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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
Mike Jarvis' seventh inning RBI single pushed the Altoona Curve to a 1-0 victory over the Reading Fightin' Phils Sunday night in front of 5,688 people at PNG Field.
While that name probably isn't familiar just yet, there's good reason for that, Jarvis was promoted from High-A Greensboro Friday.
Since then, it's like Jarvis has been right at home. He notched his first Double-A hit Sunday night that plated Abrahan Gutierrez for the go-ahead and stole a base in his debut Saturday night.
"In this clubhouse, you can come in and just be comfortable right away," Jarvis said. There's a lot of familiar faces. Like I said, everyone's welcoming, really easy to show up and just be comfortable."
Jarvis might be a stranger to Altoona, but he is far from a stranger to most of his teammates and coaches, having played with them earlier this year with the Grasshoppers.
"Jarvis played with me last year in Greensboro," Curve manager Callix Crabbe said. "He's a very dynamic player, runs really well, is very versatile on the infield and plays some good outfield as well."
That familiarity makes it a smooth transition when being promoted, but having a relationship with the coaches adds a level of comfort for both coach and player.
"He's comfortable and he's a good human being," Crabbe said. "We talk about the person a lot here. Him and Jackson Glenn and Gutierrez just fit right in with a really good clubhouse culture."
Inserting Jarvis into the lineup every night, whether it's in the infield or the outfield, is far from a difficult decision for the Curve.
"Some guys just love playing the game, and as a manager, it makes it really easy to come and set the days up for them to try and thrive and perform to the best of their abilities," Crabbe said. "He's been a nice addition."
Knowing his craft
Altoona starter Braxton Ashcraft hurled three perfect innings against Reading Sunday.
Ashcraft struck out four Fightin' Phils while not allowing a hit or walk. Of Ashcraft's 29 pitches, 25 were for strikes.
The 23-year old righty is coming off Tommy John surgery in 2022 and is on a strict inning and pitch limit, which is why he was limited to only three innings.
"He was awesome," Crabbe said. "That's a big arm and good breaking ball, really good command. He's been really impressive in the short outings that he's had with us so far."
Takes control
After taking over in the fourth inning, the Curve bullpen took control from there.
Lefty Omar Cruz got it started with three innings of work where he allowed only two hits, walked one and struck out two.
Noe Toribio took over in the seventh and took care of Reading despite allowing two hits.
In the eighth it was Braeden Ogle who got the call. Ogle dispatched in order while striking out one.
Oliver Garcia navigated through murky waters after walking the first three Fightin' Phils he saw. You'd expect a mound visit in that instance, but Crabbe followed his gut and let Garcia figure things out on his own.
"I knew that he would lock it in again," Crabbe said. "I had a little gut feeling and once he started to find that, his stuff obviously started to play."
From there he beared down, struck out Jhailyn Ortiz, who would be ejected after arguing balls and strikes. Garcia would then get Ethan Wilson to pop up before Cam Cannon flew out to the warning track to end the game.
Next up
The Curve head to Harrisburg for a six-game set against the Senators. After six games against their Route 22 rivals, Altoona will return home for back-to-back homestands against Richmond and Erie
Saturday's game
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth for Altoona and one away, Abrahan Gutierrez grounded into a game-ending double play to hand the Curve a 3-1 loss to Reading in front of 6,018 fans on Saturday night at PNG Field.
With reliever Brett Schultze taking the mound in the ninth for the Fightin' Phils, Claudio Finol singled before pinch-hitter Domingo Leyba drew a walk. Jackson Glenn then executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position before Matt Fraizer drew a walk to load the bases. Gutierrez then grounded into the double play to bring an abrupt end to the comeback attempt.
Justin Meis struck out a season-high six batters out of the bullpen for Altoona, working three scoreless innings without allowing a hit. Tahnaj Thomas struck out two batters and walked three over two scoreless frames with no hits allowed. Cameron Junker allowed two hits, including an RBI single in the eighth before Tyler Samaniego struck out two in the ninth inning.
Mike Jarvis stole two bases in his Double-A debut, finishing 0-for-3 with a walk. Gutierrez added two hits and a walk in the loss. Curve pitching totaled 13 strikeouts in the defeat.