Altoona Curve Game Information: August 19, 2014
August 19, 2014 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ABOUT SUNDAY: More late-inning heroics from the Erie SeaWolves haunted the Curve on Sunday afternoon as Erie scored three times in the eighth inning to steal a, 4-3, win and complete a three-game sweep of the Curve. Altoona has now lost four straight games and dropped the season series to Erie, 15-7. Alen Hanson was 1-for-3 to run his on- base streak to 16 games while starter Zack Dodson fanned a career-high nine in a no decision. Dodson carved up the SeaWolves through the first two innings, matching his season-high five strikeout total before the end of the second frame.
Jarek Cunningham smashed a homer onto the lower roof of the neighboring Erie Insurance Arena for his eighth home run of the year.
CURVE/RUBBERDUCKS SERIES: The Curve will finish up their road trip with a three-game series in Canal Park against the Akron RubberDucks. Altoona has not done well against the Indians' Double-A club, owning a 5-12 record against them this season. The Curve and 'Ducks seemed to meet up almost every week during the first couple months of the season, but this series is the first time that Altoona and Akron have squared off since mid-May. This series marks the final time the two teams will meet in 2014.
FOR ALTOONA: LHP Jhonathan Ramos will try to snap Altoona's four-game losing streak and on the hill in game one versus Akron. Ramos has squared off against Akron six times this season (all in relief) and is 1-0 with a 6.48 ERA in those six games. In his last start, the Venezuela native allowed just one run on four hits over 5.2 innings and received a no-decision against Trenton. This month has been one of the best months in Ramos' career. The southpaw has al- lowed only one run over 13.2 innings pitched thus far and has ten strikeouts. Ramos was acquired by the Pirates as a non-drafted free agent in 2006. For more on Ramos, see page two.
FOR AKRON: The RubberDucks will send RHP Will Roberts to the hill in the first game of the series. This season, the Virginia native is 12-11 with a 3.97 ERA in 24 outings. Roberts is winless against the Curve in two starts and holds a 6.55 ERA. He faced the Curve for the first time this season on May 11 and was tagged fro six runs on ten hits over five innings. In his next outing against Altoona on May 22, Roberts put up a quality start. Roberts currently ranks second in the Eastern League in innings pitched and needs to go 3.1 innings to pass Adrian Sampson for the league-lead. Roberts also ranks second in wins and losses while entering tonight's ballgame fifth in the league in BB/ IP (1.80).
KICK-START YOUR GAME: Curve starting pitching has been excellent this month, owning a 2.73 ERA (32 ER/105.2 IP) and has kept the Curve in almost all of the games this month. Curve starters have put together 11 quality starts during August which included two during the last series in Erie (Tom Harlan & Zack Dodson). As a whole this year, the starting pitching owns a 3.87 ERA.
DOG DAYS ARE FOR THE BIRDS: August is a month that has been kind to Zack Dodson throughout his minor league career. He boasts an ERA of 2.45 in three starts so far in August of 2014 which included an incredible start on Sunday. The southpaw struck out a career-high nine batters over 6.1 innings pitched but received a no-decision. Last August, Dodson went 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA in five starts for High-A Bradenton to finish his season on a high note. It was more of the same in 2011 when he was 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA in five August starts for the West Virginia Power.
ADIOS PELOTA!: Entering this series with the RubberDucks, the Curve have hit 109 home runs as a team, which is second-most in the Eastern League. It's the first time since the 2007 season that the team has eclipsed the 100 home run mark. Currently, the 109 home runs are sixth-most in a single season with the most being 141 from the '05 Curve. To crack the Top 5, they'll need to get to 113 (2000 Curve). Additionally, this year's team currently has five players with double-digit home runs, which is the second time in franchise history that it's happened. The 2004 team had six players in double figures while the '05 team had four. It's also been quite a number of years since a Curve batter hit 20 or more homers. Willy Garcia (18) and Stetson Allie (17) have a shot at being the first since 2005 when both Jose Bautista and Josh Bonifay both eclipsed 20 HRs.
BIG WILLY STYLE: Outfielder Willy Garcia slugged his 18th home run of the season in the loss on Friday night to Erie to tie his career-high set back in 2012 with West Virginia. That feat was done in 122 games while Garcia has only played in 112 games this season. He leads the team in RBI with 61, which is 16 shy of his career-best mark from 2012 when he drove home 77. Since June 1, Garcia has hit .314 (71-for-226) with 16 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 38 RBI.
TOMMY BOY: Southpaw Tom Harlan has enjoyed his starting role since being promoted here to Double-A. Through eight starts, Harlan is 3-2 and boasts a 2.93 ERA after throwing seven scoreless innings on Friday night in Erie. The seven frames set a new career-high in innings pitched for the Fresno State product, who's prior career high was 6.1 innings on two different occasions earlier this year with the Curve. Prior to this stint with the Curve, Harlan had only made one career start since being drafted in 2012.
WALKA WALKA: Stetson Allie has made huge improvements this season in just his second full year as a hitter. The 23-year-old was hitting .207 during the first two months of the season (49 games) and is hitting .284 (54-for- 190) since May 1. This month alone, Allie is hitting .298 and has struck out 11 times in 47 at bats while drawing 15 walks. The Florida native currently ranks fourth in the league with 63 walks and owns a .363 on-base percent- age.
INCOMING FLIGHT: With the loss of Sampson and Diaz, the Pittsburgh Pirates have assigned Ramon Cabrera and Matt Nevarez to the Altoona Curve roster. Cabrera was acquired by the Pirates from the Tigers on waivers and, coincidentally, made his 2014 Curve debut against his former team in Erie. The catcher was a part of the Altoona Curve in 2012 and was an Eastern League All-Star that season plus this year with the Howlers. Nevarez was signed by the Pirates and placed on the Curve roster on Sunday from Inde- pendent ball. The 27-year-old was originally drafted by the Rangers in 2005 and last played in affiliated ball in 2013 for the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate in Montgomery. He was 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 35 relief outings with the Wichita Wingnuts and tallied 23 saves.
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