CURVE, Pa. – The Altoona Curve took advantage of five Trenton Thunder errors over the first four innings, taking the rubber game and homestand finale, 5-4, in front of a season-best crowd of 5,706 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Altoona (16-17) turned four of Trenton’s (17-4) errors into runs, and Thunder shortstop Tyler Wade committed two of the Thunder’s five miscues.
Eric Wood drove home Jose Osuna and Jonathan Schwind on a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth to plate the final runs of the game for Altoona, giving the Curve a 5-2 lead.
The Thunder did not go away quietly, as Cito Culver drove in a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to bring Trenton within 5-4.
All four Thunder runs were charged to Curve starter Clay Holmes (Win, 2-4) who pitched 5.1 innings, allowing eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Josh Smith kept the Thunder at bay, holding them scoreless through 2.2 innings, scattering two hits while walking one and striking out four, in earning his Eastern League-best fifth hold. Dovydas Neverauskas (Save, 1) tossed a perfect ninth inning, earning his first career Double-A save.
For the third consecutive game, the Curve scored the first run of the game when Schwind doubled home Harold Ramirez, giving Altoona the early 1-0 lead.
Trenton tied the game in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Lane Adams to score Tyler Wade, making it 1-1. Altoona regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, thanks to three Thunder errors, when Barrett Barnes reached on an error by Wade to scoreReese McGuire and Harold Ramirez drove Wood in on a Cito Culver error, giving the Curve a 3-1 advantage.
Ramirez led the Curve offensively, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while the Thunder had four players with multi-hit days. Trenton and Altoona combined to go 5-for-23 with runners in scoring position.
The Curve open a seven-game road trip on Thursday with the first of four games in Richmond to take on the Flying Squirrels. Right-hander Tyler Eppler (2-2, 2.97) will open the road trip for Altoona, opposing Richmond righty Chase Johnson (1-3, 5.48). First pitch from The Diamond is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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