MVN - Most Valuable Network

Curve Start Homestand With a Win

Altoona Curve 6, Erie Sea Wolves 1
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The Curve returned home after a 3-3 road trip to begin a 4-game series with the Sea Wolves (Tigers). Both starting pitchers held the opposition to just a few scattered hits over the first three innings, but Erie got onto the scoreboard first when RF Jeff Frazier hit a solo homer off Curve starter Yoslan Herrera in the top of the 4th inning. That didn’t seem to bother Herrera too much, though, as he put the side down in order after the homer, and continued on to pitch the next inning without too much trouble. He finished with 5 innings, giving up that one run on 4 hits, with 5 strikeouts.

The Curve took advantage of three Erie mistakes to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. C Milver Reyes led off with a walk, and 3B Brian Finegan put down the sacrifice bunt. But Erie starter Lucas French had trouble handling the ball, and both Reyes and Finegan were safe on the error. CF James Boone also dropped a bunt for the sacrifice, and this time it was Erie C Max St. Pierre who made the error — a wild throw that sailed down the right field line and allowed Reyes to score and the runners to advance to second and third bases. A wild pitch by French brought Finegan home with a second run, and 2B Melvin Dorta’s sacrifice fly scored Boone, and the Curve had a 3-1 lead.

They extended the lead to 5-1 with two more runs in the 6th inning. 1B Jason Delaney led off the inning by rocketing a triple down the right field line. SS Luis Cruz doubled to plate Delaney. Cruz moved to third base on Reyes’ ground out and Finegan walked, and Boone’s single brought Cruz home with the second run of the inning. A walk to Dorta loaded the bases with two out, but a strikeout by DH Jonel Pacheco ended the inning.

Another fielding error helped the Curve pick up one more insurance run in the 7th inning. RF Brad Corley led off with a single, moved to second base on Delaney’s walk, and went on to third base when LF Anthony Webster ground into a force out at second base. Cruz grounded toward third base, but everyone was safe and Corley scored when the third baseman couldn’t handle the ball. The Curve again loaded the bases with a single by Reyes, but a double play ended the inning.

Yoslan Herrera picked up his first win of the season for the Curve. After Herrera departed, Brian Rogers pitched 3 scoreless innings and allowed only one hit. Kevin Roberts came on to pitch the 9th inning, getting three quick outs.

Curve notes:
C Kris Watts was promoted from Lynchburg to take the roster spot of Miguel Perez, who is on the DL with a shoulder injury.
RHP Derek Antelo was promoted from Lynchburg, and he takes the roster spot of Ronald Belisario, who is on the DL with a tooth infection.

Salem Avalanche 3, Lynchburg Hillcats 0
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Starter Mike Crotta pitched well for the Hillcats, but he took the loss, going 5 innings and allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, with 3 strikeouts. He scattered 3 hits over 4 innings and only saw real trouble in the 3rd inning, on a double, 2 singles, and an RBI ground out. Charles Benoit came on in relief in the 6th inning. He gave up another run on a triple and a sacrifice fly, but then held off Salem for the next two innings. He allowed a total of 2 hits and struck out 4 batters.

Unfortunately for Lynchburg, Salem’s pitchers had an even better night. They held the Hillcats to 4 hits, and struck out a total of 7 Hillcat batters. 3B Jim Negrych had two of the hits, a double and a single. 2B Angel Gonzalez and CF James Barksdale also singled. Lynchburg loaded the bases with no outs in the 2nd inning, when 1B Kent Sakamoto walked, C Steve Lerud was hit by a pitch, and LF Jared Keel walked. But a strikeout and a double play ended the inning. Salem committed two fielding erros in the top of the 4th inning, putting two Hillcats on base with no outs. A pop out and a double play again kept Lynchburg from taking advantage of the situation.

Lynchburg notes:
C Chris Jones was promoted from Hickory to take Kris Watts’ place, and RHP Christian Castorri was moved onto the active roster.

Lexington Legends 8, Hickory Crawdads 3
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Hickory lost their third straight game to Lexington, as the Legends put up a season-high 15 hits. For the second game in a row, Lexington started off the scoring with a 1st inning home run. This time, a double and a single brought in one run, before RF Steve Brown’s 2-run homer gave Lexington a 3-0 lead.

The Crawdads got one run back in the bottom of the 1st inning. SS Jose De Los Santos singled and stole second base, then advanced to third base on the catcher’s throwing error. LF Miles Durham’s sacrifice fly brought De Los Santos home. The ‘Dads added one more when DH Andrew Walker hit a solo home run in the 4th inning.

Lexington scored again in the 3rd inning on a single, a stolen base, and another single — all coming with two outs in the inning. Three singles and a double in the 5th inning gave the Legends two more runs, and a 2-run homer by LF Colin DeLome added two more insurance runs in the 7th inning.

The Crawdads made a last-ditch effort at a rally in the 9th inning. 1B Thomas Hagan led off with a single, but was forced out at second on Walker’s ground ball to second base. Two more singles by 3B Bobby Spain and RF Keanon Simon loaded the bases, and C Ronald Pena hit a sacrifice fly to score Walker. That was all they could get, though, and the inning ended on a ground out. Simon had 3 singles in the game, and De Los Santos had a single and a double.

Starter Dustin Molleken pitched 4 innings and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. He suffered the loss. Reliever Carlos Amaro went 2 innings and he also allowed 4 runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts. Moises Robles pitched 2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit, and Matt McSwain finished it off with one scoreless inning.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Jonel Pacheco, Charles Benoit, Angel Gonzalez, Jason Delaney, Jared Keel, James Boone, Luis Cruz, Kent Sakamoto, Mike Crotta, Ron Belisario, Anthony Webster, Miguel Perez, Jim Negrych, Kristopher Watts, Yoslan Herrera, Steve Lerud, A - Hickory Crawdads, A - Lynchburg Hillcats, AA - Altoona Curve, Brad Corley, Milver Reyes, Miles Durham, Keanon Simon, Bobby Spain, Andrew Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates Minor-League Affiliates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.