Altoona Curve Game Information: May 23, 2013
Published on May 23, 2013 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ABOUT YESTERDAY...: A four-homer night on Wednesday turned out not to be enough for the Curve in a, 7-5, walk- off loss to the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium. Jarek Cunningham hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to put the Curve back in front, 5-4, before the Fightins' Anthony Hewitt smashed a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win for Reading and send the Curve to their fifth-straight loss. Altoona actually carried a one-run lead for much of the game thanks to a three-run fourth inning that was made possible by solo homers from Andrew Lambo, Charlie Cutler and Justin Howard. From there, starter David Bromberg took over and piloted with the Curve in front until the eighth. He departed with a runner out at second base and one out before Nate Baker came in to try and get out of the inning with the lead intact. Baker got Tyson Gillies to ground out, which moved the runner Hewitt to third, and then induced a ground ball off the bat of Edgar Duran out to short. Shortstop Gift Ngoepe had trouble with the exchange on the grounder and his throw to first was late, allowing Hewitt to score the game-tying run. An error was assessed to Ngoepe and it made the fourth run against Bromberg unearned. He lasted a total of 7.1 innings, gave up four unearned runs and struck out eight in a no decision. Jason Townsend (1-2) gave up the homer in the ninth and suffered the loss.
CURVE/FIGHTINS SERIES: The Curve and the Reading Fightin Phils meet for the first time this season in the four- game series at FirstEnergy Stadium. It will be the only time that the two clubs meet in Reading in 2013 but they'll have a pair of series in Curve, Pa. (one in early June and the other in mid-August). FOR ALTOONA: RHP Casey Sadler aims to be the stopper on Thursday morning and lead the Curve to a road trip closing win. Sadler was on the mound for the first game of this seven-game road trip and spun seven scoreless in- nings last Friday in Richmond to earn his fifth win of the season. The 22-year-old has thrown at least seven innings six starts this season and in four straight outings entering today's start. He's been even more dominant on the road, dishing out a 0.67 ERA and a 4-0 record in four games away from Peoples Natural Gas Field. In his last 15 innings on the road, Sadler has not allowed an earned run. For more on Sadler, see page two.
FOR READING: Guiding the Reading Fightins on Thursday morning will be RHP David Buchanan, who begins his second season in Baseballtown after opening the 2012 campaign in Reading. He made 12 starts for the then R-Phils and was 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA before he had to have surgery performed on his middle finger on his pitching hand to repair a tendon. He missed the middle portion of the season last year before returning to the mound at the end of the year in High-A with Clearwater. He's returned fully healthy this year and allowed 32 earned runs in nine starts for his 5.65 ERA. Numbers-wise, he's thrown the ball much better at home with a 2.89 ERA in three home starts compared to six road outings where his ERA is 7.24. Last time out, Buchanan allowed two runs in five innings to Harrisburg on May 18.
#THATPOWER: Altoona hit a season-high four home runs in the loss on Wednesday night in Reading to run their sea- son total as a team to 35. Andrew Lambo and Charlie Cutler went back-to-back in the fourth inning to become the first duo to go back-to-back this season for the Curve. The last time a pair of Curve batters went back-to-back? July 23, 2012 in Reading when Adalberto Santos and Matt Curry dialed long distance in succession. The three home runs in the fourth inning also was the first time the Curve hit more than one home run as a team in the same inning this season.
A HECKUVA SALES PITCH: The Curve pitching staff ranks second in the Eastern League entering play today with its 3.86 team ERA. Despite going 1-5 on the current road trip, the pitching staff has an ERA of 3.28 through the first six games of the seven-game roadie. Casey Sadler (who once again will now start today) has the fifth-best ERA in the league at 2.79 while teammate Jameson Taillon checks in eighth with his 3.02 ERA. Taillon's 57 strikeouts are fourth-most in the circuit while Sadler has 58.0 innings logged this season,which is second-most in the league.
THE RETURN OF THE HOMER: The Curve have spent six days away from Peoples Natural Gas Field and have hit nine homers on the current road trip to break a seven-game home run drought that occurred during the last homes- tand. Jarek Cunningham, Charlie Cutler, Justin Howard, Andrew Lambo, Gift Ngoepe and Adalberto Santos have all gone deep so far in the first six games with Cunningham and Lambo each having two homers. However, the Curve went 5-2 on the homerless homestand and have gone 1-5 on this road trip.
HE EATS HIS WHEATIES: OF/1B Andrew Lambo homered for the second time on the road trip on Wednesday and continued his impressive streak of reaching base in all but three games to start the season (41-of-44). Lambo leads the team in home runs, RBI, hits and is tied for the team lead in walks. His nine home runs are tied for third-most in the EL entering play today.
THE THRILL OF THE CHASE: 2010 Curve SS Chase d'Arnaud joined the Curve on Saturday night to continue his ML rehab assignment as he is recovering from a partially torn ligament in his left thumb that he suffered in Spring Training. He played in two games with High-A Bradenton earlier this week (Thursday and Friday) and went a combined 2-for-6 with a triple, RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. In his three rehab games with the Curve so far, d'Arnaud is 1-for-11 with a run scored.
DON'T FORGET YOUR TOOTHBRUSH: The Curve are now six games into one of the tougher stretches on their 2013 schedule. Altoona is in a period of the season where they are playing 13-of-17 games away from home with- out the benefit of a day off. Done with the series in Richmond, the Curve are now in the final game of the four-game series with the Reading Fightin Phils in their only trip to FirstEnergy Stadium this season. Then it's back home on Friday for a Memorial Day weekend series with Richmond before its back on the road through Binghamton and Portland.
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