Three hits apiece from Callan Moss and Lonnie White Jr. propelled the Altoona Curve to an 8-3 victory over the Harrisburg Senators in front of 4,589 fans Friday night at PNG Field.

White Jr. put the exclamation point on a six-run sixth inning, which took the Curve from down a run to up five by the end of it.

Moss had the best view in the building of White Jr.’s night from the on-deck circle as they hit third and fourth, respectively. The productivity from both was a delight to Altoona manager Andy Fox.

“It’s huge, especially when they’re hitting three, four and then we get some traffic in front of them, and then to cash it in. They’ve been big,” Fox said.

For Moss, it’s been a blast having a front row seat as he and White Jr. were roommates in spring training.

“Lonnie’s been a very close friend of mine,” Moss said. “I think seeing him take off right now and being able to watch it first hand has been great.”

The heart of the order duo were far from the only ones having success for the Curve offense against the Senators Friday night as eight of the nine starters recorded hits.

“It’s a great group of guys,” Moss said. “The big thing this week has been relentless optimism and relentless pursuit, and I think the guys have done a great job of that, just putting together quality at bat after quality at bat, seeing pitches, guys taking great swings on pitches in the zone.”

It led to three wins in the first five games of the series against Harrisburg.

“We always talk about approach and passing the baton and getting good pitches to hit, and if not, we’ll take our walks and then hand it off to the next guy,” Fox said.

The Curve offense did just that prior to White Jr.’s three-run home run. Harrisburg allowed back-to-back singles by Derek Berg and Ivan Brethrowr, respectively, before Javier Rivas walked to load the bases.

Keiner Delgado walked to bring in Berg and tie the game at three apiece. A single by Duce Gourson scored Brethowr and Rivas to make it 5-3 to set the stage for White Jr.’s home run.

“The biggest inning for us was that sixth inning, scoring six runs with two outs, but two-out RBIs are back-breakers,” Fox said

Getting through it

With a rash of injuries, the Curve pitching staff has been operating a fine line pitcher to pitcher to relieve the stress on the staff.

Friday’s win was aided with 5ª innings by Connor Wietgrefe, who allowed three runs before leaving the game and turning it over to Jaden Woods, who threw 2• shutout innings.

“Just for the simple fact of where we were at, bullpen wise, here the next couple days, (Wietgrefe) commanded the zone and threw strikes and walked only two guys, but he had some soft contact there on the two runs that he gave up,” Fox said.

Noah Murdock came on for the ninth to slam the door and finish the game out and save even more arms in the bullpen.

“It’s a challenge at times, especially when guys don’t go deep into the game, especially the starters,” Fox said. “I think that’s the most challenging part, but also, again, I’ve said before, we got to protect these guys, and today, we didn’t really need it. The three guys that pitched today were the three guys that could pitch.”

Up next

Jared Jones will toe the rubber for the second time this week in Altoona on Sunday, while it will be Peyton Stumbo who gets the call Saturday.