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For the second night in a row the Altoona Curve offense erupted, this time for a 8-1 victory over the Akron RubberDucks in front of 2,802 fans at PNG Field Wednesday night.
It was a 13-hit night for the Curve with left fielder Matt Fraizer leading the way with his four-hit night.
"He plays great tactical baseball and to have a game like that is good for him," Altoona manager Callix Crabbe said. "Hopefully he can continue to swing the bat well and finish on a strong note."
Fraizer scored two runs as well as shortstop Andres Alvarez who joined Fraizer, Will Matthiessen and Jackson Glenn as players who had at least two hits.
"The group has stuck with the game plan," Crabbe said. "The hitter's meeting today we talked about making sure they stay on the fastball and really be on top of it. We did a pretty good job when we had opportunities to hit the ball hard and keep them all on that good trajectory."
The scoring started on Matthiessen's RBI double in the second inning. Glenn singled home Matthiessen to put the Curve up 2-0 early.
Akron got a run back in the fourth only to be held off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game. Altoona got a run in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of an RBI single from Fraizer.
The Curve broke the game open in the seventh with a four-run inning, two of which came off a home run from Joe Perez, his fourth since joining the team.
"When you look at the complexion of our team a few weeks ago, we didn't have a whole lot of slug in the lineup, other than Matt Gorski and adding him and putting him in the middle of the order has been fun," Crabbe said. "It's been a nice threat for us."
Alvarez doubled home Fraizer before Matthiessen singled home Alvarez to finish the scoring for the inning.
In the eighth, Tsung-Che scored when Fraizer reached on the fourth error of the night for the RubberDucks.
"The guys seem to be free right now," Crabbe said. "They seem to have a certain energy and buzz when they show up for the game."
Shortridge goes five
Altoona starter Aaron Shortridge went five innings despite not having his best night control wise against the RubberDucks. Shortridge's command woes led to four walks and three hits.
He allowed one run while also striking out three on the night. The win was his fourth in a row and fourth in the month of August.
"He just gave us a really good chance to win, but just over the past, five starts and five or six weeks, he's just done a really nice job just with his conviction in attacking the strike zone," Crabbe said. "His secondary stuff has continually improved from a few months ago. I'm happy for him."
Say Geronimo
Curve reliever Geronimo Franzua came in for Shortridge in the sixth inning and dismissed all but one Akron batter.
Franzua notched four strikeouts while allowing only one hit. Tyler Samaniego took over after Franzua completed two innings and promptly shut down the Akron lineup as did Noe Toribio who came on in the ninth.
Saturday sold out
Prior to Wednesday's game, the Curve announced that Saturday's game is a sell-out.
Saturday marks the Double-A debut of Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft.
In two outings with Bradenton, Skenes threw three scoreless innings and allowed only one hit.
Next up
The Curve will deploy LHP Jackson Wolf against Akron Thursday night. Wolfe is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA in three outings since joining the Curve.
In his last outing, Wolf went five shutout innings with three strikeouts and one walk.