CURVE, Pa. – The Altoona Curve dropped their seventh straight game to extend a season-worst losing streak by falling to the Akron RubberDucks, 7-1, on Thursday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The lone Curve run of the evening came in the bottom of the third inning on a Harold Ramirez RBI single that bounced off third base to score Kevin Newman and bring Altoona within 5-1 of Akron.
Altoona (52-45) lost possession of first place in the Eastern League Western Division since July 7 while Akron (54-45) won its third straight game.
Akron tallied insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings, both against Altoona reliever Josh Smith. Despite allowing two runs, Smith struck out five batters over his three relief innings.
Miguel Rosario also struck out five in relief for the Curve, including striking out the side in the top of the ninth. Smith and Rosario tied the season mark for strikeouts by a Curve reliever in a single game, matching the mark most recently set by Jared Lakind on July 2 against Bowie.
Altoona worked two walks and singled against Akron reliever Casey Weathers in the bottom of the ninth, but could not overcome the six-run deficit.
Akron scored twice in the top of the first inning against Altoona starter Clay Holmes (Loss, 8-6) on a Mike Papi fielder’s choice and a Joe Sever RBI single, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
The RubberDucks extended their lead to 5-0 following a three-run top of the second, capped off by a two-run home run by Jeremy Lucas.
With his third-inning single, Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and Barrett Barnes extended his on-base streak to 15 games with a sixth-inning single.
The Curve and RubberDucks combined to strikeout 23 times, and Altoona went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Curve and RubberDucks continue their four-game series on Friday with a 7 p.m. first pitch. Altoona left-hander Cody Dickson (7-3, 3.64) opposes Akron righty Nick Pasquale (1-3, 4.21). Friday night is Dairy Night at PNG Field, and the first 1,500 fans to the game will receive an Al Tuna Cereal Bowl Giveaway presented by Allied Milk Producers. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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