From the Altoona Curve:
READING, Pa. – Aaron Shackelford, Brendt Citta, and Matt Gorski all homered for Altoona on Friday night, but it was not enough as the Fightin’ Phils defeated the Curve, 7-5, at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Shackelford’s fifth inning shot was his eighth of the season and the first hit for Altoona in the contest. LHP Ethan Lindow (W, 1-2) walked two batters over the first 4.2 innings, including Connor Scott with two outs in the fifth to set up the two-run shot for Shackelford.
Citta followed with a solo shot in the sixth inning off Julian Garcia, his third of the season with Altoona. Gorski hit a solo shot off Mike Adams in the eighth, his second with Altoona and 19th of the season, one shy of the minor league lead of 20.
Luis Ortiz took the ball for Altoona and fell behind early. Vito Friscia hit a lead-off home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning. Two batters later, Josh Ockimey followed with a solo shot of his own to make it a 2-0 game. Reading tacked on another in the third on a Logan O’Hoppe sacrifice fly, scoring Jhailyn Ortiz to give Reading the 3-0 lead.
O’Hoppe left his impact on the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. In a 3-2 game, he slugged a three-run home run off reliever Nick Dombkowski to give Reading the 6-2 lead. Ortiz allowed two baserunners before Dombkowski entered to make his Double-A debut with one out in the inning. He struck out Ockimey before allowing the shot to O’Hoppe, his 13th of the season. Ortiz allowed five runs in 4.1 innings on seven hits and four strikeouts.
Dombkowski allowed a second run to his line in the seventh on an RBI groundout for Ortiz. He struck out four batters on one hit in 1.2 innings of work. Brad Case tossed a scoreless eighth and Austin Roberts a scoreless ninth for Altoona.
Ofreidy Gomez struck out the side in the ninth to earn his second save of the season. The tying-runner came to the plate after Andres Alvarez was hit by a pitch with two outs. Gorksi worked a 10-pitch at-bat before striking out to end the affair.
It is the third straight loss for Altoona, who falls to 1-3 in the series with Reading. Blake Sabol picked up an RBI in the sixth on a groundout that scored Gorski, who led off the frame with a double and stole third. Gorski and Citta each finished with two hits for the Curve.
Altoona will continue its series with Reading on Saturday night at 6:45 p.m. RHP Carmen Mlodzinski takes the ball for Altoona, with RHP Colton Eastman getting the start for Reading.
Altoona returns home to PNG Field on June 14 for a six-game series with the Erie SeaWolves, Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. 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.
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