Steady Offense Prevails for Altoona
CURVE, Pa – After scoring nine runs on 10 hits last night, the Curve offense followed up with another strong effort, scoring eight runs on 13 hits to defeat Akron, 8-1, on Wednesday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Aaron Shortridge continued his strong month of August with five innings
CURVE, Pa – After scoring nine runs on 10 hits last night, the Curve offense followed up with another strong effort, scoring eight runs on 13 hits to defeat Akron, 8-1, on Wednesday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Aaron Shortridge continued his strong month of August with five innings of one-run ball. Shortridge retired the side in order in his second inning but worked around three hits and four walks to earn the win. In the calendar month, Shortridge is 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA (5 ER / 26.0 IP).
Altoona scored three early runs with the benefit of a pair of RubberDucks errors. In the bottom of the second, Matt Fraizer singled to start the frame and Andres Alvarez reached on an error by ‘Ducks third baseman Aaron Bracho to open the door. After Mike Jarvis and Carter Bins were each retired, Will Matthiessen banged a double to right-center to take a 2-0 lead. Altoona added to the lead in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Fraizer to chase Akron starter Hunter Stanley from the game, however, the Curve left the bases loaded in the fifth when Petey Halpin made a diving catch in right-center field to end the inning.
Later in the seventh, the Curve added four insurance runs. Reliever Davis Sharpe allowed a lead-off double to Matt Gorski before Joe Perez crushed his fourth home run in 10 games with Altoona. Perez has reached base safely in all 10 games he’s suited up for the Curve, picking up at least one hit in nine of them, totaling a .333 average with six extra base hits.
Fraizer followed with a single and scored on an Alvarez double hit off Trey Benton. Alvarez would score on a Matthiessen single to cap off the big inning. In the eighth, Fraizer brought Tsung-Che Cheng across on an error by the second baseman Juan Brito.
Geronimo Franzua kept the ‘Ducks off the pond with four strikeouts over two scoreless innings of relief. Tyler Samaniego followed with a scoreless inning of relief with a walk and a strikeout before Noe Toribio closed out the ninth inning with two strikeouts in a scoreless frame. Samaniego now has at least one strikeout in 28-of-36 outings this season.
Fraizer matched his career-high with four hits in the win. He last achieved the feat on July 22, 2021, with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Altoona improves to 20-25, 54-59 on the season with the win.
The Curve continue their series with the Akron RubberDucks, Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on Thursday night 6:00 p.m. LHP Jackson Wolf on the mound for the Curve against LHP Will Dion for Akron.
The Curve is proud to celebrate 25 years of memories in Curve, PA throughout the 2023 season. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99. CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during every home game and online 24/7/365.
What does an 8-1 win look like, you ask?
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) August 24, 2023
Well, just click the link: https://t.co/DQ9y0NIX4J