Pair of Homers Not Enough for Altoona on Friday Night
September 2, 2022 – Eastern League (EL) – Altoona Curve News Release
CURVE, Pa. – Endy Rodriguez homered for the second game in a row, but Akron picked up eight runs on 10 hits to defeat Altoona, 8-4, on Friday night at PNG Field.
Rodriguez’s eighth home run with Altoona came in the first inning, an opposite-field solo shot off Gavin Williams to make it a 1-1 game. Since his promotion to Double-A, Rodriguez has 16 extra-base hits and 21 RBI in 19 games.
Aaron Shackelford hit his 25th home run of the season in the fourth off Williams, a two-run shot to score Rodriguez. The shot ties Shackelford with Josh Bonifay for second all-time in single-season home runs in Curve History, trailing Adam Hyzdu’s 31 home runs in 2000. Connor Scott added an RBI-single
Akron scored in each of the first four innings. Micah Pries hit an RBI-single in the first inning off Curve starter Kyle Nicolas to score Bryan Lavastida and get the RubberDucks on the board. Julian Escobedo hit a sacrifice fly in the second to score Johnathan Rodriguez, who opened the inning with a ground-rule double.
In the third, Nicolas walked four batters before Omar Cruz entered and walked a fifth on the frame to give Akron two more runs. Angel Martinez hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth off Cruz to score Lavastida and make it a 5-1 game. Nicolas allowed four runs on three hits in 2.2 innings with four walks and three strikeouts. Cruz allowed a run on two hits in 2.1 innings.
Akron tacked on two runs in the eighth inning off Bear Bellomy on a Jose Tena RBI-double and a wild pitch to score Tena. Tahnaj Thomas allowed a run in the ninth inning on a Rodriguez RBI single.
Gavin Williams struck out 10 batters in six innings to earn the win. He becomes the second opposing pitcher to punch out 10 Curve bats this season, joining Erie’s Garrett Hill. Cade Smith earned his seventh save for Akron with three scoreless innings of relief.
Altoona continues a six-game series with the Akron RubberDucks, Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. LHP Doug Nikhazy gets the start for Akron, with Altoona sending RHP Quinn Priester to the mound.
For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.
• Discuss this story on the Eastern League message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
