Erie had their best chance at scoring in the first inning against Altoona’s Jeff Passantino. Kerry Carpenter collected a single to start the action, and a pair of walks loaded the bases, but Passantino was able to strand the runners. The first inning taxed Passantino 32 pitches, so the right-hander was only able to finish two innings, but held Erie scoreless. Taking over in a brief piggyback role, Noe Toribio (W, 2-2) added on a trio of scoreless frames to keep Erie behind. Oddy Nunez went on to work three scoreless frames of his own despite walking three batters, and Shea Murray pitched a perfect ninth inning to close the shutout.
Making his fourth start in Double-A, Reese Olson again struggled with walks. After walking a batter with one base runner aboard and two outs in the third inning, Olson (L, 1-1) let up consecutive hits for three eventual runs. The fifth inning got out of hand for Erie, starting when Olson walked another pair of batters to load the bases. Cal Mitchell quickly followed with a single to plate two runs and knock Olson out of the game.
Out of the bullpen, Yaya Chentouf allowed a single by Matt Fraizer to score one run, and a double by Arden Pabst to score two more. Oneil Cruz closed the lengthy frame with an RBI single, scoring Pabst. Altoona finished with six runs in the fifth inning, and a 9-0 lead. Seven of the runs were charged to Olson, a career high. Pabst added another pair of runs for Altoona in the seventh inning, knocking a two-run home run off of Chentouf to the right field corner. Brad Bass grooved the final four outs, working the last inning scoreless.
The only positives out of the game for Erie came from Dane Myers and Andrew Navigato, as each batter extended their hit streaks to 10 and 11 games, respectively.
Erie and Altoona complete their series on Sunday at PNG Field. First pitch from Altoona is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Erie returns to UPMC Park for the final series of the season on Tuesday, September 14 to begin a series with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m.