Eastern League Champions! Curve Sweep Past Trenton for Second League Title

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published September 15, 2017 4:17 am
Image

CURVE, Pa. (EYT) – Mitch Keller overcame a shaky start to throw 7 ⅓ strong innings, and the Altoona Curve used a four-run fifth inning to claim the second Eastern League title in franchise history with a 4-2 win over visiting Trenton in the third game of the championship series Thursday night in Altoona.

(Photo courtesy of Altoona Curve)

Watch the final batter of the game. Video courtesy of the Altoona Curve.

The Curve, who swept through the Eastern League playoffs with a perfect 6-0 record on the back of strong pitching, got another strong start from Keller, one of the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospects.

Keller, who won both of his postseason games, allowed two runs, both in the second inning, on four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

Jin-De Jhang made sure the two early runs Trenton, the Yankees affiliate, got wouldn’t stand when he drove a 2-1, two-out offering from Will Carter in the fifth inning into right field for a bases-clearing, game untying triple.

The inning started with a single by Michael Suchy, who moved to second when Carter’s pickoff throw was wild. Elvis Escobar then singled Suchy to third, and after a lineout, Pablo Reyes walked to load the bases for Kevin Kramer.

But Kramer, who was just back from a hand injury, grounded into a fielder’s choice with Suchy out at the plate, and Trenton and Carter looked like they might wiggle out of the jam.

Jerrick Suiter, though, drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, and Jhang then drove Carter from the game with his bases-clearing triple.

Curve manager Michael Ryan, an Indiana, Pa., native, addressed the team after the game.

 

Meanwhile, Keller was on cruise control.

After allowing an RBI ground out to Zack Zehner and a run-scoring two-out double to Rashad Crawford, Keller found a zone retiring 14 Thunder in a row and 16 of 17 through the seventh inning with Ryan McBroom’s one-out single in the seventh being the only Trenton base runner.

Keller got into some trouble in the eighth when Crawford led off with a single and Francisco Diaz followed with a walk. But he struck out Jeff Hendrix on his 102nd and final pitch of the game.

Curve manager Michael Ryan then went to Johnny Hellweg out of the pen, and Hellweg walked the first batter he faced to load the bases before getting back-to-back groundouts with the first one erasing a runner at the plate to quell the threat.

Tate Scioneaux then struck out the side in the ninth to set off the celebration of Altoona’s first title since 2010 when the likes of Jordy Mercer and Tony Watson helped the Curve to the title.

Recent Articles

Community Partner