Tag: Nathan Baker

Akron Aeros �2, �Altoona Curve �0 (box)

CF Gorkys Hernandez had the Curve's only hit on Tuesday night as three Akron pitchers combined for the one-hit shut out. �Aeros' Scott Barnes earned the win with 5.1 hitless and scoreless innings, then Steven Wright followed with 1.2 more hitless and scoreless innings. �Omar Aguilar pitched the final two innings, and he also kept the Curve scoreless, but Hernandez led off the 8th with his hit. �Hernandez got as far as third base on two ground outs, but he was left there 90 feet away from scoring. �The catch for the Aero pitchers was that they allowed a total of 8 walks. �The Curve had at least one base runner on in 6 of their 9 innings because of all the walks. �They even loaded the bases on three walks in the 6th, but could not push a run across the plate.

Curve starter Justin Wilson pitched 5.2 innings and allowed both of the Aeros' runs on 5 hits and a walk, while striking out 6 batters. �Wilson worked around two singles and a throwing error by C Hector Gimenez in the 1st inning, then got a strikeout to slide out of a jam with runners on the corners in the 2nd. �He retired the next 11 batters in order before giving up a walk and a 2-run homer in the 6th. �Tony Watson came on in relief of Wilson after the homer. �Watson finished the 6th with a fly out, then gave up a lone single in each of the next two innings. �Ronald Uviedo pitched the 9th inning and also gave up a lone single.

Richmond Flying Squirrels �2, �Altoona Curve �1 (box)

Three singles in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Squirrels the walk-off win on Thursday night in Richmond. �Reliever Ronald Uviedo, who had allowed runs to score in only one of his previous 8 appearances for the season, gave up the singles in the 11th and suffered his second loss.

The Curve scored first, way back in the top of the 1st inning. �With one out, CF Gorkys Hernandez singled, 2B Josh Harrison walked, and 1B Matt Hague brought Hernandez in with an RBI single. �Richmond responded with a run off starter Derek Hankins in the 4th, scoring on a double and two ground outs.

The scoreboard filled up with a lot of donuts after that. �The Curve went down in order for three consecutive innings, until SS Chase d'Arnaud walked in the 5th. �He stole second base and went to third on a wild pitch, but got no farther. �Harrison walked in the 6th but was eliminated in a double play.

In the 7th, the Curve got close. �C Kris Watts doubled and moved to third base on a wild pitch. �Pinch-hitter Jim Negrych lined out to left field, and when Watts tried to tag up and score, he was thrown out at the plate. �They loaded the bases in the 10th, on a single by 3B Jose De Los Santos (in his first game back since being involved in a collision with Gorkys Hernandez on Monday), an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Jordy Mercer, and a single to short by d'Arnaud. �But Hernandez bounced into an inning-ending double play, and the threat ended. �Hague and RF Miles Durham had back-to-back singles in the 11th, but both were left on base.

Meanwhile, Derek Hankins was also pitching well. �He scattered 4 singles and a walk over the other 5 innings he pitched besides the 4th. �He left after 6 innings, with the game tied. �Tony Watson relieved Hankins, and he pitched 3 shutout innings, allowing three singles and a hit batter. �A timely double play got him out of a jam in the 7th, when he had runners on first and second with one out. �Ronald Uviedo replaced Watson to begin the 10th. �Uviedo gave up a two-out single and a walk, then ended the inning with a strikeout. �But when he returned in the top of the 11th, the Squirrels ended the game quickly.

Matt Hague and Miles Durham each had two hits for the Curve. �Watts' double in the 7th was the Curve's only extra base hit. �LF Alex Presley's hitting streak came to an end at 19 games (2nd longest in Curve history) when he went 0-for-4, but he did continue his on-base streak with a walk in the 1st inning.

Some nice shutout pitching (at least for a few innings) on Saturday evening:

Altoona Curve �9, � Harrisburg Senators �2 (box)

Starter Derek Hankins pitched 5 shutout innings in his start in Harrisburg. �He scattered two doubles and two walks over those 5 innings, and struck out 2 batters. �Tony Watson relieved Hankins to begin the 6th inning, and he also kept the Senators scoreless for the next two innings. �Watson got into some trouble in the 8th, though, giving up a double, a walk, and a single to the first three batters of the inning, loading the bases. �Watson got the next batter to strike out, but then was replaced by Jeff Sues. Sues gave up a sacrifice fly, and then a single, both scoring one run. �Those runs were charged to Watson. �Sues finished the 8th inning with a ground out. �He got two ground outs in the 9th, allowed a walk, then struck out the last batter of the game.

Meanwhile, the Curve batters were busy piling up 15 hits and 9 runs. �LF Alex Presley, who is hitting .471 over his last 10 games and is 8-for-15 in his last 3 games, led the charge by going 4-for-5 tonight, all singles, for 3 RBI. �C Hector Gimenez had 2 doubles and a single, and both 1B Matt Hague and 2B Josh Harrison had two singles each. �Each position player in the starting lineup had at least one hit. �The scoring started slowly, with one run in the 2nd inning. �RF Miles Durham tripled with two outs, then scored on Presley's first single. �They added two more runs in the 4th, when singles by Hague and Harrison, along with a missed catch error on a pick-off attempt, put runners on the corners. �A balk scored Hague, and Presley's second single scored Harrison. �Presley was out at second as he tried to stretch it into a double.

