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Curve win streak snapped

Will Craig hit six home runs in 123 games all of last season. He belted five homers this past week alone.

The Curve first baseman enjoyed a tremendous week all around offensively and is as close to a shoo-in as it gets for the Eastern League player of the week award, which will be handed out today.

“It was un unbelievable week for him,” Curve manager Michael Ryan said.

Craig bashed his fifth home run of the week Sunday, but Altoona’s sizzling offense was cooled off in a 9-1 loss to New Hampshire before 6,270 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The Curve had their season-high five-game winning streak snapped and were held to just the one run after scoring 47 times during the streak.

Craig’s homer in the fourth inning accounted for Altoona’s lone run and capped his remarkable week. Entering play Sunday, these were his statistical rankings:

n Led EL and tied for first in all the minors in homers (4)

n Led EL and tied for first in all the minors in runs (11)

n Led EL and and was either first or tied for first in all of Double-A in batting average (.579), RBIs (11), extra-base hits (6), hits (11) and on-base percentage (.667)

“It’s been fun coming to the field every day,” said Craig, a first-round draft pick in 2016 who leads the Curve with 11 homers and 50 RBIs.

Craig is a big, strong guy at 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds, and the Pirates were hoping he would develop into a major power threat. But the home run totals weren’t there his first two years as he hit two in 63 games at low-A in 2016 and then six in 123 games at high-A last year.

Over the past week, he has provided exactly the kind of power bat the Pirates were hoping to see.

“I really don’t know,” Craig said when asked how his breakthrough week occurred. “About a week and a half ago I was struggling pretty hard, trying to figure out what can I do to get basically where I am now.

“It was just kind of working every day in the cages and on the field doing stuff and kind of talking with some of the guys, trying to clear my mind of all the stuff and the clutter that can get in your head.”

There weren’t any mechanical changes with his swing or any other big differences, just a focus on trying to simplify things at the plate.

“I was just kind of talking to myself a little too much and reading into stuff instead of just going out and playing,” Craig said. “Trying to fix stuff that doesn’t really need to be fixed and leaving stuff that probably should be fixed.”

Craig got hot in Binghamton and homered in three straight contests, plus he had a five-RBI game. The whole Curve offense was putting up big numbers every night, so as well as Craig was doing, even he was getting overshadowed a bit.

“It was a combination of a bunch of things,” Ryan said of Craig’s success during the week. “He got pitches to hit, and he didn’t miss. Guys in front of him were on base, and he was in situations to drive guys in. There was guys hitting behind him that were swinging the bat pretty well also, so it gave him some protection.”

Craig is a good prospect, but there’s no denying this had a chance to be a make or break year for him. As a first-round pick and corner infielder, there’s a certain expectation when it comes to power numbers, and the Pirates needed to see if was capable of meeting the expectations.

“I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t frustrated with six home runs last year,” Craig said. “But you also have to realize I had 26 doubles, and a lot of those doubles were off the wall (and just missed being homers).”

The power is certainly there for Craig, and his electrifying week is sure to open eyes in Pittsburgh.

“This offseason I really worked on, I wouldn’t say launch angle, but just making better contact and consistent, hard contact,” he said.

The Curve have a day off today, and as hot as Craig has been, that might not be a good thing.

“It’s good for the body, and you can get everything working,” he said of the day off. “But also sometimes people lose the rhythm, the timing after one day. People don’t realize that one day makes a big difference.”

New Hampshire scored six runs in the fourth inning off Curve starter Eduardo Vera (1-1) to take control. Jan Harris (5-3) gave up just one run over six innings to get the win for the Fisher Cats, who had 14 hits, with all nine starters recording at least one.

SUBHD: Game recap

Key player: DH Juan Kelly went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs for New Hampshire.

Key play: The Fisher Cats scored six runs in the fourth inning for a 7-0 lead.

Key stat: Curve 1B Will Craig hit five homers and led the EL in most offensive categories over the past week.

SUBHD: How they scored

Top 1st: Davis doubled, scored on Bichette groundout (0-1).

Top 4th: Berti singled, scored on Ramirez single (0-2); Bichette singled, scored along with Ramirez on Heidt single (0-4); Kelly two-run homer scored Heidt (0-6); Guillotte singled, scored on Davis single and Jackson error (0-7).

Bottom 4th: Craig solo homer (1-7).

Top 8th: Kelly singled, scored on Davis sacrifice fly (1-8).

Top 9th: Biggio solo homer (1-9).

Next stop

Tonight: Idle

Next game: Altoona at Richmond, Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.

Record: 34-29

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