CURVE, Pa. – The Altoona Curve could not chase down an early Harrisburg Senators lead and dropped their season-opener at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Thursday night, 10-6.
The Curve (0-1) committed three errors and allowed 14 hits to the Senators (1-0) on a night in which the game start was delayed for an hour and five minutes due to rain.
Harrisburg broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh with a two-run single by Shawn Pleffner off of Altoona reliever John Kuchno (Loss, 0-1) and put the game out of reach with a four-run eighth inning against reliever Dovydas Neverauskas.
The Curve fell behind 2-0 in the second inning, but got on the board after Senators starter John Simms walked Reese McGuire with the bases loaded in the third.
After Harrisburg added a run in the sixth, Altoona’s Eric Wood brought in a run with a triple and came in to score on a game-tying single by Stetson Allie against reliever Dakota Bacus (Blown Save, 1)(Win, 1-0).
The Curve stranded 11 runners on base, going just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position on the night.
Curve starter Jason Creasy allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits over six innings with two walks and a strikeout.
Simms issued all four of his walks in the third inning and finished the night with seven strikeouts over five frames while allowing just one earned run.
Altoona lefty Josh Smith worked out of the rest of the eighth inning and extended his current scoreless streak to 18 innings, which dates back to July 20 of last season.
Curve second baseman Eric Weiss led the way offensively for Altoona with a 3-for-5 night with an RBI. Allie was the only other Curve player to record multiple hits.
Harrisburg had five players record multiple hits, including three players with three hits. Spencer Kieboom went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored.
Game two of the season-opening, four-game series will see right-hander Clay Holmes take the mound for the Curve, as he faces Senators righty Tyler Mapes on Friday at 6 p.m. It will be Soccer Night at PNG Field, and the first 1,000 fans will receive a Soccer-Style Curve Scarf, courtesy of Premier Cleaning & Restoration. Airtime on ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM and the Curve Radio Network is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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