Altoona 3 - Binghamton 1

Three Altoona Curve pitchers limited the Binghamton Mets to three hits in a 3-1 loss on Thursday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The B-Mets mustered three hits or fewer for the third time in four games while dropping their third consecutive meeting with the Curve.

Altoona cracked the scoreboard without the aid of a hit in the first against Hansel Robles. The righty put the first two on with a hit batter and a walk. Following a fielder’s choice that put runners at the corners, Elias Diaz sent a grounder to Brian Burgamy’s left. The second baseman’s spinning throw to second was off target, allowing Drew Maggi to scamper home with the game’s first run.

The B-Mets countered with station-to-station production in the second against Joely Rodriguez. Dustin Lawley started with a four-pitch walk, moved up to third on consecutive groundouts and scored when Darrell Ceciliani beat out an infield single, tying the game at one.

Robles avoided further damage through the next three scoreless innings. The righty held Altoona hitless in their first nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The streak came to an end with two outs in the fifth. With two aboard, Keon Broxton threaded an 0-2 pitch into right field to break the tie game and end Robles’ night. Reliever Ryan Fraser inherited runners at second and third and induced Willy Garcia to send a weak bouncer to third. Lawley hesitated before charging the grounder and fired late to first, allowing Diaz to score, giving the Curve a 3-1 lead.

Ceciliani’s single proved to be the only blemish for Rodriguez. The southpaw closed his night by posting five scoreless innings. He allowed just two additional B-Mets to reach base and retired the final eleven batters he faced.After Rodriguez’s exit, Binghamton mustered a threat against the Curve bullpen in the eighth. Following a single by Xorge Carrillo, Brandon Nimmo lined a double into the left-field gap against Emmanuel de Leon, putting runners at second and third. With the tying run on second, de Leon struck out Dilson Herrera to end the threat and preserve Altoona’s two-run lead.

Kenn Kasparek pitched around an error in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

Rodriguez (4-6) allowed one run on one hit while fanning four over seven innings to pick up his second win of the season against the B-Mets. Robles (5-5) walked three and struck out five over 4-2/3 innings in the losing effort.

POST-GAME NOTES: Three of Hansel Robles’ five losses have come against the Curve…Tyler Pill, the original B-Mets starting pitcher, was scratched due to illness…Binghamton has had the potential tying run on base or at the plate in the ninth inning in each of their last three losses to Altoona - team press release