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Payback time

Curve avenge loss to Mize

Next stop

Today: Erie at Altoona, 4 p.m.

Pitchers: SeaWolves RHP Matt Manning (3-1, 227) vs. Curve RHP Scooter Hightower (1-3, 5.52)

Record: 17-16

Different week. Different result.

Erie rookie right-hander Casey Mize pitched a nine-inning no-hitter against the Curve in his Double-A debut April 29 at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

Mize, the No. 1 draft pick from Auburn, was back on the hill Friday night against the Curve at PNG, but the result was different.

The Curve pounded out 15 hits, including two homers and three doubles, and rallied past the SeaWolves, 8-4, before a crowd of 4,191.

Mize was not the losing pitcher, though. He was lifted after five innings, giving up two runs and seven hits, and holding a 4-2 lead after throwing 92 pitches.

Jason Delay, the Curve’s hottest hitter, smacked a three-run homer into the left-field bleachers in the sixth to give Altoona a 5-4 lead and three Curve relievers shut the door the last five innings.

“We took advantage of a couple mistakes,” Altoona manager Michael Ryan said of Mize. “He was getting the ball out over the plate and the last time we faced him he didn’t make any mistakes.

“He talked about his fastball command the last time,” Ryan said. “It was different tonight. We got a lot more pitches to hit and we didn’t miss many.”

Erie’s Derek Hill blasted a first-inning leadoff homer off Altoona’s Cam Vieaux and the SeaWolves built a 4-2 lead before Beau Sulser relieved Vieaux in the fourth. Sulser, with some clutch pitching, averted trouble in both the fifth and sixth frames to keep it close.

Fernando Perez relieved Mize to start the bottom of the sixth and the Curve jumped on him quickly. Jerrick Suiter and Mitchell Tolman both singled and Delay lifted a three-run homer into the left-field bleachers to give Altoona a 5-4 lead.

“Anytime a guy’s doing that you just sit back and admire it,” Ryan said.

“He’s really got it going,” Bligh Madris said of Delay, who is 11-for-19 with nine RBIs and six extra-base hits during his hot streak. “It’s great to see and we’re really happy for him.”

Logan Hill’s homer in the seventh made it 6-4. Bralin Jackson’s sacrifice fly and Hill’s RBI single produced a couple of insurance runs in the eighth.

“It definitely felt good,” Hill said of his homer. “I was just trying to get a pitch up and it gave us an extra run going into the later innings.”

The Curve banged out 15 hits as all nine regulars got into the act. Delay, Hill, Tolman ,Hunter Owen, Jared Oliva and Madris all had two hits.

“We had more information on (Mize) tonight,” Madris said. “We didn’t have anything the first time we saw him so I felt we had a good idea what he was going to try to do to us.

“We took advantage of what he did,” Madris continued, “and we were aggressive.”

“For each guy to contribute shows the ability this lineup has,” Ryan offered.

After a solid 3.1 innings, which earned him his fourth win, Sulser gave way to Blake Weiman, who struck out the side in the eighth for his third hold, and Blake Cederlind, who, thanks to a 5-4-3 double play, got out of the ninth despite giving up two singles.

Game recap

Key player: Jason Delay had 3-run homer and RBI double.

Key play: Delay’s 3-run homer in sixth put Curve ahead 5-4.

Key stat: Erie was 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

How they scored

Top 1st: D. Hill homered (0-1).

Bottom 2nd: Owen singled, Tolman singled, Delay doubled Owen home (1-1).

Top 3rd. D. Hill walked, Paredes singled, Rogers sac fly (1-2).

Bottom 3rd: Jackson singled, L. Hill walked, Owen singled, Suiter sac fly (2-2).

Top 4th: Motter walked, Eaves tripled, Alcantara sac fly (2-4).

Bottom 6th: Suiter singled, Tolman singled, Delay homered (5-4).

Bottom 7th: L. Hill homered (6-4).

Bottom 8th: Pope singled, Oliva doubled, Jackson sac fly, L. Hill single (8-4).

Covering the bases

LEADING OFF: Erie leadoff man Derek Hill homered, walked and tripled in his first three at-bats.

SAFE AT FIRST: Bligh Madris recorded the first hit off Mize, pushing a 2-2 pitch past shortstop with two outs in the first. Madris also doubled off Mize in the fifth.

STEALING SECOND: There were five doubles in the game and 27 total hits, including 15 by Altoona.

ROUNDING THIRD: There were 11 extra-base hits -six by Erie and five by the Curve – and 18 runners were left on base.

HEADING HOME: It was only the sixth win in 16 games at PNG for the Curve who have been outscored 76-57 in those contests.

— Jim Lane

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