(ALTOONA, PA)- Ronny Paulino belted a walk-off, solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Altoona Curve to a 5-4 win over the Akron Aeros in the opener of a four-game series Monday night at Blair County Ballpark.
Paulino, who was 0-for-4 prior to the at-bat, connected for his eighth longball of the season on the first pitch he saw from Akron reliever Jose Vargas (2-2). The dramatic blast capped Altoona\’s fifth walk-off victory of the season.
The win came at the perfect time for the Curve, which lost the final two games of the series against Erie over the weekend despite being in position to win both. In this contest, the Curve came back from a 4-1 deficit as late as the seventh inning to improve to 41-29 on the season and hold on to its slim one-game lead over Erie in the Eastern League\’s Southern Division. Akron (32-39) dropped its ninth decision in 10 games against Altoona this season.
Jeff Miller (3-3) tossed a scoreless top of the 10th to notch the win. Miller has not allowed a run in three appearances and 3 1/3 innings since returning from the Temporary Inactive List last Tuesday.
Trailing 4-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Curve pulled within one run on a two-run homer by reigning Eastern League Player of the Week Yurendell DeCaster. The blast, hit off Akron starter Francisco Cruceta, was DeCaster\’s 10th of the season and his third in as many games.
The Curve evened the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth when Ryan Doumit led off with a double against Vargas (2-2) and then scored on Kevin Nicholson\’s clutch two-out double. Nicholson, a .183 hitter entering the game, broke out of a 3-for-35 slump by going 3-for-3.
After Ray Sadler ripped his 10th home run of the season in the bottom of the second to give the Curve a 1-0 lead, Akron answered with three runs in the third and one in the sixth on a Corey Smith solo shot to grab a 4-1 advantage. All four runs were charged to starter Mike Connolly, who received a no-decision.
Sadler\’s homer extended his team-high hitting streak to 10 games, while Nate McLouth (26 games) and Jeff Keppinger (19) each managed to extend lengthy on-base streaks. If McLouth can reach base safely in Tuesday\’s game against Akron, the outfielder will match J.J. Davis\’ club-record 27-game on-base streak set during the 2002 season.
The Curve and Aeros will play game two of their four-game series Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Blair County Ballpark. In a matchup of two of their respective organization\’s top prospects, the Curve will send right-hander Bryan Bullington (5-3, 4.25) to the mound to opposed Akron righty Jeremy Guthrie (5-3, 4.40).
