CURVE, Pa. – Stetson Allie hit his 14th home run of the season as the Altoona Curve defeated the Binghamton Mets, 9-4, on Wednesday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The win helps Altoona inch closer to an Eastern League playoff berth. The first-place Curve are 74-61 with five games left, second-place Akron is 72-63 with six games remaining and third-place Harrisburg is 71-65 with six games left. The top two teams out of that group will go to the postseason.
Allie’s long ball, a three-run shot in the bottom of the third inning, was the 52nd of his Curve career and gave Altoona a 3-2 lead.
Allie is now three home runs shy of tying Josh Bonifay and Adam Hyzdu for the most home runs hit in franchise history.
With the win, Altoona (74-61) maintained first-place in the Eastern League Western Division while Binghamton (62-73) has dropped six of its last nine contests.
Binghamton scored twice in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead, but Erich Weiss, Barrett Barnes and Edwin Espinal knocked consecutive RBI hits in the bottom of the fifth to give the Curve a 7-4 advantage.
Following the two-run fifth, Curve starter Tyler Eppler (Win, 9-10) did not allow another run, and finished his night after seven innings of work, allowing six hits and four runs (two earned) while walking none and striking out four.
The Curve added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a Chris Stewart RBI single and a Tomas Morales pinch-hit RBI triple to make for a 9-4 lead.
Montana DuRapau allowed a pair of hits to lead off the ninth inning but retired the final three batters he faced to end the game.
Eppler has thrown 156.1 innings this season, which is the third-most by a Curve pitcher in a single season in franchise history.
All nine Curve starters scored a run and seven starters recorded at least one hit.
The Curve will play their final regular-season home game on Thursday at 6 p.m. Curve right-hander Alex McRae (7-6, 5.14) will get the start. It will be a Throwback Thursday at PNG Field with $1 Juniata brand hot dogs by Kunzler, $2 Yuengling and regular sodas. The Throwback Thursday Jerseys will be auctioned off, with all proceeds benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. There will also be a spectacular post-game fireworks show. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
