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Craig’s list of hits lifts Curve

By Cory Giger

cgiger@altoonamirror.com

The Curve have a very talented team that has not lived up to the high expectations so far, but Sunday afternoon the club showed what could be possible when it puts everything together.

“When you think about how really good it can be, that’s the blueprint right there,” manager Michael Ryan said. “That’s the way a lot of people in this room thought it would look like, and that’s the way it’s going to look like.”

The Curve scored a season high in runs to clobber Portland, 12-3, before 4,694 fans on a gorgeous day at People Natural Gas Field. The offense clicked from top to bottom, the power hitters pounded the ball, Mitch Keller did his usual thing, and Altoona ended an up-and-down week-long homestand with a very good up.

“It’s definitely something to be scared of when we get rolling,” first baseman Will Craig said of the Curve’s potential.

Craig had a big day, going 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBIs and two runs. He hit his team-leading sixth long ball, a two-run shot in the first inning, and Logan Hill later tied for the top spot on the team when he hit his sixth homer in the fifth inning, also a two-run blast.

All nine Curve starters had at least one hit, and the team finished with 17, including Cole Tucker setting the table by going 3-for-4 with three runs at the top of the order.

“We believe that can be the norm,” Tucker said of the strong play Sunday. “We’re obviously not going to score 12 runs, that’s not baseball. But we go out there with that confidence that that’s how good of a club that we can be.”

Keller doesn’t need a lot of support in order to win, but he got plenty of it Sunday. The right-hander gave up two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven with two walks.

Keller (5-2) gave up a run in the first inning, but Craig’s homer in the Curve half of the first and Christian Kelley’s solo shot in the second staked the pitcher to an early 4-1 lead against Portland starter Dedgar Jimenez (1-3).

“All three phases (played well),” Ryan said. “We’ve got Keller on the bump, very good defense behind him because he’s pounding the zone, he’s ready. You have the confidence in Keller that it’s going to be low scoring.”

About a week and a half ago, Ryan said after a game that he’s tired of hearing how talented of a team he has. The Curve were ranked as having seventh-most talented roster in the minor leagues during the preseason, but the club has had a number of issues to overcome and so far is just three games over .500 at 21-18.

But the potential is there. Sunday showed that.

“We’ve just got to fix the consistency issues, and it’s a fun team to watch when it’s like that,” Ryan said.

Is the team close to getting on a big roll.

“It sure seems like it,” Craig said. “The last few days we’ve been swinging the bats really well, and our pitching’s coming together. We have off day (today), everybody relax, and hopefully come back on Tuesday ready to roll.”

SUBHD: Game recap

Key player: 1B Will Craig went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for the Curve.

Key play: Craig’s two-run homer in the first inning put the Curve on top to stay.

Key stat: All nine starters had a hit for the Curve, who finished with 17 hits and a season-high 12 runs.

SUBHD: How they scored

Top 1st: Witte walked, scored on Ockimey double (0-1).

Bottom 1st: Tucker singled, scored on Craig two-run homer (2-1).

Bottom 2nd: Kelley solo homer (3-1); Jackson singled, scored on Hayes sacrifice fly (4-1).

Bottom 4th: Alemais singled, scored on Tucker groundout (5-1).

Bottom 5th: Craig singled, scored on Hill two-run homer (7-1).

Top 6th: Mars walked, scored on Witte groundout (7-2).

Bottom 6th: Tucker walked, scored on Hayes double (8-2); Martin double scored Hayes (9-2); Craig single scored Martin (10-2).

Top 7th: Rivera solo homer (10-3).

Bottom 8th: Jackson singled, scored on Martin sacrifice fly (11-3); Tucker singled, scored on Craig sacrifice fly (12-3).

Covering the bases

LEADING OFF: SS Cole Tucker entered Sunday’s game hitting just .195 but went 3-for-4 to raise that number back to .212. Check Tuesday’s Mirror for a look at Tucker’s thoughts on his early season struggles and what he’s learned from them.

SAFE AT FIRST: 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes, DH Jordan George, C Christian Kelley and RF Bralin Jackson had two hits apiece for the Curve.

STEALING SECOND: CF Jason Martin went 1-for-4 and is hitting .364, which ranks fourth in the Eastern League. Martin had a double and leads the team with 18 extra-base hits.

ROUNDING THIRD: The Curve took part in the annual Make-A-Wish bowling outing Sunday night to raise money for charity.

HEADING HOME: If the Curve are to get on a roll and start playing better, more consistent ball, it will have to come on the road. They have a day off today, then head to Bowie on Tuesday to begin a week-long road trip, which will end with four games at Harrisburg. They’ll play 10 of their next 13 games on the road, with the only home games being against Akron from May 29-31.

— Cory Giger

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