EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: April 17, 2017

Published on April 17, 2017 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


SATURDAY: The Curve capped a three-game, home-opening sweep of the Akron RubberDucks with a 2-1 win. Tanner Anderson worked 5.2 scoreless innings. Sean Keselica pitched through 2.1 perfect frames to bridge the gap to the ninth, and Montana DuRapau worked around a run to hold of Akron for his third save. The Curve scored their only two runs of the game with a two-run homer by Edwin Espinal in the fourth inning. It was the first sweep of Akron by Altoona since 2010. It was the Curve's fourth straight win overall. TONIGHT: The Curve continue the first homestand of the season with the first of three games against the Erie Sea- Wolves, the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The Curve went 13-7 against the SeaWolves last season hold a 28-12 record against them since the start of the 2015 season. FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Yeudy Garcia makes his second start for the Curve. In his Double-A debut at Richmond on Wednesday, Garcia was lifted after throwing 30 pitches in the first inning, recording two outs and allowed two runs on one hit and two walks. He spent last year with the A-Adv. Bradenton Marauders, where he went 6-8 with a 2.76 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and averaged a strikeout per inning. In 2015, Garcia went 12-5 with a 2.10 EAR for the Single-A West Virginia Power and was named the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Garcia enters 2017 as the Pirates' No. 12 prospect on MLB.com and Baseball America's No. 16 Pirates prospect. For more on Garcia, see page two.

FOR ERIE: Lefty Anthony Vasquez makes his second start of the season for the SeaWolves. in his Tigers organization debut on Tuesday, Vasquez worked seven innings and allowed two runs against Bowie and picked up a win. He spent last season splitting time between Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley with the Phillies organization, where he com- bined to go 12-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 28 games (27 starts). He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 18th round in 2009 out of USC and debuted in the majors in 2011, working seven starts with a 1-6 record and a 8.90 ERA.

HOME COOKING: The Curve are off to a 3-0 start at home, their best home start since 2010, when they also started 3-0 at home and eventually began the season 7-1 in games at PNG Field. It is tied for the fifth-best home start in the franchise's history. The Curve began the season 5-0 at home in 2003 and 2006 and 4-0 in 2000 and 2004. KRAMERICA INDUSTRIES: Curve second baseman Kevin Kramer is off to a hot start, hitting .452 (14/31) through his first nine games, fifth-best in the league, including three home runs. He had two homers on Thursday in the Curve's home opener, including a go-ahead blast in the eighth inning. A second-round pick out of UCLA in 2013, Kramer is currently leading the Eastern League with a .575 on-base percentage and an .871 slugging percentage. HELLO, NEWMAN: Shortstop Kevin Newman is the top-ranked prospect on this year's Curve roster, rated at No. 4 in the Pirates organization by both MLB.com and Baseball America. He made his Double-A debut with the Curve last season and led the Pirates' organization with a .320 overall batting average in his first full professional season, includ- ing a .288 mark with the Curve in 61 games. Newman was selected in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of the University of Arizona. Newman got off to a hot start, hitting .388 (7/18) in his first four games but he is batting .125 (2/16) over his last six games. DU-RAP IT UP: Altoona closer Montana DuRapau finished second in the Eastern League with 22 saves last year, tied for fourth-most in Curve history. It was tied for the second-most for a Curve pitcher in a season since 2007, behind only 24 by Noah Krol in 2011. He finished last season first in the EL with 43 games finished and fourth with 50 appearances. DuRapau picked up a save on Saturday, moving him into sole possession of third place on the Curve's all-time saves list with 25, trailing only Matt Peterson (29, 2003-06) and Brandon Knight (27, 2006). ROSTER: The 2017 Curve roster has 10 players that have worn an Altoona uniform prior to this season. 14 are play- ing at the Double-A level for the first time in their careers. There are 13 pitchers and 12 position players on the Curve roster. 24 of the 25 players were originally signed or drafted by the Pirates, with the lone exception being catcher Zane Chavez. 23 players have played with only the Pirates organization in their professional careers (RHP Buddy Borden spent time in the Tampa Bay organization). FAMILIAR FACES: The ten players who were with the Curve last year include pitchers Montana DuRapau, John Kuch- no, Jared Lakind, Alex McRae, Miguel Rosario and Brandon Waddell, catcher Tomas Morales, infielders Edwin Espinal and Kevin Newman, as well as outfielder Elvis Escobar. DuRapau and Kuchno also spent time on the Altoona roster in 2015. Kuchno and Morales are the only two players on the team with an experience above the Double-A level. A NEW SKIPPER: For the third consecutive season, the Curve will led by a brand new manager in 2017. Indiana, Pa. native Michael Ryan takes over as the manager for the Curve this year after leading the A-Adv. Bradenton Marauders to a championship in the Florida State League last season. Ryan was a coach with the Curve in 2012 before spending the next two years man- aging the West Virginia Power in the South Atlantic League. He moved up to Bradenton in 2015 for the first of his two seasons there. Ryan was drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of Indiana Area High School in 1996 and he went on to play in 15 professional seasons, including five in the majors with the Twins from 2002-05 and the Los Angeles Angels in 2010. The last two managers, Tom Prince and Joey Cora, are now members of the Pirates' major league coaching staff. PROSPECT WATCH: The Curve roster currently features four of MLB.com's Top 30 Pirates Prospects: Kevin Nemwan (4), Yeudy Garcia (13), Brandon Waddell (17) and Kevin Kramer (21). The same four players are also ranked in Baseball America's Top 30 Pittsburgh prospects list: Newman (4), Garcia (16), Waddell (17) and Kramer (21). B.A. also named Newman as the organization's "Best Hitter for Average" and Waddell as having the "Best Changeup." Overall Record .......................................... 7-3

