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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
The Altoona Curve used back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to propel them to a 5-1 against the Richmond Flying Squirrels in front of 4,330 fans at PNG Field Sunday afternoon.
Jase Bowen and Eli Wilson hit back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth inning as part of a three-run inning. Wilson then doubled in the sixth which added to the scoring
"I felt pretty good after that," Altoona manager Robby Hammock said. "It was nice to see us take that lead there and add on … there were some nice plays out there."
The team wrapped up the season on a high note, winning four out of six games against Richmond. The Curve went 33-36 in the second half of the Eastern League season.
"We had our ups and downs for sure early on," Hammock said. "I know the club has kind of morphed into something different since then, which is true for everybody. We played, aside from that losing streak we had early on, we played over .500 ball since then. I still think there was a lot left on the table, but a lot of young guys starting out in Double-A for the first time, it's a big learning process, and they learned, and they started to tick up towards the end of the season so I'm happy about that."
It was just the recipe the Curve wanted to give the fans, who filled up PNG Field in droves this year as the team welcomed 305,598 fans on the season. The team totaled 300,000-plus fans for the second year in a row, marking the first time since 2007-2008 that has happened for the organization.
"The unwavering support, it's unconditional, too," Hammock said. "It's just nice to have that because there's other places we go and you don't see much of it, so it's always nice to have that support and make the games feel like they're worth something to other people than just ourselves, where, here, it feels like we're playing for other people as well."
Oh what a relief
The Curve bullpen dominated against the Flying Squirrels to the point in which they allowed only one hit after the third inning, and did not allow a run after the first inning.
"Our bullpen's been pretty good lately," Hammock said. "We've thrown the ball better overall as a unit out of the pen lately, and so I'm very happy with that."
It was Blake Townsend who relieved starter Jaycob Deese in the fourth inning. Townsend allowed one hit, struck out five and didn't allow a run. J.C. Flowers came on in the sixth and seventh, struck out three and walked one.
Cy Nielson got the nod in the final two innings and struck out one and walked one to finish out the game.
Is he ready?
Endy Rodriguez had a two-hit, two-run afternoon in the final game of his rehab stint in Altoona.
With the Curve, Rodriguez hit .208 with five hits and a walk. The results might not have been there on the stat sheet for Rodriguez, but he was routinely hitting the ball hard when he put the ball in play.
Saturday's game
Jase Bowen hit his ninth home run of the season for the Curve on Saturday night, but the Squirrels snapped Altoona's three-game winning streak with a 7-2 defeat of the Curve.
The Curve welcomed 7,027 fans to PNG Field on Saturday night, their fifth-largest crowd of the season.
Nick Dombkowski allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits in four innings in the loss for the Curve, with a pair of walks and strikeouts.
Awards time
Prior to Saturday's game, the Curve honored four players with their annual team awards. Infielder Kervin Pichardo was named the team's Most Valuable Player for 2024. Bubba Chandler was named the team's Pitcher of the Year, Eddy Yean was named Fireman of the Year and Sammy Siani took home the team's Unsung Hero award.