2B Josh Harrison was the hero for the Curve tonight, when his walk-off single in the bottom of the 14th inning brought in 3B Jordy Mercer with the winning run. �Mercer had led off the bottom of the 14th by reaching on a fielding error at third. �A wild pitch allowed Mercer to move to third base, and C Kris Watts' ground out to second advanced Mercer to third. �That put him in position to score on Harrison's grounder through the hole into left field. �The Curve were almost out of players in the middle of the 14th. �Pitcher Derek Hankins started batting for himself in the 14th, but was hit on the helmet by his own foul tip, and only tomorrow's starter Jared Hughes was available to pinch-hit.
Mike Crotta pitched 7 shut-out and one-hit innings for the Curve, dropping his ERA to 0.69. �He struck out 4 batters and walked none. �Crotta retired the first 16 batters he faced, and carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning, when he gave up a lone single. �He retired 5 more batters after that single, before hitting the showers. �Danny Moskos contributed 2 shut-out innings to the Curve effort. �He walked the first batter he faced, and gave up a single to the next one -- one of only two times in the 14 innings when Richmond had two runners on base at the same time. �Moskos shut down the threat by retiring the next three batters, along with the 3 he faced in the 9th inning. �Ronald Uviedo took the mound for the 10th and 11th innings. �He gave up a walk, and got one grounder for a force out, and struck out the other 5 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the 11th.
Derek Hankins came on for the 12th inning. �He gave up a lone double in that inning, but left that runner on second base. �He walked a batter in the 13th, but also stranded him. �In the 14th, Richmond again put two runners on base, with a walk and a single, but Hankins got a ground out to end the threat. �Hankins was the pitcher of record in the 14th and he was credited with the win.
Remember to tune in to ESPNews on Sunday afternoon after 2 pm (Eastern), to see Harrisburg's Stephen Strasburg pitch against the Altoona Curve. �They have said that they will only show the half innings when Strasburg is on the mound, but that means we get to take a look at the Curve batters.
These two teams took a scoreless tie into the bottom of the 10th inning, but the Curve came out on top with their third win of the season. �That was when 2B Josh Harrison led off with a single through the hole into left field. �C Kris Watts dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Harrison to second base, and LF Jim Negrych walked. �LF/RF Jose De Los Santos was the hero of the night, with his RBI double into left field to bring Harrison home with the only run of the game.
Prior to that inning, the Curve had only managed two hits. �RF/1B Miles Durham singled in the bottom of the 1st inning, and 3B Jordy Mercer walked, but both were left on base when the inning ended. �Senators' pitcher Tom Milone retired the next 16 Curve batters in order, has he pitched 6 scoreless innings. �The Curve batters managed two walks off Harrisburg reliever Rafael Martin in the 7th inning, but again they were both left stranded. �Mercer singled in the 9th inning, but was forced out at second on a grounder.
The Curve pitching staff were keeping up with their Harrisburg counterparts. �Tim Alderson made his first start of the season and threw 5 scoreless innings. �He gave up two singles in the top of the 1st, but CF Gorkys Hernandez's throw in to 2B Josh Harrison was in time to force out the lead runner at second base. �Alderson scattered a walk and two more singles over the next three innings, and then retired the side in order in the 5th. �He also struck out two batters. �Reliever Derek Hankins took over for Alderson to begin the 6th inning. �Hankins pitched 2 innings and gave up 2 walks, with one wild pitch, but did not allow a run to score. �Ronald Uviedo took the next two innings, and he walked just one batter then erased him with a double play. �Danny Moskos came on to pitch the top of the 10th inning and retired the side in order. �Moskos was the pitcher of record when De Los Santos hit his walk-off double in the bottom of the inning, so he was credited with the win.
