CURVE, Pa. – The Altoona Curve issued seven walks over the first three innings against the Trenton Thunder, who did all of their damage in the first three frames in a 6-2 series-opening victory at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Monday evening.
After an Erich Weiss RBI double scored Austin Meadows to give Altoona (14-17) a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Trenton (17-12) scored four runs off three walks issued by David Whitehead (Loss, 1-4) and a throwing error by Reese McGuire in the top of the second inning to go ahead 4-1.
Trenton scored two more runs in the third after the Thunder loaded the bases against Whitehead and plated runs on a Kyle Higashioka sacrifice fly and a Jared Mitchell fielder’s choice, taking a 6-1 lead.
Whitehead turned in the shortest outing for a Curve starter this year, tossing two complete innings – and faced three batters in the third without collecting an out – allowing six runs on three hits and tying a season-high in walks with seven, last done by Cody Dickson on April 11.
Jhondaniel Medina tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Whitehead, allowing one hit and two total baserunners. Medina extended his scoreless streak to 10.2 innings, an Altoona best in 2016, dating back to April 25 vs. Erie.
Jared Lakind relieved Medina for the sixth and seventh innings, and became the second Curve pitcher this year to appear in consecutive games, and the first since Montana DuRapau on April 16 and 17 against Richmond.
Trenton starter David Camarena pitched two innings in his second Double-A start after undergoing elbow surgery in 2015, allowing one run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Eric Ruth (Win, 1-1) pitched in relief of Camarena, and the Curve had difficulty hitting him until the bottom of the sixth, when Altoona got a run back on an Edwin Espinal RBI double to score Jose Osuna, coming within 6-2.
The Curve loaded the bases in the sixth inning, but Ruth struck out Chris Diaz swinging to end the rally.
Diaz drew a two-out walk against Thunder reliever David Kubiak in the bottom of the ninth, but a Meadows strike out ended the game.
Weiss collected the only multi-hit game for the Curve, knocking a double and a single in his first two at-bats, and reached a team-best three-times total. Three of Altoona’s seven hits went for extra bases, and the Curve went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Altoona will look to bounce back against Trenton on Tuesday in game two with a 6 p.m. first pitch from PNG Field. Southpaw Brandon Waddell (1-0, 2.84) makes his first home Double-A start, opposing the Eastern League Player of the Month for April in Thunder lefty Dietrich Enns (3-1, 1.26).
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