Trending
The Altoona Curve held off a late rally by the Harrisburg Senators to come away with a 5-4 victory at PNG Field in front of 3,863 fans.
The Senators got on the board in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0 before the Curve immediately responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
From there Harrisburg scored in the third and fourth innings respectively only to have Altoona respond with a three-run fourth inning.
"This has been a resilient group all year, despite whatever our record is," Curve manager Andy Fox said. "They keep playing and we keep getting guys on. We've done a much better job getting them in."
Armed with a 5-3 lead, the Curve bullpen was tasked with holding a potent Senators offense at bay and they rose to the challenge despite some danger on the bases.
Fox turned to Justin Meis in the fifth inning to follow up starter Wilber Dotel who allowed three runs on nine hits in four innings of work.
Meis hurled two innings of one run baseball allowing only three hits and striking out two before Wilson Ramos entered in the seventh.
Ramos struck out four and gave up only one hit and a walk in his two innings of work. Cam Sanders entered in the ninth to shut the door on the Senators and did so striking out two to earn the save.
"It's a good hitting club over there. They put the ball in play," Fox said. "I know they struck out a few times, but they found a way to get those sacrifice flies and with Meis, Ramos and Sanders being available tonight that was helpful, especially with the shorter start by Dotel."
It was far from a pitching duel for either side as Harrisburg scattered 14 hits on the night and stranded 12 baserunners while Altoona had 10 hits and stranded only five.
For Fox, it's important to not change his strategy up even with the ball being hit around the park.
You want to keep pressing," Fox said. "I mean, you want to keep adding runs. We had some chances later in the game to add on, and we didn't, but we had enough to win tonight."
1-2 PUNCH
Jebb and Pichardo once again demonstrated why they are atop the lineup night after night as they both continued their hot streaks.
Jebb led the Curve with three hits and three RBI while Pichardo added two hits of his own as well as a walk.
"Whenever you get the top of the order,it makes the guys that hit behind them better, gives them opportunities for better pitches to hit,," Fox said. "They're kind of like, the catalyst for us."
Vargas exits
Left fielder Imanol Vargas left the game after the eighth inning as a precaution according to Fox.
Vargas collided with center fielder Mike Jarvis in the top of the eighth inning as the two attempted to catch a fly ball. Vargas spent time on the ground before returning to left field, but was removed after the inning.
Siani down
Outfielder Sammy Siani was placed on the 7-day Injured List prior to Friday's game with a hamstring injury.
Catcher Aaron McKeithan was activated from the Development List to take his roster spot.
Up next
Altoona's Sean Sullivan returns to the PNG Field mound for the first time this season on Saturday. He recently returned to the Curve after a stint on the injured list. In his two outings, he's made one start and has thrown 3.2 scoreless innings.
On Sunday, Altoona will send Jarod Bayless to the mound. Bayless is 0-2 with a 2.79 ERA.