Akron RubberDucks results: Petey Halpin leads Ducks to two wins over Altoona Curve

Sunday, April 7: Petey Halpin and Rodney Boone power RubberDucks to win over Curve

RubberDucks center fielder Petey Halpin hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning and five pitchers combined to post a shutout in a 1-0 win over the Altoona Curve before a crowd of 2,036 at Canal Park.

Halpin's homer off Valentin Linarez cleared the fence in center field. Halpin finished the three-game series 7-for-13 with a home run and four RBIs.

Ethan Hankins started on the mound for Akron and worked around a two-out walk for a scoreless first inning. He allowed two hits and a walk and struck out one in the second before turning the inning over to the bullpen with two outs. Davis Sharpe escaped the bases loaded jam by getting a lineout to first to end the second and then pitched a scoreless third.

Rodney Boone allowed only three base runners (two walks and a hit) over 4 ⅔ scoreless innings and had three strikeouts to get a win. Bradley Hanner pitched ⅓ of an inning and Lenny Torres Jr. worked a perfect ninth to pick up a save in his Double-A debut.

Saturday, April 6: Petey Halpin and Yordys Valdes lead RubberDucks to win over Curve

RubberDucks shortstop Yordys Valdes collected two hits and two RBIs and right fielder Petey Halpin had three hits and scored two runs to lead the RubberDucks to a 5-2 win over the Altoona Curve before a crowd of 1,860 at Canal Park.

Halpin recorded three hits in his first three at-bats for the second night in a row.

Akron starter Tommy Mace pitched five shutout innings with four strikeouts and allowed three hits and one walk to get a win. Ross Carver fired two scoreless innings with five strikeouts and Tyler Thornton allowed two runs (one earned) in ⅔ of an inning. Andrew Walters struck out all four batters he faced to earn a save in his professional baseball regular season debut after being drafted by the Guardians in 2023.

The RubberDucks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Halpin scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Bracho. Valdes singled in Kody Huff in the second to make it 2-0.

Bracho reached on a fielder's choice in the fifth that scored Halpin, Valdes singled in Christian Cairo in the sixth and Dayan Frias reached on a fielder's choice in the seventh that scored Chase DeLauter.

Altoona's Sean Sullivan took the loss after pitching 3 ⅔ innings and allowing six hits, two runs and a walk.

Friday, April 5: Curve top RubberDucks in Opening Day at Canal Park

RubberDucks left fielder Petey Halpin had three hits and three RBIs, but the Altoona Curve rallied in the season opener to defeat the RubberDucks 4-3 in 10 innings before a crowd of 4,019 at Canal Park.

The Curve tied the RubberDucks in the ninth inning when a wild pitch by Jack Leftwich allowed Jackson Glenn to score. Matt Fraizer singled home Seth Beer in the 10th to complete the comeback and give Altoona the win.

RubberDucks starter Doug Nikhazy pitched five no-hit innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Jordan Jones allowed two runs, two hits and a walk in one inning, Bradley Hanner pitched a perfect seventh, Leftwich allowed a run on two hits and a walk in two innings and Trey Benton allowed an unearned run and one hit in the final inning.

Halpin doubled in Aaron Bracho and Kody Huff in the bottom of the second and singled home Milan Tolentino in the bottom of the fourth to give Akron a 3-0 lead. Altoona scored twice in the sixth with Kervin Pichardo scoring on a groundout and Glenn hitting a single that scored Fraizer.

Altoona reliever Issac Mattson earned the win with two shutout innings.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron RubberDucks 2024 schedule and scores April