An eighth-inning home run pushed the Erie Seawolves past the Altoona Curve, 5-3, Thursday night in front of 3,745 fans at PNG Field.

The late homer from Diego Rincones was yet another in a long line of crushing home runs that have doomed the Altoona pitching staff throughout the season.

“I think sometimes you have to give the other team credit,” Curve manager Callix Crabbe said. “That’s a really veteran group and some dudes that can really swing the bat and so yeah, it’s a theme, but I think tonight was a pretty good game as a whole. It sucks but yeah, it was one of those nights.”

Altoona jumped out to an early lead with Matt Gorski singling home Lolo Sanchez in the home half of the first inning and added another in the third when Sanchez scored on a double by Jackson Glenn.

The lead did not last very long as Erie took it right back in the top of the fourth as the Seawolves started to knock around Curve starter Anthony Solometo.

Solometo yielded five hits, four of which came in the fourth inning with a two-run home run the dagger for the southpaw.

He exited after the fourth having given up three runs, his most in an Altoona uniform.

“I think once Solometo made it through the lineup the first time, they kind of had a feel for him,” Crabbe said. “He missed a couple pitches more in the center of the plate, so he still was throwing strikes, but just some more middle and I think at any level that you play at, especially upper levels, when you throw the ball over the middle of the plate you’re going to get hit.

The Curve plated a run in the seventh to tie the game, but Rincones answered with his home run to seal Altoona’s fate in the next inning.

YOUNG’S GUN

Chavez Young’s right arm was on full display in the ninth inning. Young gunned down back-to-back base runners with spectacular throws after coming up just short on each of the fly balls.

The first, Young came up short on Justice Bigbie’s single, but due to how shallow it was it forced Trei Cruz to hesitate, setting up the force out at second for Young.

Bigbie then felt the wrath of Young’s arm as he was thrown out trying to go from first to third on a shallow fly ball that Young bare-handed and launched to Maggi for the tag and out.

“I was playing a little deep so the only chance I had was a bear-hand,” Young said. “I knew if I did get the bare-hand and get the right grip, I could throw him out. I made up my mind that the only chance I had to throw him out was to bare-hand it.”

MAGGI’S VISION

Maggi has been around the block a time or two in his 13 years of professional baseball. It serves as no surprise when he puts together solid at bats more often than not.

Against Erie, Maggi drew two walks, but a deeper look into those at-bats shows that in the first walk, his at-bat was 13 pitches. That type of at-bat puts a large amount of stress on the pitcher and in the fourth inning, helped elevate SeaWolves starter Wilmer Flores’ pitch count just enough to have him exit the game after the inning.

In the seventh inning, Maggi drew his second walk, this one worked as part of a six-pitch at-bat. A balk moved Maggi to second, setting up for Chavez Young’s RBI single to tie the game at three.

“The stress you put the pitcher under is a big factor right there,” Crabbe said. “They’re more apt to make some mistakes so I think it was a really important moment right there. Obviously, it would have been nice after we tied the game, if we could have held it. I think if we hold that, I think we have a better chance to win that game. But it is what it is.”.

NEXT UP

Aaron Shortridge will be on the mound for Altoona tonight. On the season, Shortridge is 4-5 with a 5.14 ERA.

In his last outing, Shortridge went five innings striking out nine and walking two to get the win against Harrisburg.