Altoona racked up 12 hits and Blake Sabol played the hero yet again, as the Curve came back to defeat the Harrisburg Senators, 6-5, in front of a crowd of 4,275.

The Senators tagged Curve starter Aaron Shortridge in a filibuster-length first inning, pushing across four runs. Center fielder Matt Fraizer prevented even more damage by throwing out Harrisburg left fielder Yasel Antuna, who tried to stretch his single into a double.

“I actually made a note of that play,” Curve manager Kieran Mattison said. “That really helped us put out a fire early. Those plays end up mattering and shifting the momentum.”

Altoona struck back in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Endy Rodriguez delivered a two-run single to make the score 4-2. Sabol lashed a double into the gap to bring the Curve within one, but was thrown out at the plate when he tried to score on a single from Malcom Nunez.

There was some controversy in the bottom of the fourth. With Aaron Shackelford on first with no one out, Lolo Sanchez laid down a bunt but was called out at first on a bang-bang play. Curve manager Kieran Mattison came out to argue the call with first base umpire Jennifer Pawol, but ultimately stayed in the game.

Mattison rewatched the play after the game and agreed with Pawol’s call, but believes that the minor leagues should introduce a replay system to make sure that missed calls can be overturned.

“I’ve been begging for that for 10 years,” he said. “The umpires are trying to get it right, but sometimes we have to go to replay. The best umpires in the major leagues have replay. It all matters in pro ball.”

Shortridge settled down nicely after his tumultuous start. The right-hander pitched six innings, striking out three on 79 pitches. Mattison praised Shortridge’s “grit” and was impressed with his ability to adjust.

“He didn’t panic,” he said. “He didn’t let it get out of hand, he ended up getting a quality start and that’s all you can ask for.”

Shackelford tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a long home run to right field, his team-high 23rd of the season.

Harrisburg went ahead 5-4 on a groundout from Darren Baker in the seventh. Curve third baseman Andres Alvarez re-tied things in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer of his own. Altoona then took the lead for good when Sabol smacked a liner past Robert Hassell III in center and slid into third with a triple.

“I knew once Endy was scoring, I need to try and get to third, with less than two outs,” Sabol said. “I’m trying to keep my eyes up in the zone, so I’m not chasing anything. As long as it’s up, I know it’s something I can handle.”

“(Sabol) loves to hit,” Mattison said. “He loves to be a guy that drives in runs to help his team win, he runs the bases that way, he does that behind the plate. For him to come through right there, it’s not shocking.”

Injury updates

According to Mattison, long reliever Omar Cruz is building up and facing hitters as he works his way back from an elbow injury. Cruz has not pitched since June 28.

Matt Gorski, who is out for the season with a quad injury, is doing batting practice and defensive drills.

Gangster night

Curve employees donned pinstripe suits and bowler hats for “Gangster Night” at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Players walked up to themes from “The Godfather,” with some of them being photoshopped as Vito Corleone’s cat on the scoreboard.