Altoona Curve Game Information: May 12, 2013
Published on May 12, 2013 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ABOUT LAST NIGHT..: The Curve and Squirrels split a doubleheader on Saturday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field with the Squirrels winning game one and the Curve taking game two. In the first game, Casey Sadler (4-3) tossed seven innings while allowing five runs on seven hits. He gave up single runs in the second and third before Ryan Lol- lis hit a three-run homer in the fourth to extend the Squirrels lead to, 5-0. The lead proved insurmountable for the Curve with the offense gathering just five hits in the game with two coming from Andrew Lambo. In the second game, Altoona jumped out to an early lead thanks to a Lambo sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
From there the game took on a see-saw fashion with Richmond tying it up in the second off starter David Bromberg (1-4). Andy Vasquez put the Curve back in front in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to bring home Kelson Brown. After Richmond tied it again at two in the third, Jarek Cunningham started a two-out rally with a double in the bottom of the third.
Charlie Cutler drove in Cunningham with a double of his own to put the Curve in front for good, 3-2. Stefan Welch worked a walk and then both he and Cutler scored on Brown's double to left to make it, 5-2. Bromberg lasted five innings for his first win of the season before giving the ball to Zack Thornton, who tossed the final two innings for his first career Double-A save.
CURVE/SQUIRRELS SERIES: This is the second of three trips that the Flying Squirrels will make to Curve, Pa and, unlike in past seasons, they all will be before the end of May. Last time Richmond was in Curve, Pa., Altoona won its first series of the season with a pair of wins on Wednesday, April 17 after the game on Tuesday night was sus- pended.
FOR ALTOONA: Back to the hill versus the Squirrels on Sunday afternoon will be Jameson Taillon, who is coming off his shortest outing of the season after leaving the game early. Taillon took a comebacker off the bat of Ricky Hague off of his left shin in the fourth inning of his start on Tuesday night. He was removed from the game as a precau- tion and was diagnosed with a left shin contusion (bruise). Prior to that point, Taillon had allowed two unearned runs in the first inning and wound up allowing a total of four after both runners he left on the bases scored later in the inning. The Woodlands, Texas native has made two previous starts versus Richmond this year and has had two completely different outings. In his start versus Richmond at home on April 17, Taillon spun seven shutout innings to earn a win. In his start at The Diamond roughly a week later, he allowed five runs in six innings in an eventual no decision. For more on Taillon, see page two.
FOR RICHMOND: Heading to the mound for the Squirrels as they hope to earn a series split will be LHP Chris Gloor. Gloor, 26, will be making his sixth start of the season and his third overall versus the Curve. He's allowed at least four runs in each of his two previous starts versus Altoona and suffered the loss in one of them. Combined, Gloor has allowed nine runs on 13 hits in 9.2 innings of baseball played against the Curve in 2013. He's actually been better away from The Diamond this season, going 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in two starts. Last time out, Gloor earned his first win of the season at home vs. Trenton despite giving up five runs (four earned) in five innings. He's permitted at least four earned runs in all but one of his five starts this year.
WALK THIS WAY: Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Neil Walker was 2-for-5 between the two games on Saturday night after playing all seven innings of game one and playing through two at bats in game two. He's scheduled to once again play for the Curve on Sunday and play a full nine innings in the series finale.
TAILLON VS. GLOOR TRILOGY: Today's starting pitching matchup will be the third time this season that Curve starter Jameson Taillon and Squirrels starter Chris Gloor have opposed one another and we're only 36 games into the season. Taillon won the first battle on April 17 at Peoples Natural Gas Field, spinning seven shutout innings en route to a win. In the second game on April 22 in Richmond, neither starter factored into the decision. Both allowed five runs with Taillon outlasting Gloor by working six innings (Gloor left after four).
HE EATS HIS WHEATIES: OF/1B Andrew Lambo was a combined 3-for-6 on Saturday between the two games to raise his average back over the .300 mark to .302. The Newbury Park, Calif. native has reached base safely in all but three of his 35 games this season and leads the team in home runs, RBI, hits and is second on the team in walks. Also of note, Lambo has hit the Richmond Flying Squirrels very well this season. In his nine games played against them, Lambo is hitting .400 (14-for-35) with two doubles and six RBI.
ZACK ATTACK: Reliever Zack Thornton made his Curve debut on Saturday night in game two and worked out of a jam in the sixth inning to strand the tying runs on the bases for Richmond. Thornton is in his first season with the Pirates organization after being acquired this offseason for pitcher Chris Resop in a deal with the Oakland A's. The California native converted on three of six save tries with the Marauders before being promoted earlier this week. Last season with Stockton of the California League, Thornton registered 16 saves.
TAKING AWAY THE RUNNING GAME: Catcher Carlos Paulino has been a force to be reckoned with behind the plate this season, throwing out 43.8 percent (14-of-32) of base stealers in 2013 entering play today. That's third-best in the circuit behind Portland's Christian Vazquez, who has thrown out 48.5 percent of base stealers, and Trenton's J.R. Murphy (46.7%).
Eastern League Stories from May 12, 2013
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