Austin Coley worked around four early walks and turned in the only quality start of the road trip as the Altoona Curve bettered the Harrisburg Senators, 4-2, on Memorial Day at FNB Field.
In his first start for the Curve (23-23) in 2018, Coley (Win, 1-0) stranded six Senators (23-25) through the first three innings that included a bases-loaded situation in third. He danced around danger early but allowed five hits over six innings and struck out five batters.
Altoona’s RBI leaders broke up a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning as the Curve struck for three runs. Back-to-back singles by Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jason Martin put runners on the corners with no outs, andWill Craig delivered the go-ahead sacrifice fly for his team-best 32nd RBI. Two pitches later, Logan Hill lined his team-leading eighth homer, a two-run shot, over the left field wall.
Out of the bullpen, Sean Keselica faced the minimum over two scoreless innings and got a double play to wipe out a walk in the seventh. Geoff Hartlieb (Save, 4) struck out two Senators in the ninth and left a man on second to complete the win for Altoona.
Christian Kelley scorched an RBI single to bring in the first run of the game in the fourth inning that ricocheted off Harrisburg third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and trickled into left field.
The Senators used two extra-base hits to produce a pair of runs against Coley. Daniel Johnson legged out his Eastern League-leading sixth triple to start the fifth inning and scored on a two-out, RBI single by Dan Gamache to tie the game 1-1. After Altoona took a three-run lead in the sixth, Austin Davidson slugged solo homer to put the Senators within two.
Cole Tucker, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Stephen Alemais and Hill all recorded two-hit afternoons during an 11-hit game for the Curve.
The Curve return home on Tuesday to face the first place Akron RubberDucks for three games in Altoona. Right-hander Pedro Vasquez (0-1, 7.31) will start for the Curve and righty Zach Plesac (1-0, 0.00) will make his second Double-A start for Akron.
Tuesday in Curve, Pa. will be a Two-for-Tuesday with two-for-one specials on tickets, hot dogs and small popcorn. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. with gates opening at 5 p.m. For tickets or more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office