Foster Suffers Loss for Curve

A seesaw Friday night battle went the way of the Richmond Flying Squirrels who utilized nine runs over their final two offensive innings to turn a nailbiter into a 15-7 rout and even their four-game weekend series with the Curve at a win apiece at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The Squirrels entered the eighth trailing 7-6, but sent ten men to the plate in the frame, getting the decisive blow on a two-out, two-run triple off the bat of top prospect Gary Brown. Daniel Mayora, Juan Perez, Eliezer Zambrano, and pitcher Brett Bochy each added an RBI in the six-run inning, as well. Richmond’s big frame victimized Bradford native reliever Zach Foster (0-1) who pitched well until the end of his outing and was saddled with the loss

 

The Squirrels added three more runs in the ninth, generating a franchise record-tying 22 hits in the win.

 

Shaky defense, a problem that has plagued Altoona throughout the first two weeks of the 2012 season, continued on Friday night. The Curve committed four errors but looked to be overcoming them midway through this night. After grabbing an early 2-0 lead in the first on RBI base hits from Adalberto Santos and Tony Sanchez, Altoona fell behind 6-2 by virtue of a two-run second and four-run third for the Squirrels, the latter frame highlighted by Tommy Joseph’s first homer of the year, a solo shot. The Curve, however, clawed back with a run of their own in the fourth, two in the fifth, and two more in the sixth to take the lead, the go-ahead run coming home on Sanchez’s second RBI single of the day to make it a 7-6 advantage.

The Curve’s rally got starter Aaron Pribanic off the hook. The big righty slogged through two and two-thirds, yielding six runs on nine hits and walking two before departing. Behind him, newcomer Jhonathan Ramos steadied things for Altoona over the next 2.1 innings.

Altoona’s bright spot at the dish was right fielder Santos who followed up his three-hit night on Thursday with a four-hit affair on Friday. Santos drove in four runs and scored two more. Facing their big deficit after the eighth, though, the Curve were unable to rally against Richmond’s Brett Bochy (1-0) and Tom Vessella who pitched the final 3.1 innings of the victory, allowing just two hits.

 On Saturday, Pittsburgh Pirates righthander A.J. Burnett will make his fourth minor league rehab start and first for the Curve since suffering a fractured orbital bone during a spring training bunting drill. Burnett will toe the rubber for a scheduled 6:00 p.m. first pitch on the second Curve, Pa. Blue Out Saturday of the season with Burnett and the Curve donning special blue jerseys in support of Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania. Airtime on ESPN 1430 and the Curve Radio Network is set for 5:30 p.m.

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