ERIE, Pa. – The Altoona Curve dropped their series opener with the Erie SeaWolves, 6-1, on Tuesday night at UPMC Park in Erie.

Po-Yu Chen made his longest start since July 2 with five innings on the mound. Chen set down five straight hitters to begin the game until Erie loaded the bases with two outs in the second with a walk and a pair of hits. Carlos Mendoza singled home two runs to take a 2-0 lead. Cy Nielson was the first one called upon out of the bullpen and tossed a scoreless 6th inning before allowing four straight baserunners in the seventh. Jake Holton mashed a three-run double to extend Erie’s lead to 6-0 against Valentin Linarez.

Altoona’s offense was limited by lefty Andrew Sears and righty Eric Silva to just one hit, an Omar Alfonzo single in the second, and one walk, a Kervin Pichardo free pass in the third, through their first seven innings at the plate. Termarr Johnson started the eighth inning with a bunt single and advanced to third on a single and throwing error by Erie on the infield. Tres Gonzalez then bounced in a double play that allowed Johnson to score and make it 6-1.

Duce Gourson had a 15-game on-base streak end in Tuesday’s loss. With Johnson’s single, he is now 11-for-28 at the plate in his last nine games and leads the club with 31 multi-hit games for the season.

Altoona continues their six-game series with the SeaWolves on Wednesday night at 6:05 p.m. at UPMC Park. RHP Emmanuel Chapman takes the ball for Altoona, with RHP Garrett Burhenn slated to start for the SeaWolves.

For tickets and more information on the 2025 Altoona Curve Season, presented by Stuckey Automotive, 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.