Home ................................................. 3-0

Road .................................................. 4-3 Place (E.L. Western) .................................1st Games Ahead/Behind ................................-- Streak..........................................................W4 Last 5 .......................................................... 4-1 Last 10 ........................................................ 7-3 2016 vs. Erie ...........................................13-7

at Altoona ........................................ 6-3

at Erie ............................................... 7-4 All-time vs. Erie ...............................185-177

at Altoona ................................... 86-89

at Erie .........................................100-88 '17 Home Attendance .......................15,750 Home Openings ........................................... 3 Average Attendance ............................5,250 Team W-L PCT GB Today Altoona 7-3 .700 -- v. ERI Erie 6-3 .667 0.5 @ ALT Bowie 6-4 .600 1.0 v. RIC Harrisburg 5-5 .500 2.0 @ HFD Richmond 4-6 .400 3.0 @ BOW Akron 2-8 .200 5.0 @ REA Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Max Gun will call the action of the 2017 season on the flagship of the Curve, News Talk 1240, WRTA in Altoona. Pregame coverage begins 15 min. before all games. The Curve can also be heard on the following affiliate stations for selected games: - WKMC-AM 1370 AM in Roaring Spring - WTRN-AM 1340 in Tyrone - WTRN-FM 100.7 in Tyrone - WWGE 1400 AM in Ebensburg - Online streaming at AltoonaCurve.com provided by TuneIn Radio - Via the TuneIn Radio App and the MiLB First Pitch App 2017 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS 2017 CURVE AT A GLANCE BROADCAST INFORMATION THIS DATE IN CURVE HISTORY In 2015, the Curve beat the Rubber- Ducks, 2-1, behind a seven-strikeout game by Tyler Glasnow, who allowed one run in six innings. Collin Balester closed out the save. Gift Ngoepe drove in Altoona's only two runs in the second inning with a double. ON THE HOMESTAND Games ....................................................................3 Record ...............................................................3-0 Average .......................................... .298 (22/85) Runs/Runs Per Game ...........................10/3.3 Home Runs...........................................................3 RISP ................................................... .177 (3/17) Errors ......................................................................3 ERA .........................................1.67 (5 ER/27 IP) Starter W-L ......................................................2-0 Starter ERA .......................2.12 (4 ER/17.0 IP) Reliever W-L ...................................................1-0 Reliever ERA ......................1.00 (1 ER/9.0 IP) Saves/Opps .....................................................2/2 April 17, 2017 -- Game #11, Home Game #4 Erie SeaWolves (6-3) vs. Altoona Curve (7-3) LHP Anthony Vasquez (1-0, 2.57) vs. RHP Yeudy Garcia (0-0, 27.00) 6 p.m. | Peoples Natural Gas Field | Altoona, Pa.

Radio -- News Talk 1240, WRTA | TV -- MiLB.TV Tues., April 18 Erie 6 p.m. RHP Myles (0-1, 0.00) vs. RHP Alex McRae (2-0, 0.82) Wed., April 19 Erie 6 p.m. LHP Tyler Alexander (0-1, 6.23) vs. RHP J.T. Brubaker (1-1, 4.76) Thurs., April 20 OFF DAY Fri., April 21 at Akron 6:35 p.m. RHP Tanner Anderson (1-0, 0.84) vs. RHP Nick Pasquale (0-0, 4.66) UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 2010 DIVISION CHAMPIONS 2004, 2010 PLAYOFF APPEARANCES 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015, 2016 PLAYERS TO MLB 138 Team W-L PCT GB Today Portland 8-3 .667 -- @ BIN New Hamp. 5-4 .556 1.0 @ TRN Trenton 5-4 .556 1.0 v. NHM Binghamton 4-5 .444 2.0 v. POR Reading 4-5 .444 2.0 v. AKR Hartford 3-7 .300 3.5 v. HAR 2017 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS BATTING AVG.: .257 (5th) TEAM HR: 7 (T-5th) WALKS: 36 (T-3rd) STRIKEOUTS: 84 (4th) TEAM ERA: 2.67 (1st) WALKS: 30 (7th) STRIKEOUTS: 78 (5th) () -- EL Rank BATTING AVG.: .244 (9th) TEAM HR: 12 (T-2nd) WALKS: 41 (1st) STRIKEOUTS: 82 (T-5th) TEAM ERA: 4.28 (7th) WALKS: 25 (11th) STRIKEOUTS: 75 (8th) () -- EL Rank

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