Altoona Curve Game Information: April 14, 2014
April 14, 2014 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ABOUT YESTERDAY: A second outing in Double-A did not treat Joely Rodriguez well as the Squirrels scored four times in the third inning en route to a, 7-3, victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. Rodriguez (0-1) worked through a clean first inning before giving up a single run in the second and four more in the third. He did not come out to pitch the fourth. Altoona's offense was held hitless by Squirrels southpaw Kelvin Marte (1-0) through the first four frames before Mel Rojas, Jr. grabbed an infield single in the fifth. Jarek Cunningham later drove him in with a double to give the Curve their first run of the game. Things got a tad bit interesting in the eighth when the Curve scored three times to pull within three and bring the tying run to the plate. Rojas flew out for the second out before Stetson Allie was caught stealing second as part of a double steal and the inning and threat were over. Rojas led Curve hitters with two hits in the loss.
CURVE/SENATORS SERIES: This is the first of 14 meetings between the Curve and their closest geographical rival the Harrisburg Senators. Seven games will be played here at Metro Bank Park and the other seven will take place at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Curve, Pa.
FOR ALTOONA: Southpaw Zack Dodson makes his third career Double-A start (second of 2014) tonight when he takes the mound on City Island versus the Senators. In his first start of 2014, Dodson permitted five runs (three earned) in four innings to the Akron RubberDucks last Wednesday. A fourth-round pick by the Pirates in 2009 out of Medina Valley (Texas) HS, Dodson is in his first full assignment at the Double-A level in 2014. Last season, Dodson missed the first part of the season before joining the Bradenton Marauders. He was promoted to Altoona for a spot start in Binghamton for the second game of a twinbill in late August before returning to Bradenton. Upon returning, Dodson spun seven hitless innings in a start at Charlotte on August 11. For more on Dodson, see page two.
FOR HARRISBURG: Striding to the hill for the Senators in the first of three games is RHP Blake Schwartz, who is in his first season at Double-A. Schwartz, 24, spent a majority of the 2013 season with the Potomac Nationals where he was 11-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 23 starts. He didn't have huge strikeout totals while with Potomac, fanning 80 in 132.2 innings pitched, but held opponents to a .236 BAA and permitted just 26 walks. He was a 17th round selec- tion out of Oklahoma City University in 2012 by the Nationals. He's had a rough go of it so far in his two starts this season with opponents hitting .459 off him in his two starts. He's also allowed a total of 13 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits in a combined eight innings.
A GIFT FOR YOU: Second baseman Gift Ngoepe has gotten out of the gate well for the Curve in his second go around at the Double-A level here in 2014. Through the first nine games, Ngoepe is hitting .310 with a pair of extra base hits, three RBI and seven walks. Ngoepe drew five of those walks in the four-game series with the Squirrels over the weekend and had multiple at bats that went seven pitches or more. For comparison's sake, through the first nine games of 2013, Ngoepe was hitting .185 with 11 strikeouts.
SIX SHOOTER: Second baseman Gift Ngoepe and center fielder Mel Rojas, Jr. are currently riding team-best six game hitting streaks into today's opener with the Senators on City Island. Third baseman Jarek Cunningham has reached base in six straight games since April 6.
PITCH ON THE PITCH: Despite the struggles over the final few games in Richmond, the Curve pitching staff still checks in with the third-best ERA in the 12-team Eastern League. Nick Kingham has the fifth-best ERA (0.75) and the third-best batting average against (.158) for any pitcher in the league. Tuesday night's starter Adrian Sampson has the fifth-best WHIP of anyone in the league at 0.91.
KING'S RANSOM: Nick Kingham gave up his first run of the 2014 season in his final inning of work on Friday night versus the Squirrels and now has a 0.75 ERA through his first two starts. He began the season with 11 scoreless innings and fanned 10 batters in 12 innings of work. He is scheduled to throw in the series finale with Harrisburg on Wednesday morning.
PROSPECTOR: The 2014 Altoona Curve Opening Day roster contains seven of the Top-30 prospects in the Pirates system according to Baseball America. Nick Kingham (No. 5), Alen Hanson (No. 6), Willy Garcia (No. 14), Stetson Allie (No. 23), Adrian Sampson (No. 27), Gift Ngoepe (No. 29), and Joely Rodriguez (No. 30) make up the seven players on the list. Kingham also is listed as having the system's best changeup and best control, Ngoepe the sys- tem's best defensive infielder and Garcia the best outfield arm. Hanson also found himself on some additional pros- pect lists entering the 2014 season, checking in as the 67th-best prospect entering 2014 according to MLB.com and the 76th-best in the Baseball America Top-100. Kingham joined Hanson on the BA list and is slotted as the 64th-best prospect in MiLB.
HE MUST WORKOUT: Outfielder Willy Garcia (No. 14 - Baseball America) joins the Curve to start the season, which will be his first in Double-A. Garcia led the entire Pirates minor league system and Florida State League in outfield assists in 2013, throwing out 20 runners. The Curve record for outfield assists in a season is 18, which was set by Starling Marte in 2011.
HUNGRY HOWIE: Justin Howard returns to Altoona to begin the 2014 season after putting up an impressive campaign with the Curve in 2013. Howard, who didn't play consistently the first few months of the season, ended up being one of the best hitters in all of Double-A over the last few months of the season. The University of New Mexico product batted .333 after June 1 (80-for-240) with seven homers and 26 RBI. The .333 aver- age was the third-best average for any player at the Double-A level over the same time frame with at least 70 games played.
Eastern League Stories from April 14, 2014
- One-Run Loss Looms Large over Curve again in Harrisubrg - Altoona Curve
- Mitchell Fans 12 in 2-0 Thunder Shutout Win - Trenton Thunder
- Fightins Hit Their Way to 7-4 Win in Richmond - Reading Fightin Phils
- Schimpf Powers Fisher Cats to 3-2 Win - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Thunder Strikes at Canal Park as RubberDucks Lose, 2-0 - Akron RubberDucks
- Fightins Land First Punch in Series, 7-4 - Richmond Flying Squirrels
- Six Pack Sixth Powers Sea Dogs 9-4 - Portland Sea Dogs
- Sixth Inning Dooms B-Mets in 9-4 Loss - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- TNA Impact Wrestling 2014 World Tour Coming to Bowie - Chesapeake Baysox
- Altoona Curve Game Information: April 14, 2014 - Altoona Curve
- B-Mets Game Notes: Game #11 - B-Mets (7-3) at Portland Sea Dogs (6-4) - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- Sea Dogs Honor over 1,400 Students for Reading - Portland Sea Dogs
- Sea Dogs Game Notes April 14 vs. Binghamton (Game 11) - Portland Sea Dogs
- Betts & Owens Win Weekly League Awards - Portland Sea Dogs
- Rock Cats Add Major League Veteran - New Britain Rock Cats
- Baysox Celebrate Pi(e), Pregnant Mothers - Chesapeake Baysox
- Eastern League Weekly Award Winners Announced - EL1
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
