CURVE BLASTED BY SEAWOLVES

From the Altoona Curve:

Curve Gutted By SeaWolves on Saturday Night

Altoona dropped its fourth straight game, a season worst, in a 14-1 defeat.

ERIE, PA – For the first time in three weeks, Mason Martinblasted a home run, his 20^th of the season to give Altoona an early 1-0 lead. Erie followed with 14 unanswered runs to defeat the Curve, 14-1, on Saturday night at UPMC Park.

Martin’s shot came in the second inning off Erie starter Jesus Rodriguez, a lead-off solo blast. Martin became the fourth player to hit 20 home runs in the Double-A Northeast League this season and finished with two of Altoona’s three hits in the contest.

Erie’s offense exploded for 14 runs across the third, fourth, and fifth innings in the contest. The SeaWolves scored eight time in the bottom of the third inning, fueled by a pair of three-run home runs from Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter. Later in the inning, Danny Woodrow knocked a two-run double to left field.

The SeaWolves would strike for three more runs in each the fourth and fifth innings to cap off the 14-run performance. It was the second time this week that the SeaWolves have surpassed 10 runs in a game.

Every batter in the Erie order recorded a hit in the contest, while all but Andre Lipcius scored a run. Brady Policelli finished 3-5 with two RBI, while Kerry Carpenter had four RBI total.

Osvaldo Bido allowed seven runs with four of them earned in 2.1 innings on the start for Altoona. He worked two scoreless innings before allowing all seven runs in the third. Alex Manasa gave up four runs in 1.2 innings, while Oddy Nunez allowed three runs in 3.0 IP.

This is the first time this season that the Curve have lost four straight games. The Curve struck out 10 times and committed three errors, all of them by Ji-Hwan Bae, in the loss. Altoona Pitching Coach Drew Benes was ejected in the ninth inning for arguing balls and strikes.

The Curve conclude their six-game series with the SeaWolves, on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. LHP Omar Cruz(2-2, 3.43) will start for Altoona, with RHP AJ Ladwig (5-5, 4.71) slated for Erie.