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On deck
Tonight: Idle
Next up: Harrisburg at Altoona, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Record: 15-18
Radio: WRTA-AM 1240 & 98.7-FM
By Cory Giger
sports@altoonamirror.com
This is now one of the roughest stretches in Curve history, with the club collapsing over the past two weeks after a hot start to the second half.
It's all happened in such a hurry, too. Altoona got off to a 12-6 start and was battling for first place to start this half, only to go 3-12 since then.
Akron swept the Curve in a doubleheader Saturday, then finished the series with a 6-4 victory Sunday night before 5,130 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
What happened?
The Curve ran into an excellent Bowie club on the road and went 1-5. Then Akron came to town over the past week, and Altoona went 1-5 at home against the RubberDucks.
The Curve scored a total of only 13 runs during the six home games. The pitching staff kept most of the games competitive, but the lack of offense was just too much to overcome.
Any hopes of a playoff berth this season are pretty much gone with the Curve 9 ½ games back in the division. But there's a lot of season left, so at this point, the club is playing for pride.
Still fighting
Manager Kieran Mattison has been away from the club since Thursday for personal reasons, so hitting coach Jon Nunnally has been the acting manager.
"We just keep getting after it," Nunnally said. "These guys, they go out there every single day, they're trying to give you everything they've got. They fight to the end.
"Sometimes you'd like to see the fight happen a little bit more at the beginning of the games instead of going through and like, OK, now let's get on it. We've been doing that a little bit lately."
No one can knock the club's effort during the rough stretch. There just hasn't been the right combination of good pitching and good hitting all taking place at the same time.
"Still getting a good, competitive game," Nunnally said of the group. "We've just got to finish it off. The other night we won with a walk-off, and that was great to see. But then we're always getting that close. That lets you know there's still a lot of fight there. They keep going every single night, and I can respect that."
Sunday recap
Akron scored twice in the seventh inning for a 4-1 lead. The Curve answered with two runs on Aaron Shackelford's two-run homer, his team-high 19th of the season, but the RubberDucks came right back with two more runs in the eighth to make it 6-3.
Aaron Shortridge (0-3) took the loss, allowing two runs — one earned — in four innings.
Shackelford went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, while Liover Peguero was 2-for-3 with three runs.
Saturday recap
Akron swept the doubleheader, winning 4-1 in the first game and 4-2 in the second. Altoona had just six hits in the doubleheader, three in each game.
Quinn Priester (1-3) took the loss in the opener, allowing three runs on eight hits in 4ª innings. Connor Scott his his fourth homer, and Andres Alvarez had two hits.
Carmen Mlodzinski (3-7) lost in relief in game two, giving up three runs in 5• innings. Jared Triolo had two hits for the Curve.
New foe
The Curve have not faced Binghamton yet this season but will take on the Rumble Ponies in a series starting Tuesday.