ERIE — The Altoona Curve dropped their series opener with the Erie SeaWolves, 6-1, on Tuesday night at UPMC Park.

Po-Yu Chen made his longest start since July 2 with five innings. Chen set down five straight hitters to begin the game until Erie loaded the bases with two outs in the second with a walk and a pair of hits.

Carlos Mendoza singled home two runs for the lead. Cy Nielson was the first out of the bullpen and tossed a scoreless sixth inning, before allowing four straight baserunners in the seventh. Jake Holton mashed a three-run double to extend Erie’s lead to 6-0 off Valentin Linarez.

Altoona’s offense was limited by lefty Andrew Sears and righty Eric Silva to just one hit, an Omar Alfonzo single in the second. Termarr Johnson started the eighth with a bunt single and advanced to third on a single and an error. Tres Gonzalez bounced into a double play that allowed Johnson to score.

Duce Gourson had a 15-game on-base streak end in Tuesday’s loss for the Curve. With Johnson’s single, he is now 11-for-28 at the plate in his last nine games and leads the club with 31 multi-hit games for the season.

Altoona continues its six-game series with the SeaWolves tonight at 6 p.m. Righty Emmanuel Chapman goes for Altoona, with fellow righty Garrett Burhenn starting for the SeaWolves.