ALTOONA, Pennsylvania — The Altoona Curve scored six runs in the eighth inning and grabbed the series opener from the Portland Sea Dogs 8-0 Friday night in an Eastern League baseball contest at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Altoona’s David Whitehead (2-4) worked five innings on two hits, three walks and one strikeout to earn the win. Whitehead escaped a one-out bases loaded jam in the third, striking out Sean Coyle and getting Andrew Benintendi on a flyout to right.
Portland’s Teddy Stankiewicz (1-3) notched his seventh solid start, but was the tough-luck loser. Stankiewicz allowed both runs in the second inning on a two-run double by Barrett Barnes. The righty worked six innings on five hits, two runs, four walks and one strikeout.
Altoona struck for six runs on just one hit in the eighth inning off Simon Mercedes and Chandler Shepherd. Barnes was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 3-0. Mercedes and Shepherd issued three straight bases-loaded walks. The Curve’s final two runs came on a fielder’s choice-error by Wendell Rijo.
Portland had three hits, singles by Sean Coyle and Jake Romanski. Nate Freiman doubled in the ninth to extend his on-base streak to 10 games.