Breaking News
Altoona Curve

Chances wasted in Curve defeat

EL baseball

By Jarrod Prugar 4 min read

A late-inning rally fell 90 feet short for the Altoona Curve as they lost 4-3 to the Akron RubberDucks Thursday night.

There were 3,153 fans on hand to see the rally at PNG Field and see the Curve strand Oneil Cruz at third base as the tying run.

Cruz reached on an error, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Will Taylor.

Callan Moss hit what looked to be a foul ball off his foot, but was ruled a fair ball and subsequently the final out of the game.

The final out call was just another case of things not going the way of the Curve in the loss to the RubberDucks as they left 11 men on base.

"We had some opportunities that we didn't cash in," Altoona manager Andy Fox said. "We had an opportunity there in the first to kind of set the tone and we weren't able to really push anything across."

Curve starter Matt Ager tossed seven innings, but three long balls including two solo home runs spoiled his otherwise solid outing.

"He threw the ball really well," Fox said. "I know he gave up a couple homers, but two solos and a two-run homer, but I feel like he went seven innings after last night's game, having to use a position player for him to go seven is huge to kind of set us up going forward."

Ager limiting the damage allowed the Altoona offense to claw back into the game late with a solo home run by Javier Rivas in the seventh inning.

The home run cut the deficit to 4-1 and the Curve would cut into that in the eighth with yet another bases loaded situation. This time Altoona would manage to score two runs, one on a wild pitch that scored Callan Moss and a balk that scored Easton Carmichael.

"The at bats are good, and that's a plus," Fox said. " That's the positive, and you'd love to put a steering wheel on it, but you can't, and you just got to keep preaching, having good at bats, and eventually things they'll start falling and start stringing them together."

Late scratch

Outfielder Lonnie White, Jr. was in the initial starting line up, but was replaced by Will Taylor just before first pitch.

White was removed due to illness according to Fox and expected to be back in the lineup Thursday.

Welcome back

The Curve welcomed back some old bullpen friends Wednesday in Justin Meis and Aaron Shortridge.

Meis was with Altoona from 2023-2025 and started the year in Triple A Indianapolis before joining the Curve. He dispatched the RubberDucks in only eight pitches in the eighth inning.

Shortridge was in Altoona in both 2022 and 2023 before being promoted to Indianapolis. He was recently signed as a free agent after being released by the Washington Nationals organization. Shortridge struck out one in the ninth and did not yield a hit.

"These guys have done it before. They've been here before," Fox said. "They understand it. Having Justin last year, he's handled everything great."

Cruz watch

Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz recorded the first two hits of his rehab assignment with his 2-for-5 night against Akron.

Cruz recorded two singles and every ball he put in play was over 100 mph.

"He's got elite bat speed and he has an idea of what he wants to do with the plate," Fox said. "It is impressive to be as consistent as he's been just the last couple days."

Up next

Altoona will send LHP Nick Dombkowski to the mound tonight against Ducks RHP Ryan Doughty.

Starting at /week.