EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: April 21, 2014

Published on April 21, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT SATURDAY: Altoona dropped the rubber game to the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-3 on Saturday afternoon. Trailing 1-0 going into their first turn at-bat, the Curve tied the game when Mel Rojas, Jr. hit into an RBI ground out. After the Squirrels scored a run in the next two innings to take a 3-1 lead, Willy Garcia hit safely for his fifth straight game that scored Rojas. In the fifth, Richmond scored four combined runs off Joely Rodriguez and Matt Benedict. The Curve put up a run on a bases loaded walk by Rojas in the seventh, but Altoona failed to rally any more in the game and lost their fifth game in seven meetings against the Squirrels. Rojas finished the game 1-for-3 with two RBIs, two walks, and a run scored.

CURVE/SENATORS SERIES: Monday's matchup marks the third time that Altoona and Harrisburg will square off against each other this season. Last week, the Curve played only two games against the Nationals' Double-A affiliate, squandering a two run lead and losing 4-3 last Monday and winning 5-2 on Wednesday. Last Tuesday's game was postponed due to inclement weather and rescheduled for July 12th in Harrisburg. All told, the Curve and Senators will meet 14 times this season with seven games played at Peoples Natural Gas Field and seven at Metro Bank Park.

Altoona holds the all-time record against Harrisburg with a 149-128 record including 79 wins in 129 games in Curve, Pa.

FOR ALTOONA: Left handed pitcher Zack Dodson will make his second consecutive start against the Harrisburg Senators on Monday night. In his last start, the southpaw tossed 5.2 innings of shutout baseball and left with a 1-0 lead with two outs in the sixth. After the Curve plated two more runs in the seventh to take a three-run lead, the bullpen relinquished the lead by giving up three in the home half of the eighth and the Senators scored a run in the tenth to win in walk-off fashion. This season, Dodson is 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA. For more on Dodson, see page two.

FOR HARRISBURG: Right hander Blake Schwartz will start on the bump tonight for the Senators. The Rosemount, Minn. native had a good game against Altoona last Monday at Metro Bank Park with only one run through five in- nings and he struck out seven Curve hitters but received a no-decision. Schwartz this season is 0-2 with a 7.62 ERA through three games. The high ERA comes from his first two outings against Bowie and New Britain, respectively. In his first eight innings between the two starts, the right hander gave up ten earned runs. BETTER CALL, PAUL(INO): Carlos Paulino was transferred to the Altoona Curve roster from Indianapolis earlier today. The catcher was batting .207 with the Indianapolis Indians through ten games. Last year, Paulino was a mainstay behind the plate, playing in 99 games before a late season promotion to Triple-A. With the Curve last year, Paulino drove in 38 runs and was also behind the plate when Altoona no-hit the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on July 25 on the road. Paulino was acquired by the Pirates on March 30, 2011 in a trade with the Florida Marlins in exchange for infielder Jim Negrych.

ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: Curve catcher Elias Diaz has rocketed out of the gate in 2014. Through his first 10 games, Diaz is batting a smoldering .424 with three doubles and three RBI to go along with a pair of walks and just four strikeouts. He's hit safely in eight of his ten games and he's also thrown out seven of 20 basestealers (35%) from behind the plate. Because he didn't play on Saturday, Diaz fell out of the league leaders in hitting but would rank second behind Portland's Mookie Betts (.453) if he qualified with his current batting average. Last season for Bradenton, Diaz hit .279 in 57 games with 12 doubles and 15 RBI.

IT'S MILLER TIME: Reliever Quinton Miller made his first appearance with the Curve on Saturday, working 1.1 per- fect innings and striking out the side in the seventh. Last season, the right hander made 31 appearances (two starts) with the Curve and went 1-5 with a 3.75 ERA. The Indianapolis native also played ten games in High-A Bradenton, amassing a 3.77 ERA during his stint in the Florida State League.

A GIFT FOR YOU: Second baseman Gift Ngoepe saw his ten-game on base streak snap on Saturday after failing to reach base when he pinch hit in the ninth. However, Ngoepe has started his season off well so in his second go around with the Curve. Despite not registering any hits in his last few games, the Pietersburg, South Africa native leads the Eastern League in walks with 12 and has a .407 on-base percentage.

MR. WONDERFUL(S): Three members of the starting rotation rank among the league leaders in ERA. Nick King- ham has the best ERA (0.53) of any pitcher in the league. Additionally, Tyler Sample's 1.50 ERA (5th) and Adrian Sampson's 1.59 ERA (6th) round out the three Curve starters in the top-6 in terms of ERA entering play this evening. As a whole, Altoona's pitching staff ranks second in the league in ERA (2.92). Curve starting pitchers have been consistent through the first three weeks of the season, holding a 2.61 ERA and the bullpen has a 3.33 ERA.

"WILLY" CONTINUE?: Outfielder Willy Garcia (No. 14 - Baseball America) has hit safely in eight of his last nine games but is still looking for his first multi-hit game of the season. During the road trip, Garcia batted .200 but came through in several clutch situations and collected six RBI during the road trip. This season Garcia is batting .176 with a team-high three home runs. Last season, Garcia led the entire Pirates minor league system and Florida State League in outfield assists, throwing out 20 runners. He found his first outfield assist of the 2014 season on Friday night, gunning down Eric Sim trying to go first to third.

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Eastern League Stories from April 21, 2014


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