CURVE, Pa. – Jose Osuna turned in the second four-hit game of the season for the Altoona Curve, who defeated the Hartford Yard Goats, 11-3, on Saturday night in front of a season-best 7,449 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Osuna recorded a hit in each of his first four at-bats, including an RBI double in the seventh and walked in the eighth inning to reach base in his eighth straight plate appearance, dating back to Friday’s ninth inning against New Hampshire. Osuna is now two plate appearances shy of tying Stetson Allie’s 2014 mark of reaching base safely in ten straight plate appearances.
Altoona (36-31) collected a season-best 17 hits while Hartford (37-29) allowed a double-digit run total for the first time since May 22 at New Hampshire.
The Curve took a 4-3 lead with them into the bottom of the eighth inning before Altoona scored seven runs in the frame, capped off by a three-run home run from Eric Wood, who now leads the team in longballs with seven on the season, to take an 11-3 advantage.
Kevin Newman recorded his first Double-A hit and RBI in the same at-bat to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and Erich Weiss added to the lead with a two-run double, extending the lead to 3-0.
Hartford answered with two runs in the top of the fifth inning on a Raimel Tapia two-run home run and the Yard Goats tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning. Curve starter Brandon Waddell took a no-decision, tossing 4.1 innings and allowing two runs on four hits while walking a career-high seven batters.
Brett McKinney (Win, 2-2) tossed two scoreless innings of relief, allowing no hits and striking out three.
Osuna’s fourth hit of the night drove in Weiss in the in the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI double to give Altoona a 4-3 lead. Hartford starter German Marquez (Loss, 5-5) completed seven innings and allowed four runs over a career-high tying 11 hits while striking out seven.
Altoona went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position while the Curve pitching staff stranded nine Yard Goats runners.
The Curve and Yard Goats will bring the series to an end on Sunday with a 6 p.m. first pitch. Curve right-hander Tyler Eppler (4-4, 4.01) will square off against Yard Goats southpaw Kyle Freeland (5-6, 3.98). Bring dad to the yard for Fathers’ Day, and stick around for a spectacular post-game fireworks show, as well as fans on-field catch, presented by PA Cyber.
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