Alex McRae may not be the most prestigious prospect to grace these electronic pages, with his high-80s/low-90s heat and lack of a blustering out pitch. But don't accuse him of not being a man of the people.
The Altoona starting pitcher blasted a legit home run to left-center field and, among his four strikeouts, fanned the designated Strikeout Guy, giving fans a free Popular Fast-Food Chain Hamburger (TM), in the Curve's 3-2 win over Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon.
McRae's homer jumpstarted Altoona's third inning, when the Curve scored all three of their runs. Kevin Kramer smacked a triple to the right-field corner to score Kevin Newman, and Edwin Espinal singled Kramer home.
Kramer, Newman and Connor Joe each went 2-for-4. Kramer also handled the keystone quite nicely, with a jump and strong throw on a 5-4-3 double play to get McRae out of trouble in the fifth.
Newman and Kramer are the stars of this team, and they both displayed the bat control they're known for. Kramer went after a bit of a low pitch in the first, but turned it into a clean hit to right, and Newman later fought one off just over the second baseman's head.
Pablo Reyes led off the first with a loud double to left center, but got picked off shortly after. He did show a nice batting eye later, working a long at-bat from an 0-2 count to a walk.
Chase Simpson clubbed a double over the head of touted Nationals center-field prospect Andrew Stevenson, and I imagine not many balls get over his head.
McRae, the 2014 10th-round pick, hit the corners with his sinker, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with the four strikeouts in seven innings. Miguel Rosario pitched a couple clean innings to finish things off.