Trending
By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
Timely hitting propelled the Altoona Curve to a 4-3 victory over the Reading Fightin' Phils Thursday night at PNG Field.
Reading starter Mick Abel shut down the Altoona offense through five innings, allowing only two hits while walking three. Those walks proved costly as they elevated Abel's pitch count and knocked him out of the game after the fifth inning.
"As soon as we got Abel out of the game, we jumped on the board," Curve manager Callix Crabbe said.
Matt Fraizer got it started with a walk to lead off the inning before Domingo Leyba knocked Fraizer in with a double. Leyba moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Gorski, and subsequently scored on an Abrahan Gutierrez single.
Tsung-Che Cheng then singled home Mason Martin for Altoona to take the lead for the first time in the game.
"We got really good baseball right there," Crabbe said. "It all worked out really well. We just kept going. It was really nice to see."
It was the opposite of Wednesday afternoon's loss to the Fightin' Phils where Altoona was only 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Curve were 2-for-5 Thursday night, but those hits came at the most important of moments.
Reading would score a run in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to overcome a two-run deficit.
Martin's mash
Altoona was looking for some insurance clinging to a one run lead in the eighth inning and they got it.
It came in the form of a Maston Martin home run. It was his 15th of the season and gave the Curve some extra wiggle room for the ninth inning.
The heroics came after Martin moved to left field, a position he hasn't played since 2017.
"It felt pretty good like running out there in a game again," Martin said. "It's been a while, like six seven years, so I definitely have to get a little adjusted out there."
One of those adjustments was the amount of time to prepare to hit between innings, something the usual first baseman rarely has to worry about given the proximity of the dugout. Less time to think and prepare paid off big time for Martin.
"It was a longer run, so I had a little less time to get ready," Martin said. "I didn't really know the pitcher so I was just kind of going up there and trying to just see something in my zone and hit it and sure enough, I got a good pitch and hit it."
Getting it done
For the second time this week, the bullpen came through in a big way. Curve starter Beau Sulser went three innings, allowed two runs and scattered three hits.
From there it was all bullpen. Nick Dombkowski went four innings striking out one and yielding only three hits. Braeden Ogle took over in the eighth, walking two and striking out two before turning the ball over to Cameron Junker for the ninth.
Junker shut down the Phillies despite an error by Martin in left field that allowed a run to score.
"It's really good for those guys," Crabbe said. "I feel really happy for them that they have pitched the way they have coming off of New Hampshire where we really only had one game. It was a really good job by them."
Gorski leaves early
Curve left fielder Matt Gorski left the game in the top of the eighth inning after sliding for a foul ball.
Gorski is currently listed as day-to-day with a hamstring strain and will continue to be monitored to see whether a stint on the Injured List is necessary per Crabbe following the game.
Next up
LHP Anthony Solometo gets the nod for Friday night's start. Solometo is 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in Altoona.