Dumitru launched his home run 394 feet to give the Curve a 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning. It was the top as the result of the game being a Harrisburg home game courtesy of a postponed game during Altoona’s most recent trip to Harrisburg.

Both games were only seven innings because of the Minor League rule.

“It was funny, just sort of have to remind the guys that, ‘hey, remember the second game, we’re the road team,’ and a lot of these guys never had that before,” Curve manager Andy Fox said. “It was nice to get a nice bounce back win, especially after we had some opportunities in the first game, but his group has been resilient all year, despite our record.”

The long ball marked only the second hit of the game for the Curve and scored Callan Moss who reached on a walk.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Curve's Callan Moss is greeted at on deck batter Titus Dumitru after scoring on a Omar Alfonzo single.

“It was pretty weird, actually,” Dumitru said. “It kind of felt like a walk-off, but then it wasn’t. But it still felt amazing.”

Dumitru’s heroics put the finishing touches on a cold, dreary night which made hitting hard and the stress on Curve pitchers even more difficult.

“To their credit, they kept throwing strikes and they pitched their innings, got us deep into the game, and gave us a chance,” Fox said.

Fox’s pitching staff was able to stay on schedule, thanks in large part due to starter Jake Shirk and Cy Nielson throwing three and two shutout innings, respectively.

Emmanuel Chapman loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with two walks and a single, but slammed the door on the Senators to secure the 2-0 win.

“In a perfect world, I would have loved for him to go 1-2-3, but it didn’t work out that way,” Fox said. “But he bowed his neck, gave it his all and got the job done.”

You got Moss’d

Moss paced Altoona hitters with two monster doubles in the game one loss. He also scored the lone run on a single by Omar Alfonzo in the third inning.

Curve starter Khristin Curtis went six innings and gave up two runs giving some relief to an already thin pitching staff.

“He was huge,” Fox said. “We needed him to go at least five, and he ended up going six.”

Alessandro Ercolani yielded a run in the seventh to make it a 3-1 loss for the Curve.

Up next

The Curve will send Peyton Stumbo to the mound tonight. Stumbo is 0-2 with a 5.27 ERA in seven games with Altoona this season.