Vasquez dazzles as Curve shut out Baysox

CURVE, Pa. - Pedro Vasquez tossed eight scoreless innings and powered the Altoona Curve past the Bowie Baysox, 3-0, on Saturday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Vasquez (Win, 7-3) recorded the longest start of the season for a Curve (61-63, 25-31) starting pitcher in the contest. It was his longest start since July 30, 2016 when he pitched for Class A Clinton as a member of the Mariners organization. His eight scoreless lowered his ERA to 2.69.

He held the Baysox (68-56, 38-18) bats to three hits, walked one and struck out four. Vasquez did not surrender a hit after Ryan Ripken's lead-off single to start the fifth, his second hit of the game.
Altoona got the offense started with a three-run third inning. With one out, Chris Sharpe knocked a triple into the left-center gap off Bowie starter Zac Lowther (Loss, 12-7), scoring Brett Pope , who reached on a walk. Four pitches later, Jared Oliva sharply hit a ball past third and legged out a double to score Sharpe. After an Oneil Cruz walk, Logan Hill capped off the scoring with a ground-rule double down the left field line, bringing in Oliva. Lowther managed to work the next two outs to escape the inning.
Lowther faced the minimum over his next three innings en route to a seven-inning outing. He allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out seven.
Oliva and Hill teamed up again in the eighth to provide the Curve with some insurance runs. Oliva lined a lead-off triple into left field and two batters later Hill sent the first pitch over the left-center wall for his tenth home run of the season. It was the third homer for Hill in his last five games and the fifth extra-base hit on the night for the Curve.
Hill finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a triple shy of the cycle. Oliva had two extra-base hits while Jason Delay and Bralin Jackson each recorded a pair of hits.
Matt Eckelman finished the game with a scoreless ninth inning. It was the 14th shutout of the season for the Curve, two away from a record 16 shutouts in 2015.
The win was manager Michael Ryan's 213th as the Curve skipper, tying Dale Sveum and Tim Leiper for the most in the club's history.
The Curve and Baysox will play the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday at 6 p.m. In a battle of southpaws, Altoona will send Sean Brady (3-12, 4.79) to the mound to face Bowie's Alex Wells (8-3, 2.31).
Gates for Sunday's game will open at 5 p.m. There will be a 1979 Pirates World Series celebration at the ballpark as well as the '79 Pirates-style jersey auction, presented by Sheetz for the Kidz. Former Pirates closer Kent Tekulve will make an appearance, presented by Peoples. Stick around for postgame FIREWORKS with a Bon Jovi theme, presented by Sheetz & Senior Life. It's another Ritchey's Dairy Kids' Club Game, FREE for kids ages 3-12, presented by Ritchey's Dairy.
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