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PORTLAND, Maine -- Curve outfielders Esmerlyn Valdez and Jase Bowen each had three hits in a 6-2 win over the Portland Sea Dogs on Wednesday night at Delta Dental Stadium at Hadlock Field.
Bowen turned in one of his best games of the season, which included a second inning steal of home to push the Curve to a 2-0 lead, and scored a pair of runs in the victory. Bowen doubled in the second, singled in the sixth and doubled home Valdez in the seventh inning to aid a nine-hit attack for the Altoona offense.
Valdez singled in the second and sixth and hooked an RBI double into the left field corner to score Mike Jarvis in the seventh inning of the game.
On the mound, Emmanuel Chapman started a bullpen day and turned in one of his best outings of the year. Chapman set down 11 straight hitters to begin his outing, which ended after back-to-back walks in the fourth. Chapman struck out four batters before handing the ball off to Blake Townsend.
Townsend struck out four in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing only two baserunners. Since April 24, the Austrailian left-hander has gone 6-2 with a 0.84 ERA (5 ER / 53.2 IP) in 20 games with Greensboro and Altoona.
Portland got its only runs of the game on a two-run homer from Max Ferguson in the seventh inning. Ryan Harbin tossed two innings of relief and Wilkin Ramos polished off the victory with a 15-pitch ninth inning.
New record set
More than 6,700 baseball fans combined to set a new world record Tuesday as their collective signatures on the World's Most Autographed Baseball have set a new mark for the most signatures on a single piece of sports memorabilia.
The 8-foot, 1,200 pound replica baseball embarked on a 2,600-mile, 15-stadium trek across the Minor Leagues in the upper Midwest and Northeast United States from June 24-July 26, culminating with the final stop at Major League Baseball headquarters in New York City, where following the signature of the Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred Jr., the new world record for most autographed piece of sports memorabilia was certified by Guinness Book of World Records adjudicator Andy Glass.
Nearly 500 people signed the ball at PNG Field on July 22 during a Curve game.