FROM THE ALTOONA CURVE:
Curve Defeat Fightin’ Phils on “Shack Attack”
Aaron Shackelford hits his ninth home run, finishes with three RBI in the win.
READING, Pa. – For the second game in a row, Aaron Shackelford launched a home run as part of a two hit, three RBI night, leading Altoona to the win over Reading, 5-2, at FirstEnergy Stadium on Saturday night.
His ninth home run of the season came as a lead-off shot in the top of the seventh inning, one that found its way into the swimming pool in right field. The shot came off reliever Austin Ross (L, 0-1) in the first at-bat of his relief outing.
The splash bomb matched the team lead in home runs for one inning, before Andres Alvarez hit his 10th of the year, a solo shot in the eighth off Ross. Liover Peguero doubled on the next pitch before Ross retired two batters to end his day. Billy Sullivan came in to face Matt Gorski with two outs when Gorski reached on cathcer’s interference. In the next at-bat, Shackelford lined a triple off the left field wall to clear the bases, his first triple of the season.
Peguero scored the first run of the day for Altoona on a solo home run in the sixth inning. The ball was lifted to left-center field, when Reading outfielder and former Curve player Chris Sharpe leaped at the wall and knocked the ball out of the park for the home run. It was Peguero’s fifth of the year.
Carmen Mlodzinski went five innings in the start for Altoona, striking out three batters on two hits. He allowed one unearned run in the fifth inning, when Kevin Vicuna hit a double and advanced to third on a passed ball by Henry Davis. He scored in the next at-bat on a sacrifice-fly from Sharpe.
Joe Jacques (W, 1-0) threw two scoreless innings without allowing a hit for Altoona. He walked one batter and struck out two. Tahnaj Thomas worked the final two innings of the ball game, allowing one run in the eighth on a Vito Friscia RBI-double. He had four strikeouts in the outing.
Peguero finished the game 3-for-5 and a triple shy of the cycle. It’s the sixth game that Shackelford has had three or more runs batted in this season. The win marked the second-straight game for Altoona hitting three home runs as a team. In his first game back for Altoona since returning from the injured list, Davis went 0-for-4.
Altoona will finish its series with Reading on Sunday night at 5:15 p.m. Both teams have yet to announce their starters for the contest.
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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