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CURVE, Pa. - Altoona rallied late on Wednesday night against the Akron RubberDucks, putting the game-tying and winning runs in scoring position in the ninth inning before suffering a heart-breaking 4-3 loss at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Altoona trailed 4-0 in the seventh after three Akron homers off RHP Matt Ager. Ager made his 15th start and tossed seven innings for the second time this season. He allowed only four hits and struck out five but was snakebitten by the three long balls that accounted for all four Akron runs.
Javier Rivas homered off RubberDucks reliever Michael Kennedy to put the Curve on the board in the seventh inning. It marked his ninth homer of the year. Altoona tacked on two in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to one. Callan Moss worked a one-out walk then scored on a wild pitch. Easton Carmichael singled and reached third when Akron reliever Jay Driver balked in Altoona's final run.
In the ninth, Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz reached on an error, and Murf Gray was hit by a pitch with the Curve down a run. Both runners stole a bag to put the go-ahead run at second and the tying-run at third, but Moss grounded out to third base to end the game.
Cruz, who continued his Major League rehab assignment, went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles in the loss. He tattooed four balls with a 100+ mph exit velocity.
Altoona got scoreless innings of relief from Justin Meis and Aaron Shortridge in each of their first appearances with the Curve this season.