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The Curve had a lousy time fishing over the weekend.
Dressed up in Brookies uniforms, symbolizing the state fish -- the brook trout -- Altoona finished off its worst week of the season by getting devoured Sunday afternoon. The Curve ... ummm Brookies ... were fried by last-place Harrisburg, 11-2, in a forgettable series finale at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The Senators came into the six-game series with a 14-27 record, yet wound up winning four of the six games. It was just the second series of the season the Curve have lost, the other coming in the opening series when they went 2-3 against Erie at PNG Field.
Harrisburg was just 4-13 on the road entering the series, but found a formula for success as it took the first two games and the last two games of the six-game set.
Bad day
The game was tied 1-1 before the Senators scored four runs in the fourth inning to take control. They added four more runs in the sixth inning and two in the seventh to blow things open.
Harrisburg finished with 13 hits, while Altoona managed only five. The Curve dropped to 11-12 at home, compared to 16-8 on the road.
Curve manager Miguel Perez was not available for comment after the game, but certainly could not have liked what he saw from his club during the series.
Stats and stuff
Curve starter Noe Toribio (1-2) had a tough outing, allowing five runs on six hits in 3ª innings. Reliever Brad Case then got blistered for four runs -- three earned -- on five hits in just 1ª innings.
Andrew Lee (2-2) won for Harrisburg, giving up two runs on five hits in five innings.
No Curve player had multiple hits, while Senators first baseman K.J. Harrison went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs.
Oneil Cruz committed his 12th error, on an errant throw to third base trying to nail a runner who had rounded the base on a double steal.
About those jerseys
The Brookies jerseys were, in a word, unique. The Curve have never shied away from trying new and unusual things, and turning into the Brookies for a weekend carried on that tradition.
Trout fishing obviously is very popular in the region and around the state, and it turns out the brook trout actually is the state fish of nine states.
Altoona won the first game wearing the unusual jerseys on Friday, but wound up losing the final two games donning the outfits.
Saturday recap
The Brookies also got cooked Saturday night, 4-2, before a season-high crowd of 6,677.
Starter Jeff Passantino (1-4) allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss, while Tim Cate (2-3) held Altoona to one run on six hits over five innings to win for Harrisburg. Gabe Klobosits tossed two innings to earn his third save.
Daniel Amaral, Rodolfo Castro and Cal Mitchell had two hits apiece for the Curve.
Looking ahead
The Curve are off today and head to Hartford for a six-game series beginning Tuesday.
Altoona will return to PNG Field July 6 for a 12-game homestand, with Akron in town for six games, followed by six against Binghamton.