Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski The Curve’s Ryan McCarty dives back to second base under Richmond’s Diego Velasquez on Friday night at PNG Field.

It’s often said that Minor League Baseball is about development far more than winning.

But standing outside the Altoona Curve’s locker room following Friday’s 5-4 win over Richmond, that seemed more like the opinion of someone not on a baseball diamond than anyone actually involved.

“It means a lot,” Curve outfielder Will Taylor said. “Winning is fun. That’s the fun part about baseball. You have good games and lose sometimes, but the fun is always in the winning no matter the circumstances. It doesn’t matter what level — whether you are playing professional ball, college, in the big leagues, it doesn’t matter. It’s our goal to build a winning culture here and take that to the big leagues.”

A night after a somber locker room following a close loss, music was blaring, players were pounding their lockers and players were cheering for each other’s accomplishments during a postgame speech.

“Everyone here is competitive,” Curve manager Andy Fox said. “Ever since we were 6 years old playing this game, you have wanted to win in the end. You also want to do things right that will help you win, and that’s going to help the development piece of getting them to the big leagues. If you do things right and you play consistently, that’s what is going to give you the best chance.”

Richmond went 9-3 against the Curve in the first half of the season and handed them six straight losses during their 0-12 start.

“We had a tough time against them earlier in the year,” Taylor said. “We’re a different team now than we were two or three months ago. We had a tough stretch at the beginning, but hopefully we’re finding our groove and can make a run in the second half.”

Taylor was a big part of the victory. With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the third inning, Callan Moss singled and Lonnie White Jr. walked. Taylor followed with a two-run triple and scored on Ivan Brethowr’s RBI hit.

“Four of our five runs came with two outs,” Fox said. “When you can get two-out knocks with guys in scoring position, that’s going to help you win a lot of games.”

Taylor also scored what turned out to be the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning when he drew a leadoff walk, stole second base and scored on Ryan McCarty’s RBI single.

McCarty and Brethowr each had two hits and an RBI.

“”Hitting is contagious,” Taylor said. “Guys get on base, and you see that and it gives confidence to the guy behind them to do the same thing. When you have guys on base, you know it’s your job to get them in.”

Matt Ager pitched six solid innings, walked just one, and allowed two earned runs. He improved to 4-1 and lowered his ERA to 4.25.

Dominic Pipkin walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh inning, and both runners scored to cut Altoona’s lead to 5-4. Earlier in the game, Richmond left-handed hitter Bo Davidson hit an opposite-field home run.

“This is a really good team, and we’re hanging with them,” Fox said. “For the most part, we have been playing really good baseball and giving ourselves a chance to win each night.”

Duce set to return

Duce Gourson, who exited Thursday’s game after being hit by a pitch in the first inning, did not play on Friday.

Altoona’s leader in stolen bases with 28 should return to the lineup this weekend.

“It’s just a bruise,” Fox said. “He should be back in there (Saturday).”

Delay

Friday’s game, which had an announced attendance of 3,953 people that included several children involved in scouts, was delayed by 50 minutes due to a rainstorm that hit Altoona late in the afternoon.

A ‘Shirk’ thing

Jake Shirk earned his third save in as many opportunities and has now pitched 32 innings with the Curve after his call-up.

Two runners reached base for Richmond in the top of the ninth inning, but Shirk retired Davidson and Parks Harber on fly outs to end the game.

Richmond fell to 9-6 in the second half and 52-31 overall, and Altoona improved to 6-10 and 37-48.

“He’s evolved into that role by throwing strikes and being able to get outs,” Fox said. “Earlier in the year, when he got here from Greensboro, he wasn’t in those high-level situations. But he’s earned that right now. The great thing about him is that he throws strikes and gives you a chance.”