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Around the Curve | Altoona’s First-Half Highlights

Recognizing the top moments from the first half of the season for the Curve.
By Preston Shoemaker
July 11, 2024

CURVE, Pa. – It’s hard to believe that the first half of the season has already come to an end. As we celebrate the Fourth of July and prepare for the All-Star break, the Curve are already two weeks into the second half of the 2024 season. The first half

CURVE, Pa. – It’s hard to believe that the first half of the season has already come to an end. As we celebrate the Fourth of July and prepare for the All-Star break, the Curve are already two weeks into the second half of the 2024 season.

The first half of the campaign for Altoona was not the brightest, with the Curve finishing with a 29-40 record and setting a record for the longest losing streak in franchise history. There were, however, plenty of exciting moments that are worth recognizing from Altoona’s first 69 games.

10 Strikeout Performances

Altoona’s pitching staff has been loaded with top prospects in the Pirates system this season, including four Top-10 prospects in Bubba Chandler, Anthony Solometo, Braxton Ashcraft, and Thomas Harrington.

The Curve have had four instances this season of a pitcher striking out 10 or more batters in a game, the most in a single season in franchise history. Three of these games came in the first half of the season, with the fourth happening just last week to open the second half.

Ashcraft was dominant for the Curve in his 11 appearances this season. He left the Curve with a 2-2 record and a 3.69 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 53.2 innings pitched. Ashcraft’s first 10 strikeout game of his career came on May 14 in Akron. He tossed seven scoreless innings that day with one walk and just four hits allowed to the RubberDucks on the road.

He followed up that performance with an even bigger moment in his final Double-A start in Richmond. Ashcraft would allow four runs that day but struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven innings without a walk. It was the most strikeouts in a game by a Curve pitcher since Tyler Glasnow in 2015. The performance led to his promotion to Triple-A.

Chandler would find similar success at the end of the first half, when he struck out a career-high 10 batters on June 21 at Bowie. The 21-year-old tossed seven scoreless innings in his final first-half start but followed up the feat with 11 strikeouts last week against Akron to open the second half.

Altoona is the only Double-A team to have two different pitchers strikeout 10 or more batters in a game twice this season.

Walk-Off Winners

Through the first half of the season, the Curve had two exciting walk-off winners at Peoples Natural Gas Field, with each moment leaving its own lasting memory.

Altoona played its first home game of the season on April 9 against the Harrisburg Senators, where newly acquired infielder Kervin Pichardo announced his presence with the Curve.

Altoona fell behind in the game 7-2 after four innings but rallied to score five unanswered runs to force extra-innings. All five runs came off the bat of infielder Aaron Shackelford, who hit two home runs and finished with five RBI that day.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Dylan Shockley moved the placed runner to third base with a sacrifice bunt, setting up Pichardo two batters later to send the walk-off single to left field in front of 5,213 fans.

“It felt great, it was my first hit of the season, so it was great to come away with the win,” Pichardo later said. He was acquired by the Pirates in a trade with the Padres just eight days prior and quickly introduced himself to Curve fans with the cluck knock.

Altoona’s second walk-off winner came in grand fashion on June 15th against the Erie SeaWolves. Again, Altoona fell behind early in the contest, trailing 8-4 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. However, the Curve offense was not ready to give away the game.

Altoona rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come within a run. In the ninth, Carter Bins knocked a one-out double and scored on a Yoyner Fajardo single to tie the game. With two runners on base, Brenden Dixon crushed a no-doubt home run to left field on an 0-2 pitch to win the game with a walk-off, three-run homer and send a crowd of 5,729 into a frenzy.

It was the first walk-off home run for Altoona since Malcom Nunez did so in August of 2022.

Finishing on a High Note

Despite Altoona’s last place finish in the first half, the final three weeks were a high note for the Curve. New faces such as Yoyner Fajardo and Charles McAdoo entered a lineup that saw strong performances from players like Sammy Siani, Jase Bowen, and Dustin Peterson.

Altoona finished the first half by winning five games on the road at Bowie, clinching a third-consecutive series victory. The Curve’s best baseball of the season was highlighted with wins in 13 of their final 16 games, including nine of their last 10.

The second half of the season is underway, with hopes of even more exciting moments to come!

*This story was printed in Volume 25 Issue 7 & 8 of the Curve Chronicle for the July 4-14 homestand.*