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Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: August 1, 2013

August 1, 2013 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: A two-run eighth inning allowed the Curve to slip by the Binghamton Mets, 3-2, on Wednes- day night at Peoples Natural Gas Field and claim their first win over the B-Mets at home this season. With one out, Alen Hanson grabbed his first Double-A hit by beating out an infield hit to the right side. He then flew around the bases on a double to the left-center gap by Adalberto Santos to tie the game up at two apiece. After Gregory Polanco struck out with the tying run at second and one out, Alex Dickerson delivered the game-winning hit with an RBI single to left field to score Santos from second and put the Curve in front. Luis Sanz worked around a walk to close down his 13th save in as many tries in the ninth to convert on the team's 51st victory of the 2013 campaign. Starter Jameson Taillon, who was pitching for the first time since July 18 after missing time with a stiff neck, worked five efficient innings, allowing one run (in the fifth) on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Zack Thornton (1- 0) worked two innings of relief for his first win in Double-A this season while striking out three. Polanco finished the day with the team's only multi-hit game.

CURVE/METS SERIES: Binghamton visits Altoona for a final time this season Tuesday through Thursday at Peoples Natural Gas Field. These two teams will play four more times after the conclusion of this series with all four meet- ings taking place at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton.

FOR ALTOONA: Hoping to lead the Curve to a second straight series win will be LHP Eliecer Navarro, who faces the Binghamton Mets for the first time in his career. Navarro turned in a gutsy performance last time out, working through five innings and allowing just two runs on short rest in New Hampshire on Saturday. It was his third win in Double-A since being promoted and his second win since the All-Star Break. While he's never faced the B-Mets before, Navarro did face the St. Lucie Mets three times earlier this season while with High-A Bradenton. In those starts, Navarro was 0-3 with a respectable 3.38 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 16 innings.

FOR BINGHAMTON: Facing the Curve in the final game of the three-game series will be RHP Erik Goeddel, who makes his third start versus the Curve in 2013. Goeddel was the man on the mound when the rains came and sus- pended a game after just one inning of play back in Binghamton on July 1. In his full start against the Curve back on May 28, Goeddel took a no decision with a quality start. The Hillsborough, Calif. native allowed three runs on three hits in six innings while fanning six. He's been on point since the break, going 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in three starts. Last time through, he took a loss vs. Trenton after walking four in 4.2 innings and allowing four runs.

HELLOGOODBYE: The Curve capped the month of July with a 15th win to finish the calendar month 15-11 and maintain back-to-back winning months. Altoona is 30-23 since the calendar flipped into June. ALEXANDER THE REALLY REALLY GREAT: Alex Dickerson has been on a torrid pace since June 1, going 70-for- 194 (.361) with 19 doubles, 11 home runs and 45 RBI in 52 games. That streak has been one of the best in all of Double-A, going well enough for the third-best average in Double-A behind Maikel Franco (.370) of Reading. His 14 home runs are just one shy of the team lead behind second baseman Jarek Cunningham's 15 while his 60 RBI lead the team. For his out-of-this-world week last week, Dickerson picked up his second E.L. Player of the Week nod on Monday and has now won the award in two of the past three weeks. Entering play on Thursday, Dickerson is among the league leaders in average (.300, T-7th), doubles (30, 1st), extra-base hits (46, 1st) and slugging percentage (.519, 3rd).

CONTAGION: They say hitting is contagious and that seems to be the case for the Curve during the last seven games. In the seven games, the Curve have put up hit totals of 10, 14, 15, 17, 12, 11 and 7 for a total of 86 hits (12.2 hits/game average). Of the 79 hits, 13 have come from Alex Dickerson while Jarek Cunningham can be credited for 12.

THAT SEVENTIES SHOW: Second baseman Jarek Cunningham is enjoying a seven-game hit streak, his longest of the season. During the seven games, Cunningham has raised his batting average from .211 to its current spot at .231. He's hit 13-for-29 (.448) with four doubles, one homer, 7 RBI and five runs scored.

GOING ALEN: The Curve have made some roster moves on the off day before the series with Binghamton and have received shortstop Alen Hanson from High-A Bradenton. Hanson entered the season as the fifth-best prospect in the Pirates system according to Baseball America and the second-highest position player ranked behind Curve CF Greg- ory Polanco. Hanson was in his first season with the Marauders and was batting .281 with 23 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs and 48 RBI to go along with 24 steals and 51 runs scored in 92 games. A native of the Dominican Republic, Hanson had his nine-game hitting streak as well as an eight-game RBI streak snapped on Tuesday when he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in his Double-A debut for the Curve. He started his Double-A career 0-for-8 before singling in the eighth inning of Wednesday night's game for his first Double-A hit.

JUUUUSSTIN: Curve 1B Justin Howard, like teammate Alex Dickerson, has been on fire since the calendar read June 1. Howard has hit .358 (49-for- 137) with five doubles, two homers, 14 RBI and 24 walks in 47 games. That streak is fourth-best in all of Double-A behind the aforementioned Franco of Reading.

HATS FOR BATS, KEEP BATS WARM: The Curve bats have really taken off as a team since June 1 came around. On June 1, the Curve were hitting .229 as a team, which was last in the Eastern League. Entering play today, the Curve as a team are hitting .255 and are fifth in the circuit in terms of team batting average. Since June, the Curve have hit .281 (479-for-1706) as a team and batted .291 in 25 games during July. Leading the charge last month was been Alex Dickerson, who hit .413 with 10 doubles, six home runs, 27 RBI and 23 runs scored in 26 games en route to putting himself in contention for a Player of the Month nod.

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