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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
The Altoona Curve fell to the Erie Seawolves 5-2 in front of 4,061 fans at PNG Field Wednesday night.
It wasn't quite the throwback night the Curve were looking for as they simply threw it back to Tuesday night's two-run offensive output.
Much like Tuesday against the Seawolves, the Altoona offense got on the scoreboard in the first inning with two runs to put the home team up 2-0. Also, just like Tuesday night, Altoona's starting pitcher yielded a soul-crushing three-run home run and saw a lead once again evaporate.
"The same thing happened, we've got to be able to overcome it," Curve manager Robby Hammock said. "We maximize our chances of scoring the first and then kind of shut down after that."
It was another night that saw the Curve offense fail to do damage as their woes at the plate continue.
Erie pitchers have certainly done their part in shutting down the Altoona offense and Hammock was very complimentary of their performance in mowing down Curve hitters.
"Their pitching is good," Hammock said. "They have some of the best pitching in the league and we have to figure out a way to string it bats together. We just couldn't do it."
Altoona hitters struck out 11 times against Erie Wednesday night which marked the 27th game of the season where they've struck out 10 or more times. Curve hitters scattered four hits with one a piece coming in the first, third, fifth and ninth innings.
"You want to be able to put the ball in play and have guys that can handle the bats and and control the barrel," Hammock said. "Then there is being able to do damage as well and sometimes there's give and take there but we're not really doing either."
Through the first two games of the series against the Seawolves Altoona hitters have struck out 26 times which is startling given they were riding a four-game win streak after their series against Richmond last week.
Now, it seems as though the Curve are slipping back into where they were when they lost a franchise-record 15 games in a row earlier this season.
"At the moment we've had a good stretch for the past like two to three weeks, but the offense has been a little better," Hammock said. "We can't let up and slide back into that former stretch that we were in for so long."
Flowers blooming
Tasked with coming on in the fifth inning, Altoona's J.C. Flowers was the strongest facet of the Curve pitching staff.
It was Flowers who bailed Chen out of a jam in the fifth inning. Flowers worked 2• shutout innings without allowing a hit while walking one to help keep the Curve in the game throughout the middle innings.
"He's got a nice mix going on. He's throwing a lot of strikes and getting ahead," Hammock said. "That's always a recipe for success. He's put together some good outings previously since coming back. His first one was a little off, but that's understandable. He's worked to get himself right."
The challenge
Entering Wednesday's contest against the Seawolves, Chen's June was superb as he was coming off a career-high eight inning outing where he allowed only one run against Richmond last week.
It wasn't the same outcome against Erie as Chen gave up three earned runs in the third inning after the home run by Cruz and allowed a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
"It's a situation where that guy has had success off him," Hammock said. "Cruz had success off of him and I know he knows that and you have to recognize that. You either have to maybe attack them a certain way whether you pitch to him by not pitching to him sometimes and go after the next guy if you're not feeling as sharp."
Next up
Righty Drake Fellows will be on the mound for the Curve tonight against the Seawolves.
Fellows was recently transferred from Indianapolis back to Altoona. He's made two starts and five appearances for the Curve this season going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA.