MANCHESTER, NH – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats scored five times in the bottom of the fifth and cruised to an 8-3 win over the Curve on Friday night at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester.
Matt Ager held his opponent to just two runs for the fifth time in five outings in a Curve uniform, battling through four innings as the starter. Ager struck out two and walked three across his outing before tapping out of the game in the fifth when the game was tied 2-2.
Outfielder Ivan Brethowr slugged his first Double-A homer in the defeat, a solo shot to start the third inning. The Fisher Cats responded with two runs in the bottom of the third before Altoona rallied for another run in the fourth. The Curve used two walks and a single to load the bases with one out when Omar Alfonzo brought home the tying run with a sacrifice fly to left.
The Fisher Cats quickly got on the Curve bullpen, scoring five times in the fifth inning to pull away for the victory. Jaycob Deese was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs on six hits across two innings of relief. New Hampshire added another run in the seventh against Emmanuel Chapman to wrap up their 13-hit day at the plate. Mike Walsh struck out a pair in a clean inning of relief to wrap up the night for Altoona on the mound.
Javier Rivas slugged his sixth homer of the season in the top of the ninth, Altoona has hit 56 home runs in 55 games this season; putting them on pace to threaten the franchise record set in 2022 (143).
Altoona continues their series with the Fisher Cats on Saturday at 6:03 p.m. The Curve will send RHP Khristian Curtis to the mound with RHP Chris McElvain slated to start for the Fisher Cats
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.