme to end the fifth inning after a 13-pitch battle that featured eight foul balls.

The Curve entered the ninth with a three run advantage, and appeared to be in excellent position, with Eastern League All-Star closer Montana DuRapau coming on to close the game.

DuRapau shared McRae’s struggles, and quickly allowed the Rumble Ponies to trim the lead to one. But DuRapau got Tyler Moore to line out to center field and struck out Dale Burdick with the bases loaded to end the game and pick up his 13th save.

“When it came down to it, he made pitches when he needed to,” Ryan said of DuRapau. “Huge pitch to Moore and then obviously Burdick to get the punch out. Right guy at the right spot on the bump.”

Elvis Escobar blasted a two-run homerun in the third inning. The center fielder finished 2-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Kevin Newman led off the first and third innings with doubles. The shortstop continued to swing a hot bat after a slow start this year.

“He’s just using the whole field,” Ryan said of Newman. “It’s the same as Suiter, his balance is good, and he’s getting his foot down. He knows what he’s doing and it shows.”

Knuckleball pitcher Mickey Jannis (5-4) took the loss for Binghamton.

The Curve squeaked out a one-run win before 3,640 fans to conclude its final homestand before the All-Star break. The Curve will play four games at Akron, before taking three days off.

Game recap

Key player: RF Jerrick Suiter finished 4-4 with a run scored and an RBI

Key play: RHP Montana DuRapau struck out 2B Dale Burdick with the bases loaded to end the game.

Key stat: Suiter has reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances.

How they scored

Bottom 1st: Newman doubled, scored on Hill RBI ground out (1-0); Espinal walked, scored on pass ball (2-0).

Top 3rd: Burdick singled, scored on Guillorme infield single (2-1).

Bottom 3rd: Newman doubled, Escobar homered and both scored (4-1).

Top 6th: Mazzilli singled, scored on Moore infield single (4-2); Thompson reached on an error, scored on Burdick walk (4-3).

Bottom 6th: Suiter singled, scored on Morales fielder’s choice (5-3).

Bottom 7th: Escobar singled, scored on Suiter single (6-3).

Top 9th: Biondi reached on an error, scored on Mazzilli double (6-4); Guillorme singled, scored on Thompson ground out (6-5).

Next stop

Tonight: Altoona at Akron, 7:05 p.m.

Pitchers: Curve LHP Cody Dickson (0-2, 14.14) vs. Akron RHP Michael Peoples (2-3, 4.02)

Record: 43-40