Curtis Strikes Out Nine in Opening Night Defeat

CURVE, PA – Khristian Curtis tossed five strong innings and struck out nine batters in his season debut, however, Harrisburg rallied for six runs against the Curve bullpen and secured a 7-2 win over Altoona on Thursday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The Curve took advantage of three first inning walks by Harrisburg starter Alex Clemmey and used a sacrifice fly from Duce Gourson to take a 1-0 lead. The Senators drew even when Brandon Boissiere smacked a solo home run off Curtis in the second. Boissiere’s home run was one of two hits allowed by Curtis as he cruised through the Senators lineup. Curtis struck out nine, one shy of his career high, and did not walk a batter, needing just 64 pitches to finish five innings.

Altoona took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI single from Titus Dimitru. Altoona stranded seven baserunners across their first five innings at the plate.

The Senators scored three times in the sixth inning, on a Boissiere triple, and added three runs across the eighth and ninth inning to secure the game. Altoona’s bullpen was tagged for six hits and walked six batters in their four innings.

Keiner Delgado drew four walks and stole three bases in his team debut. Mitch Jebb walked twice and singled out of the leadoff spot to pace Altoona’s offense. The Curve earned six walks, five in the first three innings of the game, but were just 1-for-9 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

Altoona continues their three-game set with Harrisburg on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. LHP Connor Wietgrefe will take the ball for Altoona with RHP Davian Garcia slated to start for the Senators.

For tickets and more information on the Altoona Curve, 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 4 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.