The top of the Altoona Curve’s batting order provided a powerful punch in a 9-4 win over the Harrisburg Senators in front of 2,597 fans at PNG Field Thursday night.

Mitch Jebb and Kervin Pichardo scored seven of the nine runs produced by the Curve and added six of the 10 Altoona hits.

“We had a really good approach tonight,” Altoona manager Andy Fox said. “Obviously those guys got on base and our situational hitting was very good, and our ability to hit with runners in the scoring position.”

Jebb started the game with a walk and two pitches later, Pichardo deposited a ball well beyond the left field bleachers to give the Curve a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

“It was big because I got the team on the board within the first two hitters,” Pichardo said. “It was definitely a good shot for us.”

In the third inning, Jebb led off with a triple before Pichardo singled him home. Pichardo would score just a few batters later to extend the lead to 4-1.

The fifth inning would provide more runs courtesy of Jebb and Pichardo as Jebb singled to start the inning before Harrisburg catcher Maxwell Romero, Jr. sent a pick off attempt into the Altoona bullpen.

Jebb advanced to second on the play and would steal third to set up a sacrifice fly for Pichardo to give the Curve a 6-2 cushion.

It wasn’t until the seventh inning that Pichardo wouldn’t be responsible for scoring Jebb, but the Altoona offense would come alive with the bases loaded.

Jack Brannigan singled home Jebb before Imanol Vargas drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Pichardo who walked earlier in the inning. Tres Gonzales would single home two runs to put the Curve up 9-2 to wrap up the scoring for the night.

Pichardo reached base all four times he was up and when he hit the ball it was impressively hard. All three of his hits were measured at over 102 mph off the bat with his home run in the first inning at 110 mph.

The day at the plate is thanks in large part to improvements Pichardo has been making during batting practice.

“I’ve made a couple adjustments and have continued practicing hard,” Pichardo said. “Working on those problems, and working with my hitting coaches working on stuff has helped.”

McMillian shines

In only his second start with Altoona, Garrett McMillian dialed up a masterful game to keep Harrisburg at bay.

He allowed one run which came in the first inning as he hurled five innings and allowed only three hits while striking out four and walking two.

“Just his ability to compete,” Fox said. “He didn’t have his best stuff, but he was able to make pitches when he needed to.”

Mother Nature

Rain postponed Tuesday’s game to Wednesday forcing a doubleheader for the Curve and significantly altering Fox’s strategy for the series.

Getting five innings out of McMillan goes a long way in balancing out the pitching staff for the back half of the series and that’s not lost on Fox.

“It’s huge, especially when you’re only the third game in and of a six game series you still have to cover three games and you never know what’s going to happen, day to day so it’s nice to have guys go a little bit deeper,” Fox said.