Curve fail to hold Chesapeake at bay
Trending
The Altoona Curve bullpen couldn't hang on late en route to a 3-2 loss to the Chesapeake Baysox Friday night in front of 4,617 fans on opening night at PNG Field.
Curve manager Andy Fox was upbeat despite the late rally by the Baysox.
"It's good to get these guys out there." Fox said. "The more they get out there, the more confident they're going to get and the more success they're going to have."
A bases-loaded walk by the Baysox plated Termarr Johnson to put the first run of the season on the board for the Curve in the bottom of the first.
Brenden Dixon planted a ball over the left-field fence in the second to give Altoona a 2-0 lead after two innings.
Starting pitcher Hunter Barco tossed four strong innings before being relieved by Nick Dombkowski.
Dombkowski threw shutout innings in the fifth and sixth before a lead-off walk and single ended his night.
Wilkin Ramos entered for Dombkowski and walked two Baysox hitters in a row, which allowed a run to score before he was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
In the eighth, Cristofer Melendez walked the first two hitters before notching a strikeout for the first out of the inning. He then followed it up with yet another walk to load the bases.
An infield single by Chesapeake's Reed Trimble scored the game-tying run off Melendez, who was unable to finish the inning after his fourth walk.
Melendez was relieved by Cy Nielsen, who pitched the Curve out of the jam but yielded the go-ahead home run to Jeremiah Jackson in the top of the ninth.
"On the pitching side, we had a good first six innings and then had trouble finding the strike zone," Fox said. "It's good to see those guys compete in those situations, and they're going to get better."
Barco brilliant
Barco appeared in only two games for Altoona in 2024, both of which were on the road before an injury ended his season.
His long awaited home debut was worth the wait as he tossed four shutout innings scattering three hits and three strikeouts while walking only one.
"It's always important when your offense can get you some runs early, and you go out there and settle in a little bit and really just attack the zone and let your defense work behind you," Barco said. "They made some great plays behind me tonight. Definitely kept some runs off the board."
He didn't allow a Chesapeake base-runner to advance past second base during his four innings of work.
"I think he showed some resilience there after that long first inning, and kind of that second inning strike zone got away from him for a couple pitches," Fox said. "He was able to kind of gather himself and had a real solid outing. I was impressed with what he had going on."
Up next
The Curve will return to action Saturday night against the Baysox and will send RHP Wilber Dotel to the mound against Chesapeake RHP Zach Fruit. On Sunday afternoon, LHP Anthony Solometo will take the rubber to take on RHP Trace Bright for the Baysox.