CURVE, Pa. – Altoona matched the franchise record for home runs in a season with their 143rd home run in an 11-7 loss to the Akron RubberDucks to wrap up the 2026 season.
Keiner Delgado started the day off on the right foot with a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the first, his third such home run this season. He joins Jared Triolo (2022) and Alen Hansen (2014) as players with three lead off home runs in their tenure with Altoona.
The Curve added a second run in the bottom of the first on a groundout by Easton Carmichael to take a 2-0 advantage.
Akron’s bats perked up in the second when Dean Curley hit a two-run homer to tie the game and Jace LaViolette added a solo shot in the third to take a 3-2 lead.
The RubberDucks added two runs in the fourth off righty Dariel Francia; who was making his team debut. Akron added another run on a solo homer by Nolan Schubart in the fifth inning to take a 6-2 advantage.
The Curve rallied for three runs against Akron’s starter, Braylon Doughty, in the sixth inning. After singles from Murf Gray and Callan Moss to start the inning, Easton Carmicheal slammed a double into the gap in left center to make it 6-4. After a pitching change, Will Taylor slashed a base hit through the right side of the infield and brought the Curve a run closer.
Altoona tied the game in the seventh inning as Matt King singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a groundout. With two outs, he scored on a second wild pitch from Magnus Ellerts to even the game at 6-6.
Akron scored four runs in the eighth and another in the ninth to put the game away.
Will Taylor, Javier Rivas, Matt King and Murf Gray recorded two-hit games in the defeat. Gray reached base safely in 42-of-44 games in a Curve uniform.
The Curve turned to Tyler Owens in the top of the eighth trying to hold the tie, but he faced difficult at bats from the RubberDucks. Owens allowed two singles, two walks and two sacrifice flies which combined for a four-run inning for Akron, giving them a 10-6 lead.
In the top of the ninth Akron added one more insurance run on a home run off Claudio Estelie to make it 11-6. Altoona rallied in the bottom of the ninth with three straight singles by Will Taylor, Javier Rivas and Matt King, the last from King drove in Taylor to make it 11-6 with two runners on base. The Curve offense was stopped there; a double play and strikeout ended the rally and closed the book on the 2026 Altoona Curve season with an 11-6 final against the Akron RubberDucks at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Altoona wraps up the 2026 season on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. LHP Connor Oliver will take the mound for Altoona as the RubberDucks send RHP Braylon Doughty to the hill.
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.