CURVE, Pa. – Jose Osuna and Stetson Allie cranked back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh as the Altoona Curve finished a three-game sweep of the Richmond Flying Squirrels with a 6-2 win on Mother’s Day afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Altoona (14-16) took a 5-2 lead following the pair of home runs from the middle of the Curve lineup. Allie’s blast marked the 41st home run of his career, tying him with Ray Sadler for third on the all-time home run list in Curve franchise history.
The Curve added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning by loading the bases against Richmond (10-19) reliever Mike Kickham to set up a RBI groundout by Harold Ramirez to plate Chris Diaz, giving Altoona a 6-2 advantage.
Dovydas Neverauskas shut the Squirrels down in order in the ninth inning to close out the Curve victory.
Reese McGuire drove in the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning, singling home Ramirez and Osuna to give Altoona a 2-0 lead.
Richmond scored its first run in the top of the sixth after Austin Slater led off with a double to left field and scored on a Hunter Cole RBI groundout, cutting into Altoona’s lead at 2-1.
In his first Double-A start, Frank Duncan (Win, 3-1) tossed 5.2 innings – his most innings pitched this season – allowing one run on five hits, with two strikeouts.
Chris Diaz extended the Curve lead to two runs with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to score Eric Wood, but the Squirrels once again came within a run in the top of the seventh inning, when Rando Moreno singled in Ali Castillo, closing the gap to 3-2.
Flying Squirrels starter Matt Gage (Loss, 0-4) dropped his second game of the season to the Curve, allowing three runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work, walking one and striking out three.
Osuna led the way offensively for the Curve, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Ramirez, McGuire and Diaz also notched two-hit games for the Curve.
Altoona welcomes the Trenton Thunder for their only series in Altoona this season beginning Monday. First pitch of the series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., and will see Altoona righty David Whitehead (1-3, 5.64) on the mound for the Curve. Monday is MEGA Monday presented by the Altoona Mirror, featuring $1 bleacher tickets and food specials. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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