Erie Pen Collapses; Allows Seven Late Including Walk-Off Blast

Erie (33-27) could not hold a late lead and fell on Brenden Dixon’s walk-off home run in an 11-8 loss to Altoona (23-39).

Altoona scored first against Erie starter Troy Melton in the second when they pulled off a double steal of second and home. As Yoyner Fajardo stole second base, Carter Bins scored from third with the game’s opening run.

Gage Workman pulled Erie even in the third when he ended a 12-pitch battle with a solo home run against Altoona starter Bubba Chandler.

In the bottom of the third, Tsung-Che Cheng reached on Workman’s error. Jase Bowen followed with a two-run homer, giving Altoona a 3-1 lead.

Erie loaded the bases in the fourth on singles from Trei Cruz and Chris Meyers and a walk to Jake Holton. With two out, Eliezer Alfonzo ripped a three-run double to give Erie a 4-3 lead. Austin Murr scored Alfonzo with an RBI single, making it 5-3.

Altoona plated a run on Kervin Pichardo’s two-out double in the fourth, making it 5-4.

Erie plated two more in the fifth against reliever Emmanuel Chapman. With Hao-Yu Lee on first and Holton on third and one out, Meyers scored Lee on a sacrifice fly. Holton tagged and advanced to second on Connor Scott’s throw from right. Bins, the catcher, tried to throw out Holton at second but threw it errantly into center field. That allowed Holton to score, making it 7-4.

Melton wound up tossing five innings for Erie. He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits. He walked two and struck out a season-high seven batters.

Erie tacked on a run with a sacrifice fly by Murr in the eighth, making it 8-4.

PJ Poulin tossed two perfect frames to bridge the gap to Joel Peguero, who took over in the eighth. Peguero allowed five singles, including RBI knocks to Dixon, Pichardo, and Cheng to make it 8-7. Trevin Michael entered and retired Jase Bowen to strand two.

Jake Higginbotham entered for Erie for the save chance in the ninth. He retired Seth Beer to open the frame, but Bins followed with a double. Sammy Siani followed with a walk before Fajardo tied the game on a single to plate Bins. Dixon followed with a three-run blast to end the game.

Grant Ford (1-1) tossed the ninth and earned the win for Altoona. Higginbotham (2-1) took the loss.

Erie must win on Sunday to avoid a second losing series to Altoona this season. Austin Bergner faces Thomas Harrington at 6:00 p.m. in the series finale.