Altoona Curve �9, �Harrisburg Senators �1 (box)
A 5-run 4th inning sealed the deal for the Curve as they stomped on the Senators on Monday. �3B Jordy Mercer posted 3 hits, and SS Chase d’Arnaud, 2B Josh Harrison, and C Hector Gimenez had 2 hits each.
After two quiet innings, the Curve scored one run in the 3rd, on RF Miles Durham’s walk, a sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Jared Hughes, and an RBI single by d’Arnaud. �Then came the explosive 4th inning, when the Curve batted around to score the 5 runs on 6 hits — two singles and four doubles. �All the scoring happened after two outs had been recorded, and the Curve were just a slide away from it not happening at all. � Mercer led off with a double, but was out at third on 1B Matt Hague’s fielder’s choice. �Josh Harrison grounded to third, which started what should have been a 5-4-3 double play, but Hague’s slide into second base disrupted Harrisburg’s 2B Leonard Davis, who couldn’t get the out at first to end the inning. �With Harrison left on first base, Gimenez doubled, scoring Harrison. �CF Alex Presley singled, scoring Gimenez. �Durham doubled, scoring Presley. �A wild pitch moved Durham to third, so that when Jared Hughes singled into left field, Durham scored. �Another wild pitch moved Hughes to second base, and he scored when d’Arnaud doubled.
The Curve added another run in the 5th, when Mercer singled, Harrison doubled, and Gimenez brought in Mercer with a sacrifice fly. �They rallied for two more in the 7th, when Mercer began an inning with a hit for the third time in the game. �Two more singles by Harrison and Gimenez brought in one run, and back-to-back walks to Presley and Durham forced in the second run.
When he wasn’t busy batting, Hughes pitched 7 innings for the Curve, and allowed only one unearned run, which came in the 6th. �A throwing error by C Gimenez turned a bunt single into a runner on second base. �He advanced to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly. �Hughes scattered 5 hits, no walks, struck out 2 batters, and hit 2 batters with pitches. �Tony Watson pitched the final two innings, allowing a hit to the first batter he faced in the 8th, then retiring the next 6 batters in order.
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Kannapolis Intimidators 5, �West Virginia Power �2 (box)
2B Jarek Cunningham accounted for half of the Power hits on Monday, with a double and two singles. 3B Jesus Brito added a triple and a solo homer, and RF Wes Freeman had the only other hit for the Power.
Brito’s home run came with two outs in the 2nd inning, to tie the score at 1-1. �A single in the 4th made Cunningham the only other base runner the Power had in the first 5 innings. �The Power loaded the bases in the 6th, on walks to CF Evan Chambers and 1B Kyle Morgan, and Cunningham’s double, but strikeouts left the bases loaded. �Brito scored again in the 7th, when he greeted the Kannapolis reliever with a triple into right field, and Freeman brought him across the plate with a ground-rule double. �Cunningham’s second single opened the 8th inning, and Morgan followed with a walk, but a double play ended that threat.
Power starter Hunter Strickland gave up a run in the top of the 1st on a single and a double. �He held the Intimidators scoreless over the next three innings, despite 5 hits and a fielding error by Brito. �Strickland gave up one more run on a solo home run in the 5th. �Maurice Bankston relieved Strickland in the 6th. �He allowed a run in the 6th on a walk and two singles, then two more in the 7th on a 2-run homer. �Brandon Holden pitched a scoreless 8th, and Duke Welker did the same in the 9th.
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