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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
The Altoona Curve struggled offensively en route to a 4-0 loss to the Akron RubberDucks in front of 2,604 fans at PNG Field on Thursday night.
It marked the sixth loss in a row and 10th in the last 11 games for the Curve.
Offensively, it was another evening where Altoona couldn't get hits with runners on base, leaving 13 on while going 0-for-9 in a game that saw Akron improve to 10-8.
"It's tough," Altoona manager Robby Hammock said. "We're trying to focus on hitting the fastball right now and we're a little bit behind on that."
The lack of productive offense spoiled an otherwise solid night from Curve starter Sean Sullivan.
Sullivan worked five innings, allowing only one run which came in the opening frame. He finished the game with three strikeouts and allowed only two hits.
Akron took advantage of Sullivan coming out of the game and pounced on just-called up lefty Dominic Perachi.
Perachi yielded three hits and three runs in his first inning of action with the Curve, who dropped to 5-12. He settled in for his last two innings and allowed only one hit.
"He's trying to get adjusted," Hammock said. "A few mistakes that he learned from and he came back in the next two innings and shut it down. Hopefully he's able to carry that forward."
Altoona had runners on in the seventh, eighth and ninth, but couldn't get them home.
"When things snowball and you go through struggles and a lot of its thought process," Hammock said. "I think guys are just overthinking things, and that's what we're trying to work through. Trying to stay on that fastball and not over-think things."
Walks,walks, walks!
Akron walked nine Curve hitters and have amassed 20 walks so far in the series, yet the damage has been minimal as the RubberDucks have shut out Altoona twice in three games.
"Walks can be tricky at times, and we're getting some walks right now, but sometimes walks are a byproduct of missing pitches and then you get extra pitches then end up being balls when the at bat should've been over," Hammock said.
On the flip side, the Curve's Tsung-Che Cheng has 14 walks on the season which is good for tops in the Eastern League.
"He's not having the at-bats that he's used to that we know he's capable of," Hammock said. "For him to be able to grind out at bats and take walks is a step in the right direction."
Two of them
Curve center fielder Matt Fraizer notched two of Altoona's four hits Thursday night.
He got the Curve in the hit column with a fifth inning single and followed it up with a double in the bottom of the seventh.
Fraizer's two hits moved his average to .220 on the season.
Moving on up
Right-handed pitcher Brad Case was promoted to Triple A Indianapolis prior to Thursday's game.
Case appeared in six games, tossed 11.1 innings for Altoona while striking out six. He had a 3.18 ERA for the Curve.
Perachi was recalled from High A Greensboro to replace Case. Perachi had two wins and did not yield a run in three outings for the Grasshoppers.
Next up
Braxton Ashcraft toes the rubber for Altoona tonight. Ashcraft has appeared in three games, starting two and has a 6.75 ERA.
He's tallied 9.1 innings and struck out seven for the Curve thus far.