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Curve break skid

AKRON, Ohio — The Curve had a really rough week here, but they salvaged at least something out of it Sunday night.

Altoona snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over Akron at Canal Park. The RubberDucks had won the first five games of the series, outscoring Altoona, 30-7, including three consecutive shutouts.

The Curve’s late-season collapse had them threatening to fall below .500, but they avoided that Sunday as the win moved them to 53-52.

The Curve are off tonight and return for their final homestand of the season beginning Tuesday night.

Finally, a run

The Curve were shut out Thursday (5-0), Friday (3-0) and Saturday (2-0) by the RubberDucks and entered Sunday’s game having failed to score in their last 29 innings. They were in danger of setting the franchise record in that dubious department, which is 32 innings set back in 2011.

The scoreless streak reached 30 innings before finally ending when Cal Mitchell’s sacrifice fly scored Mason Martin in the second.

Stats and stuff

Oneil Cruz belted a home run to right in the third inning, his 10th of the season. The Curve were up 3-1 entering the seventh, then scored three runs to break it open.

Martin had a two-run single in the inning, moving his team-high RBI total to 71.

Trey McGough tossed four scoreless innings, allowing three runs, but didn’t last long enough to get credit for the win.

Nathan Kirby (1-1) got the win in relief. Akron starter Thomas Ponticelli (6-5) took the loss.

The Curve’s seven-game losing streak was the longest of the season. The team had gone 8-18 since Aug. 5 to fall back to .500

Looking ahead

Erie visits for six games Tuesday through Sunday to wrap up the home portion of the schedule. Altoona then closes the season with seven games at Bowie from Sept. 14-19.

The Curve’s attendance average this season is 3,968, so they’ll need some big crowds over the final week to avoid finishing below 4,000 for the first time in franchise history. Crowd sizes were limited, of course, by COVID restrictions over the first month of the season.

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