First-Place Trenton Thunder Pound Altoona Curve 8-0 - AA, Eastern League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - TRENTON, N.J. - The Altoona Curve managed only five hits in a series-opening, 8-0 loss to the first-place Trenton Thunder Tuesday evening at Waterfront Park in Trenton, New Jersey.

The loss drops the Curve (37-52) to 15 games below the .500 mark, matching the club's worst mark of the season. Trenton, the top team in the Eastern League's Northern Division, improved to 20 games above .500 at 55-35.

Altoona was blanked by Trenton starter Jason Jones and two relievers in being shut out for the ninth time. Jones (10-3) worked the first six innings to pick up his 10th victory, matching him with two other pitchers for the league lead. The right-hander also improved his league-leading ERA to 2.15.

Curve starter Josh Hill (4-11) was handed his ninth loss in 10 decisions and remains winless since May 27th after allowing three runs in just 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander is now 1-9 with a 6.34 ERA in his last 12 outings.

Trenton scored three times in the bottom of the third to start the scoring and chase Hill from the game. Right fielder Edwar Gonzalez highlighted the inning with a

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lead-off, solo home run, his seventh of the season. The Thunder added one tally in the fifth against Dave Davidson and four more in the eighth off Christian Castorri to run away with a series-opening victory.

Offensively, five different players collected the Curve hits, including Jason Delaney, whose sixth-inning double extended his current team-high hitting streak to 10 games.

The Curve and Thunder will play the middle game of their three-game series Wednesday evening at Waterfront Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Altoona will send lefty Kyle Bloom (0-4, 5.02) to the mound against Thunder southpaw Phil Coke (7-3, 2.86). Fans can hear all the action on Real Oldies 93.5 FM and the Curve Radio Network starting at 6:50 p.m. The broadcast can also be heard live and for free at AltoonaCurve.com.
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