Ducks in a row: Akron beats Curve for third straight game
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Tonight: Akron at Altoona, 6 p.m.
Pitchers: Curve RHP Aaron Shortridge (2-2, 4.91 ERA) vs. RubberDucks RHP Hunter Stanley (0-3, 5.40 ERA)
Record: Altoona 13-15, Akron 15-14
A two-run ninth inning pushed the Akron RubberDucks to a 4-2 victory over the Altoona Curve in front of 3,011 fans Thursday night.
The rally for the RubberDucks came against Curve reliever Tyler Samaniego, who allowed as many hits Thursday (four) as he had all season.
It wasn't as if Samaniego wasn't throwing strikes. In fact, all of Akron's runs came with two outs, but the results weren't quite what the Curve have come to expect from him thus far.
"It just didn't work out for us right there," Altoona manager Callix Crabbe said. "Typically he's pretty money and the ball has life on it, but tonight was just one of those nights."
Prior to Thursday's outing, Samaniego had allowed only three runs on four hits, all of which came in the month of April.
"He actually didn't throw the ball bad, but there were some pitches that he could have used a bit differently," Crabbe said.
The Curve went down fighting in the home half with shortstop Andres Alvarez reaching base after being hit by a pitch to lead off. Connor Scott moved Alvarez to second with his infield single to set up a Claudio Finol sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third with one out.
Altoona pinch hit Matt Fraizer for catcher Dylan Shockley, which ended in Fraizer striking out swinging. Up next was Liover Peguero, who ultimately grounded out to third to end the game.
It was the third loss of the series and the Curve's fourth loss in a row.
Peguero power
Peguero notched his second home run of the year in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at two.
Peguero continues to work off a sluggish start to the 2023 campaign as his average now sits at .222 on the season.
Six strong
Starting pitcher Sean Sullivan went six strong innings allowing two runs while scattering seven hits and striking out three.
"He was good," Crabbe said. "He threw a lot of strikes. I think a 73 percent strike rate today, which is obviously really good."
It was needed with a bullpen that has been used quite frequently this home stand having pitched a total of 6.2 innings entering Thursday's contest.
Next up
RHP Aaron Shortridge gets the call tonight for Altoona.
Shortridge is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA on the season. He's been knocked around quite a bit of late giving up four or more hits in four of his six outings.