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Sometimes a little luck and a dash of chaos go a long way. For the Altoona Curve, they made their own luck en route to a 2-1 victory over the Bowie Baysox in front of 3,183 fans at PNG Field Thursday night.
Lolo Sanchez led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk before moving to second on a single by Andres Alvarez, setting up for some Drew Maggi magic.
Trailing by a run, Maggi dropped a bunt down, only for Baysox pitcher Connor Loeprich to throw the ball into foul territory, allowing all runners to be safe and Sanchez to score from second base to tie the game.
"First and second, no outs, down one, I walked to the plate and got the bunt sign and just executed," Maggi said following the game. "It's a momentum play. You can kind of build off that momentum. They got a little rattled there and threw the ball away."
Then chaos ensued. Matt Fraizer followed the Sanchez bunt single up with a strikeout, but was able to advance to first on a throwing error by Bowie catcher Ramon Rodriguez. Henry Davis would hit an infield fly for the first out of the inning before Liover Peguero stepped to the plate.
Peguero worked a 1-1 count before hitting a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Alvarez and put the Curve in the lead for the first time on the night.
For Peguero, it was a moment well needed for a player who hasn't started the season too terribly strong.
"Peggy, that was a really big thing for a couple of reasons," Altoona manager Callix Crabbe said. You're talking about a player expected to perform extremely well, hasn't stopped getting off to the start that he wants, but he stayed in the game. That's what winning baseball looks like."
It hasn't just been Peguero not cashing in when it matters most, but the rest of the team collectively has struggled with runners in scoring position, especially the bases loaded to this point.
"When you know, as an offense that you're not cashing in, when you feel like you should, it gets a little bit more challenging," Crabbe said. "I think as we move forward, our job is to really get them relaxed, let them know that and let the game come to them."
Get it done
The Curve bullpen bounced back after giving up five runs in Wednesday's game by shutting the Bowie offense down.
Travis MacGregor took over in the sixth inning promptly throwing 2.2 shutout innings allowing only two hits while striking out four and walking one.
Noe Toribio took over for MacGregor in the eighth needing only one pitch to dispatch Zach Watson via a groundout. Toribio took the mound for the ninth and slammed the door with two strikeouts to notch the save.
Five strong
Jared Jones scattered seven hits over five innings with three coming in his final inning of work.
The Baysox scored their lone run off Jones in the fifth. A one-out line drive off the thigh of Jones by Heston Kjerstad got the inning going. Following a brief visit by the trainers to look at Jones, Coby Mayo doubled to move Kjerstad to third.
Cesar Prieto would single home Kjerstad before Jones would induce a double play to get out of the inning.
"His willingness to stay in the game, adrenaline was obviously a big part of it to begin with, adrenaline is gonna wear off," Crabbe said. He was able to finish that inning."
It was the second game in a row where he's allowed only one run bringing his ERA down to 2.63 through three starts.
After the game, Crabbe mentioned Jones had stiffened up and was dealing with some bruising, but is otherwise healthy after the line drive to the leg.
Promotion
After the game, Crabbe announced Altoona outfielder Josh Palacios was promoted to Triple A Indianapolis.
He hit .265 with nine hits and two RBI in nine games for the Curve so far.
Next up
RHP Sean Sullivan gets the starting nod for Altoona Friday night. He enters the game having yet to yield a run. He threw 2• scoreless innings against Erie last week striking out three while walking only two in his lone out of the season thus far.