Ironing out a victory: Curve top Richmond
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Blake Sabol and Andres Alvarez homered, and Altoona put on a power show as the Curve defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 8-3, in front of a crowd of 4,322 on Thursday.
After Curve right fielder Fabricio Macias legged out a hustle double in the bottom of the first, second baseman Jake Shackelford drove him in with a double of his own to get the scoring started.
Flying Squirrels shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald responded with a home run deep over the left field fence to knot the scoring at one apiece.
The Curve rallied in the bottom of the third to retake the lead. Macias bounced a double down the third base line to score Matt Fraizer, and Altoona benefited from miscommunication in the Richmond outfield to put runners on second and third with one out.
Altoona tacked on another run when Liover Peguero lofted a fly ball to shallow right field and Franklin Labour's throw sailed up the line, allowing Macias to score easily. Blake Sabol added an exclamation point to the inning with a two-run home run just over Labour's leaping try at the wall, putting the Curve up, 5-1.
Alvarez kept the momentum going with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the fourth.
Curve starter Aaron Shortridge turned in four strong innings before being pulled with runners on in the fifth at just 71 pitches. Manager Kieran Mattison said that the team is being careful with Shortridge's workload because "He's still not fully built up yet."
"He started the season late, rehabbed," he said. "The main thing was to get him a step up. We thought he threw it well, I think he could be better with some sequencing stuff, but overall he's going to compete."
Richmond designated hitter Diego Rincones brought the Flying Squirrels a little closer with a two-run shot into left, cutting Altoona's lead to 6-3.
Alvarez was at it again in the bottom of the seventh, stealing second and third base and coming around to score on a wild pitch as part of a two-run inning.
"He runs the bases with a lot of savviness," Mattison said. "He was aggressive and stole second, and then to be heads up and steal the first pitch after the walk to catch them sleeping.
The guy threw the ball away, he was alert and saw that the pitcher wasn't covering home. That's part of his game, that's something he takes pride in."
A combination of Jeffrey Passantino, Cristofer Melendez, and Tahnaj Thomas combined to close it out for Altoona.
Picture perfect
Thursday's contest featured great weather for a baseball game. The Curve and Flying Squirrels took the field to partly cloudy sky, with a gametime temperature of 84 degrees.
Splitting the gaps
Altoona recorded nine extra base hits on the night, including six doubles, two home runs and a triple from Matt Fraizer. Mattison said that the Curve's performance was the result of a productive morning practice session.
"We had some guys come in today and put in some early work, Sabol and Fraizer, and they were able to see the fruition of the work that they put in," he said. "The middle of our lineup was doing some damage, guys putting good swings on balls. And with the extra base hits, you get nine, that's a lot."
Keeping the balance
Altoona hosted Tyler Scheuer, better known as Tyler's Amazing Balancing Act, on Thursday night. Scheuer, who has been featured on Ripley's Believe It Or Not and America's Got Talent, kept the crowd entertained between innings by balancing poles and buckets on his nose. Scheuer balanced a stepladder on his face for his grand finale.
Next stop
Tonight: Richmond at Altoona, 6 p.m.
Pitchers: Flying Squirrels RHP Matt Frisbee (5-5) vs. Curve RHP Luis Ortiz (3-5)
Record: 9-6