CURVE, Pa. – A three-run homer by Christian Kelley and a strong outing by Eduardo Vera were erased by bullpen struggles as the Bowie Baysox charged back to beat the Altoona Curve in extra innings, 7-5, at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Tuesday.
(Phot0 courtesy of Altoona Curve)
The Curve (48-43) bullpen suffered their 15th blown save, the most in the Eastern League, and lost a game in which they led after eight inning for the second consecutive night and fourth overall. Dating back to May 9, the Baysox (43-51) have beaten the Curve in six consecutive meetings.
Bowie tightened the score to a one-run game after two walks and a pair of hits off Geoff Hartlieb in the eighth. They took the lead in the ninth on a two-run double by Martin Cervenka and handed Matt Eckelman his first blown save in four attempts at Double-A. Bowie plated a pair in the tenth with Bret Helton (Loss, 4-5) on the hill when Corban Joseph singled in the free runner to start the frame and Anthony Santander’s double made it a two-run game.
The Bowie bullpen contained the Curve offense after Altoona took a 4-1 lead in the fourth. Michael Grimes retired all ten Curve hitters he faced and recorded 11 outs with to a double play off the bat of Will Craig, his first toss of the night, that halted Altoona’s four-run outburst in the fourth. The first 12 Curve hitters to face the Bowie bullpen were all retired until Christian Kelley singled with two outs in the eighth against Jay Flaa. Branden Kline blew his first save attempt of the season without allowing a hit in the ninth. The tying run scored when Craig nearly grounded into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded but Tanner Chleborad worked a 1-2-3 tenth for Bowie.
Kelley’s first hit of the night, a three-run homer, put the Curve on the board during their four-run inning. It was his seventh of the season to build on his career-best total. Stephen Alemais followed two batters later with a bloop, RBI single that scored Bralin Jackson, who reached third base with an infield hit, a stolen base and a wild pitch. Altoona combined for six hits in the frame and equaled most hits in a single inning this season.
Vera recorded his first seven-inning outing since he threw three straight between May 30 and June 11 to begin his Double-A career. The right-hander struck out four, issued zero walks and limited the Baysox to three hits, two of which were solo homers to break up extended runs of hitters retired in order.
Two of Vera’s four total baserunners came from Bowie lead-off hitter Jaycob Brugman. A fielding error by Alemais put Brugman at first to start the game but Vera retired the next eight he faced. Brugman smashed a solo homer over the batter’s eye for the game’s first run in the third as Vera sat down the next ten prior to a solo shot by Ryan Mountcastle.
The Curve and Baysox complete their three-game series on Wednesday with first pitch set for noon. Right-hander and the Pirates’ No. 10 prospect Luis Escobar will make his Double-A debut as the Curve starter while Bowie has named right-hander Christian Binford as their scheduled starter.
