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From Mirror reports
Righty Bubba Chandler struck out seven in seven innings of one-run ball, and Altoona earned its fourth straight win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 9-3, on Friday night in front of 5,197 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Chandler allowed just three hits and no walks on 91 pitches, dropping his season ERA to 3.70 in the victory. Since May 29, the 21-year-old right-hander has walked just eight batters in 55ª innings since coming off the injured list on May 29.
Pirates rehabbing utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa picked up two hits in four trips to the plate in his organizational debut. Kiner-Falefa is recovering from a left knee injury and played seven innings in the field, his first action since his placement on the injured list on July 2 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Facing off against right-hander Will Bednar, younger brother of Pirates right-hander David Bednar, Altoona banged out six hits and a walk in the first two innings of the game to build an early 4-1 advantage. Abrahan Gutierrez drove home two first-inning runs, and Yoyner Fajardo and Tsung-Che Cheng picked up RBI extra-base hits in the second inning.
Altoona put the game away with five runs across in the sixth and seventh inning as Chandler mowed down 12-of-13 hitters to finish off his outing. Gutierrez and Sammy Siani recorded back-to-back triples on consecutive pitches in the seventh inning off Richmond's Dylan Cumming.
Fajardo and Gutierrez each drove in three runs in the victory. The Curve have picked up at least nine hits in three-of-four wins this week against the Flying Squirrels. Cheng picked up three hits in the win.
Altoona continues its series with the Flying Squirrels, Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, on Saturday at 6 p.m. Southpaw Nick Dombkoski will take the ball for Altoona, with righty Nick Morreale on the mound for Richmond.