The Senators tried changing pitchers to begin the 6th inning, but it didn't help them. �3B Jordy Mercer led off with a single and moved to second base on a wild pitch. �Matt Hague's single scored Mercer. �A walk to Durham and Presley's third single scored Hague with another run. �Gimenez's double brought in Durham and Presley, and gave the Curve a 7-0 lead. �Walks to pinch-hitter Jim Negrych and CF Gorkys Hernandez loaded the bases, but a fly out ended the inning and left the three runners stranded.

A double by SS Chase d'Arnaud and an RBI single by Hernandez made it 8-0 in the top of the 8th. �The Senators scored twice in the bottom of the frame, but by then it was too little too late. �The Curve added one more for good measure in the top of the 9th. �With two outs, Durham walked, and Presley beat out a grounder to short for his fourth hit. �Gimenez's second double brought in Durham with the Curve's 9th run.

Altoona Curve 2, �Akron Aeros 0 (box)

Starter Jared Hughes dominated the Aeros for 5 innings in Akron on Monday night. �He scattered 4 walks over those innings, but did not allow a hit, while striking out 3 batters on the way to his third win of the season. �Reliever Dustin Molleken took over in the 6th inning and allowed a double, then gave up a walk and a single in the 7th, but still kept the Aeros from crossing the plate. �Danny Moskos earned his second save with a scoreless 9th, giving up another walk, but striking out the other three batters he faced.

The Curve didn't need many runs in this one. �They put up an unearned run in the 1st inning, when SS Chase d'Arnaud reached base on a fielding error, then scored on back-to-back singles by RF Miles Durham and 3B Jordy Mercer. The Curve had runners on base in 6 of the next 8 innings, and in two innings had runners reach as far as third base without scoring. �In the 7th Altoona loaded the bases on a walk by DH Jim Negrych, a single by Durham, and a walk by Mercer. �C Hector Gimenez brought in Negrych with a sacrifice fly, and that was all the scoring required.

The Curve now have a 9-3 record.

West Virginia Power �2, �Charleston River Dogs �0 (box)

Three Power pitchers combined to pitch a 7-hit shutout of the Charleston (South Carolina) River Dogs in a mid-day game in South Carolina today.

The River Dogs had at least one runner on base in every inning, but the Power pitchers did an excellent job of working out of small jams and big jams. �Nate Baker got the star for the Power, and he pitched 5 innings, scattering 3 hits and a walk. �He hit the first batter he faced in the bottom of the 1st, but picked him off first base. �Baker gave up a single later in the 1st and back-to-back singles in the 2nd, but both time ground balls ended the innings. �He also hit batters in the 3rd and the 4th innings, but a timely double play erased one, and a strikeout took care of the second. �The 5th inning was the first time that Charleston got a runner as far as third base against Baker, when the lead-off batter walked, was bunted to second, and moved to third on a ground out. �But Baker easily got another ground out to end the inning.

Gabriel Alvarado took over for Baker to begin the 6th inning. �He gave up a two-out double in that inning, but left that runner on base. �In the 7th, Alvarado gave up a lead-off single and hit the next batter with a pitch. �The next batter dropped a bunt down towards first base, where 1B Aaron Baker scooped it up and tried to throw to third base for the force out. �The throw was wide and actually hit the base runner in the head for an error. �All three runners were safe, and the one who had been hit was ok and was able to stay in the game. �Alvarado remained calm and first got a short fly out, then got the next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play to escape the jam without a run scoring. �Ryan Kelly earned the save with two more scoreless innings. �He gave up a lone single in each of the 8th and the 9th, and both times stranded the runner on base.

The Power batters only scratched out three hits against the River Dogs' pitchers, but they made the hits count. �DH Kyle Morgan led off the 2nd inning with an opposite field double into left. �CF David Rubinstein moved Morgan to third base with a ground out to the right side of the infield. �RF Wes Freeman brought Morgan in with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. �That run stood alone for quite a while, as not too many more Power batters reached base. �2B Jarek Cunningham reached on a fielding error in the 4th, but was thrown out trying to steal second base. �Cunningham must have been jinxing the River Dogs infielders, because he made them commit another error when he led off the 7th inning. �Aaron Baker followed that with a single, putting runners on the corners. �Baker stole second base, and Freeman walked to load the bases with two outs. �LF Jose Hernandez had the remaining Power hit, a�single to deep short, bringing in Cunningham with the (unearned) insurance run. �The Power had two more base runners, but neither scored. �3B Adenson Chourio walked and stole base in the 8th, but was left stranded. �Morgan walked to lead off the 9th, but was forced out on a grounder by Freeman. �Freeman was then caught stealing to end the inning.

The Power now have a 3-4 record and stand in 4th place in the South Atlantic League Northern Division.

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