Yankees

international league

By Van Rose vrose@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

MOOSIC — Outfielder Colin Curtis had his best offensive performance of the season, slamming three doubles to lead Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to a 6-3 win over Lehigh Valley at PNC Field on Friday night.

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LOOKING AHEAD

NEXT GAME: 1:05 p.m. today vs. Lehigh Valley

PITCHERS: Yankees’ Zach McAllister (RHP, 0-0, 2.87) vs. the IronPigs’ Brian Mazone (LHP, 1-1, 3.04)

ON DECK: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s four-game homestand against Lehigh Valley continues through Monday. On Tuesday, the Yankees open a four-game series vs. Louisville at PNC Field.

Right-hander Ivan Nova also played a key role in the victory. He pitched 6 1/3 innings of three-hit ball to become the Yankees first starter to pick up a win.

Curtis – who was 4-for-4, including a single in the eighth inning – tied a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise record for the most doubles in a game.

“If I had been aware of that, I might have tried to stretch the single into a double,” Curtis joked. “Early on, I realized their pitchers were throwing some inside pitches, so I waited … I put some good swings on the ball.”

Curtis said it was nice to get a big early lead.

“Up and down the lineup, we’ve been hitting consistently, but in some games we haven’t scored a lot of runs. We got a big lift from Nova--he was outstanding.”

Nove struck out seven and walked five.

“He pitched well last year in the playoffs and is really doing well,” Yankees manager Dave Miley said of Nova. “He pitched six strong innings tonight.”

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a double by Curtis that scored Kevin Russo from first. Curtis hit a line drive that wound up in the left-center field gap.

Curtis continued his hot hitting by slamming a two-run double in the second inning that scored Reegie Corona and Russo, stretching the margin to 3-0.

Curtis ripped a Drew Carpenter fastball to straight-away center field that hit the wall, enabling the runners to score easily.

Lehigh Valley trimmed the lead to 3-1 in the top of the third inning on a single by Rich Thompson, bringing home Neil Sellers from third.

The inning ended on a double play, when the IronPigs’ Paul Hoover attempted to score from third on a groundout by Luis Maza, who was thrown out by Nova.

First baseman Juan Miranda fired a strike to catcher Jesus Montero, who tagged out the hard-charging Hoover and managed to hold on to the ball after being knocked off his feet.

“I didn’t have time to see the runner, but I knew there might be a collision,” Montero said. “I wanted him to come at me high, and that’s what happened.”

Miley said Montero made a heads-up play. “It was a pretty good collision and he hung on to the ball.”

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre extended the lead to 5-1 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Montero led off with a double, and then scored on a triple by Jon Weber. Montero came home on a wild pitch by Lehigh Valley reliever Brian Gordon.

The IronPigs mounted a major threat in the seventh when they loaded the bases with one out against Nova. However, Yankee reliever Mark Melancon struck out Sellers and Hoover to keep Lehigh Valley at bay.

“Those two strikeouts by Melancon were the biggest outs of the game,” Miley said.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre widened the gap to 6-1 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Curtis hit a leadoff double and later scored on a single by Miranda.

The IronPigs drew to within 6-3 with two runs in the top of the eighth inning.