Bad night for Curve pitchers
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On an extremely difficult night, the Altoona Curve found it extremely difficult to avoid giving up runs en route to a 16-1 loss to the Akron RubberDucks on Tuesday.
Akron right fielder Ryan Cesarini put on a clinic with three home runs and six RBI in front of 5,079 fans at PNG Field in the win.
Cessarini was one of eight RubberDucks who recorded hits against an Altoona pitching staff that allowed 13 hits and walked 10 which was summed up succinctly by Curve manager Andy Fox.
"Too many walks, couldn't limit damage," Fox said. "They didn't miss a lot of pitches."
Altoona starter Peyton Sumbo gave up all five runs in the fifth inning while Cy Nielson gave up two over 1ª innings of action. Jake Shirk gave up eight runs, seven earned over his inning of work.
And on the flipside, the Curve offense could not muster enough offense to overcome innings where they gave up five, six and four runs, respectively.
"The score didn't really dictate how our approach was," Fox said. "We hit some balls hard early, just didn't fall, and that could swing a game one way or the other."
Nothing seemed to fall the Curve's way, but that doesn't mean Fox is displeased with the effort and approach his team had on Tuesday.
"I've been happy with our approach," Fox said. "I really, really have, and they keep fighting. They've been fighting all year, despite the score some nights, and I'm not I'm not too overly concerned."
At the end of the day, Double-A baseball is still an area for development, and these are still professional baseball players taking the field each night, despite how lopsided the scores might be, one way or another.
"They're professional and they understand," Fox said. "They're playing the long game in this, and they're trying to get to the big leagues, and regardless of what the score is, you still have to work and go through the steps to get there."
Cruz in town
Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz continued his rehab assignment in Altoona Tuesday night. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk.
"Cruz is just getting us working," Fox said. "We know it's a short time he's going to be here and just seeing pitches and getting back in the flow of things."
Cruz last played for the Pirates on June 6 against the Atlanta Braves. He was placed on the injured list on June 10, retroactive to June with, with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand.
He was batting .267 with 14 home runs, 44 RBIs, 45 runs scored, 21 stolen bases and 98 strikeouts. His slugging percentage was .472 while his on-b ase percentage was .822.
Playing pitcher
Matt King took the mound in the ninth inning for the Curve, a position Fox never wants to be in.
"It's Tuesday, trying to save the bullpen for the whole week," Fox said. "I mean, you still got to cover five games and you never know what's going to happen. The game was at a point where you'd love to always think you're going to come back, but we also have to be mindful of the next five games."
King gave up a home run and two walks.
Up next
Altoona (17-22) will send RHP Matt Ager to the mound against Akron (16-23) tonight who will counter with RHP Ryan Deges.