Trending
By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
The Altoona Curve offense was held at bay in Wednesday night's 6-2 loss to the Portland Sea Dogs in front of 3,063 fans at PNG Field.
The offense struggled mightily against Sea Dogs starter Isaac Coffey and his funky side arm delivery.
"He just gave us a different look," Curve manager Robby Hammock said. "We just couldn't quite square him up. We had some opportunities with runners in scoring position, but it was all with two outs mostly and we just needed that big knock and couldn't quite come through."
Coffey allowed only one hit in five innings while striking out four hitters and walking three during his outing.
It was the opposite of Tuesday night's win which saw Altoona take an early lead and never relinquish it. On Wednesday, it was Portland's turn to take an early lead and never look back.
First baseman Seth Beer led all Curve hitters with two hits, including a double, while also walking. Second baseman Kervin Pichardo pitched in with a double, with right fielder Sammy Siani and left fielder Connor Scott adding singles off the Portland pen.
In the ninth, the Curve hit back-to-back doubles with catcher Carter Bins getting it started. Then third baseman Brenden Dixon joined the party.
Scott plated Bins on his groundout before Dixon was thrown out trying to score on a ground ball hit to third base by Pichardo to thwart the rally.
"We just got beat," Hammock said. "We didn't string enough good at bats together. We didn't make enough quality pitches when we needed to and just got beat."
Bubba's back
Bubba Chandler got the start against Portland after being activated from the 7-day Injured List prior to the game.
Chandler came back with a revamped motion to help curtail some command issues.
"I was walking too many people. That was the only thing I could think of. When you have a weirder delivery like I did, you've got to be synced up," Chandler said. "And a guy like me struggles with that. And when I struggle with that, you struggle with command."
It meant a simpler delivery and making sure he was on time in his motion to the plate.
"It's like having my arm on time and what not has been a little bit of an issue this year," Chandler said. "Going and doing what I did tonight, just a little more simpler. A lot more area to miss with being able to go slow, catch my breath, seeing the target the whole time. That was kind of the focal point of that."
Chandler gave up a home run in both the first and third innings, the lone blemishes on the scoreboard for him. He struck out three while walking one and allowing three hits.
His problem on Wednesday night was his inability to put Sea Dogs hitters away early in the count.
"It's tough," Hammock said. "Guys have trouble squaring him up sometimes which leads to some foul balls and although he had good command with his fastball, I think there were times where he didn't quite get it up high enough to put guys away and extend the at-bats, but otherwise it was encouraging to see him throw strikes."
Next up
Altoona's Thomas Harrington gets the starting nod for Wednesday's game against Portland. Harrington has appeared in four games for the Curve this season and has a 1.23 ERA.