Altoona Curve Game Information
September 3, 2016 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
YESTERDAY: The Curve had their 13-game winning streak against Richmond snapped in a 4-2 loss. Steve Lerud worked a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to break a 2-2 tie and Angel Villalona added a run with an RBI single against Miguel Rosario, who issued four walks in the inning. The Curve took a 2-1 lead in the third with an RBI double by Erich Weiss and a run-scoring single from Kevin Newman. Clay Holmes matched a career high with five walks issued, but held Richmond to two runs over 5.2 innings. Jared Lakind pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
TONIGHT: The Curve continue the final regular-season series of the year with the second of four games against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Altoona had won 13 consecutive games against Richmond this year, dating back to April 22, prior to last night's loss. The Curve have won four of their last six games, including taking three of four against Binghamton at home. The Flying Squirrels took three of four games against Hartford in their last series.
FOR ALTOONA: Lefty Cody Dickson makes his 26th start of the year for the Curve. His last appearance was out of the bullpen on Monday, when Dickson threw three scoreless innings and earned the first save of his career against Binghamton. In his last start on August 24, Dickson worked five innings in a no-decision and allowed one earned run. Dickson went 8-1 with a 2.40 ERA (21 ER/78.2 IP) in 14 starts from May 7-July 22, and has gone 2-2 with a 3.62 ERA (11 ER/27.1 IP) in last five starts. He has won ten of his last 13 decisions. Dickson was named Altoona Curve Pitcher of the Year on September 1. The Arlington, Texas native was selected in the fourth round in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Pirates out of Sam Houston State, where he was teammates for one season with fellow Altoona starter Tyler Ep- pler. For more on Dickson, see page two.
FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Sam Coonrod makes his 13th start of the year for the Flying Squirrels. Last time out, he was charged with a loss after allowing seven earned runs in 5.1 innings on Sunday at Akron. In his first 11 starts, Coonrod went 4-2 with a 2.55 ERA. The St. Louis native was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Southern Illinois. He last pitched against Altoona on August 3 at PNG Field and allowed one earned run on four hits in 5.1 innings in a no-decision.
PLAYOFF HUNT: The Curve are 13 games over .500. Altoona, Akron and Harrisburg are still in the chase for the two postseason spots from the Western Division. The Curve's "Magic Number" over both Akron and Harrisburg is cur- rently two. The Curve took over first place in the division for the first time on June 26, and have held that spot in the standings for 54 of their 61 games since. Last year, the Curve won the Western Division Wild Card and went to the playoffs for the first time since their E.L. title run in 2010. They have not appeared in consecutive postseasons since the first four playoff trips in franchise history in four straight years from 2003-06.
COMEBACK CURVE: The Curve have outscored opponents 124-88 in the 8th inning or later this season and have 36 total come-from-behind wins. The Curve have won seven times this year after trailing through eight innings, the most in the league. The three closest teams in that category, New Hampshire, Richmond and Reading, have each done it four times.
DU-RAP IT UP: Altoona closer Montana DuRapau leads active Eastern League relievers with 22 saves this year, second-most overall, sits first with 42 games finished and fourth in total games pitched with 49. His 22 saves are tied for fourth-most in a single season in Altoona franchise history. He is tied for the second-most saves for a Curve pitcher in a season since 2007 behind only the 24 by Noah Krol in 2011. The Curve are 58-2 when leading heading into the ninth inning.
BOMBS AWAY: Curve outfielder Stetson Allie now sits in third place on the Curve's all-time list with 53 home runs, dating back to 2014. Allie moved ahead of Ray Sadler with his 42nd career homer on May 27 at Bowie for third all- time. Josh Bonifay and Adam Hyzdu both share the franchise record with 55 homers hit while wearing an Altoona jersey. Dating back to the start of the 2014 season, Allie leads the Eastern League in home runs, ahead of Jake Fox (49), Quincy Latimore (45), Dean Green (41), Dylan Cozens (38), Rhys Hoskins (37), Steven Moya (35).
BARNES BOUNCING BACK: After hitting just one homer through his first 100 games, Barrett Barnes hit four home runs in six games from August 9-16 and has hit eight homers in 20 games since August 9. He hit .249 in his first 70 games through July 4, but has since raised his average to .311, tied for fifth-best in the league. In his last 51 games since July 5, Barnes has hit .392 (67/171), tops in the E.L. during that span, with eight homers, 15 doubles and 31 RBIs. Barnes has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week twice in the month of August, winning the honor for the week of August 15 and was named Player of the Week again on Monday morning.
AWARDS SEASON: The Curve announced their annual team awards on Thursday night, and Barrett Barnes was named Most Valuable Player. Cody Dickson was selected as Pitcher of the Year, Erich Weiss was picked as the team's Iron Man, Montana DuRapau was the Fireman of the Year, while Eric Wood and Jon Schwind were the Co-Unsung Heroes.
PROSPECT WATCH: The Curve roster currently features six of MLB.com's Mid-Season Top 30 Pirates Prospects: Kevin Nemwan (4), Nick Kingham (10), Clay Holmes (11), Brandon Waddell (19), Tyler Eppler (21) and Barrett Barnes (26). This year's team previously included four other players ranked in MLB.com's top 30, including Tyler Glasnow (1), Austin Meadows (2), Elias Diaz (9), Dovydas Neverauskas (23), Jose Osuna (28) and Edgar Santana (29), plus Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez, who were ranked fifth and sixth respec- tively prior to being traded to Toronto in July.
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