Press Release: - Altoona 9, Binghamton 5

For Immediate Release



Date: August 22, 2010

Malo Manages Three Hits, But Curve Sweep B-Mets, 9-5



Jon Malo ripped three hits in four trips to the plate, but Tony Watson tossed six, shutout innings for Altoona which swept Binghamton with a 9-5 victory Sunday night at NYSEG Stadium. It was the final game of the two teams’ 10-game season series, which ended in a split.



Altoona (74-52) climbed on top in the second inning against starter Dylan Owen. Hector Gimenez laced a 1-1 offering from the right-hander out of the yard to right for his 16th homer of the season. The solo shot vaulted the Curve into the lead 1-0.



Owen pitched well until the fifth, which he would fail to pitch through. Anthony Norman led off with a solo homer to right. Owen followed up the bomb with a walk to the pitcher Watson. Chase d’Arnaud and Josh Harrison reached with duplicate bunt singles trying to sacrifice the runners up to load the bases and force the B-Mets starter from the game. Eric Niesen came on to quell the flames and got the first hitter to line out. However, Matt Hague hit a slow roller to short that Binghamton could not convert into a double play, allowing Watson to score and the inning to continue. That loomed large as Jordy Mercer ripped a single next to plate d’Arnaud and Gimenez put the icing on the cake, driving two homeward on an error by Malo in center, making it 6-0 Curve.



Owen was charged with the loss. He allowed five runs — four earned — on seven hits over four-plus innings.



The Curve was back at it in the seventh against Niesen. Hague singled to right with one out. Jordy Mercer followed with a sharp groundball to second. Jordany Valdespin fielded the ball to his left but his feed to Coronado at second was errant allowing Hague to slide in safely and Mercer to reach. Gimenez made Binghamton pay for the error with a double to wall in left-center. Norman rounded out Altoona’s scoring with a sac fly to center, upping the advantage to 9-0.



Binghamton (60-65) finally got on the board in the seventh after Watson departed. Derek Hankins gave up a one-out double to Brahiam Maldonado. Malo followed with a single through the right side, moving the runner up to third. Maldonado would score from there on pinch-hitter Salomon Manriquez’s infield single to third. After Hankins got Coronado to pop out to second, he buried an 0-2 breaking ball in the dirt to Valdespin, who swung and missed at the pitch but reached first on the wild pitch. Malo scored on the errant offering, trimming the lead to 9-2.

The B-Mets did not go quietly in the ninth either. Maldonado doubled to start the frame off Hankins. Malo followed with an infield single to short. Pinch-hitter Marshall Hubbard brought both men home with a three-run homer to right, bringing Binghamton within four, 9-5. However, Hankins settled down and retired the side to nail down his sixth save despite allowing five runs over three innings.



The B-Mets offense managed to pound out 11 hits, with eight of those coming from the bottom three spots in the order.



Binghamton will try to get back into the win column Monday at 7:05 PM as it welcomes New Britain to town for a three-game set. LHP Mark Cohoon (3-3, 5.47) gets the call against RHP Chris Province (6-5, 4.89) of New Britain. The radio broadcast on Newsradio 1290 WNBF begins at 6:20 with the Horizons Federal Credit Union Pre-Game Show.