CURVE EDGE SEAWOLVES ON MARTIN’S SINGLE

From the Altoona Curve:

Curve Bounce Back With 7^th Inning Rally

Oneil Cruz extended his on-base streak to 18 games on Wednesday night

ERIE, PA –  Mason Martin broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning with a two-run single and the Curve bullpen allowed just one baserunner over 3.2 innings of scoreless relief to lockdown a 4-2 win for Altoona over the Erie SeaWolves on Wednesday night.

Trailing 2-1, the Curve loaded the bases with one out and Rodolfo Castro lifted a fly ball to right-center to score Arden Pabst and draw the game even. Then Martin singled to centerfield to score Oneil Cruz and Canaan Smith-Njigba and take the lead off lefty reliever, Max Green.

Will Gardner delivered a quick eighth inning of relief and Hunter Stratton locked down his fourth save of the season with three strikeouts around a one out single in the ninth.

Smith-Njigba, Castro, Brendt Citta and Pabst each had two hits in the victory that saw the Curve bang out 13 hits but manage only four runs. Every Curve starter recorded a hit in the victory.

Altoona scored their first run of the night in the fifth inning when Daniel Amaral and Pabst rocked back-to-back doubles off Erie’s starter Paul Richan. Richan went a season-high 6.0 innings in the defeat.

Travis MacGregor delivered his longest start of the season on Wednesday night, going 5.1 innings. MacGregor allowed an RBI single to Torkelson in the first inning and managed to keep the SeaWolves off the base paths for much of the night. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed a single in the second inning and a walk in the fifth inning before surrendering a second run in the sixth inning when Torkelson reached on a fielders choice, scoring Riley Greene, against a drawn-in infield on his 89^th pitch of the night. Brad Case entered after the and promptly induced an inning-ending double play to get out of the inning.

Oneil Cruz extended his on-base streak to 18 straight games with a single in the seventh inning. During the streak, he’s batting .357 with a .408 on-base percentage, with four doubles, one triple, six home runs and 17 runs batted in.

The Curve continue their six-game set with the Erie SeaWolves at UPMC Park on Thursday. RHP Noe Toribio (1-1, 4.18) will start for Altoona with the SeaWolves sending RHP Elvin Rodriguez (2-0, 2.01) to the mound.