Altoona Curve Game Information: April 5, 2014
Published on April 5, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: For the second consecutive day, Opening Day in Curve, Pa. was been postponed due to rain. While it may be the first time Opening Day has been postponed in Altoona, it's not the first time that the Curve have had an Opening Day game pushed back. In 2007 at Erie, Altoona missed their entire three-game series against the SeaWolves due to wet grounds and snow.
OUR SUPER SWEET 16: Tonight's game marks the first game in the 16th season of baseball in Curve, Pa. The Curve have been quite good when playing their first game of the season in the friendly confines of their home ballpark.
Altoona is 12-3 in team history in its first home game of the season. CURVE/SEAWOLVES SERIES: Opening up with a game versus Erie is nothing new for the Curve, who open against the SeaWolves for the sixth time in franchise history on Opening Day. It's the fourth straight year that the two teams will meet to play the season's first game with Erie having won two of the last three. Altoona is 1-4 in the five prior Opening Day matchups with the SeaWolves with the lone win coming here at home in 2012 (7-4). These games are the first and second of 22 matchups between the two teams in 2014. FOR ALTOONA: Getting the nod from Carlos Garcia in game one of Opening Day Part III is RHP Adrian Sampson, who checks in to the 2014 campaign as the 27th-best prospect in the Pirates organization according to Baseball America. The 22-year-old spent the entire 2013 season with the Bradenton Marauders and went 5-8 with a 5.14 ERA in 25 games (24 starts). The Curve will send RHP A.J. Morris to the bump in game two. The Humble, Texas native was acquired by the Pirates in December from the Rule 5 draft from the Chicago Cubs organization. Morris appeared in 31 games (10 starts) with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies and gathered a 4-2 record with a 4.75 ERA. FOR ERIE: Australia native Warwick Saupold takes the ball for first-year manager Lance Parrish and the Erie Sea- Wolves on Saturday. Saupold, a native of Perth, Australia, was Erie's Pitcher of the Year in 2013 after going 7-6 with a 3.28 ERA in 22 games (all starts) and being named an Eastern League mid-season All-Star. This will be Saupold's first Opening Day start in his professional career as he enters his third year in the Tigers organization. Saupold has spent each of the past four offseasons pitching in his homeland for the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League.
He enjoyed his best season in the ABL in 2011 when he went 5-3 with a 1.41 ERA as a starter (10 games). This past season, Saupold was used as a reliever and was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in nine games. The SeaWolves will send LHP Matt Crouse to the mound to start game two. Crouse went 9-10 in 31 games (24 starts) with Erie last season and held a 4.47 ERA.
CHARLES IS STILL IN CHARGE: Manager Carlos Garcia returns to pilot the Curve in 2014 after leading the squad in 2013, which was his first season managing at the Double-A level. With Garcia serving a second tour with the Curve, all managers in franchise history have spent at least two seasons at the helm of the club. Only Dale Sveum and Tim Leiper managed more than two seasons (three). 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 system's best defensive infielder and Garcia the best outfield arm. Hanson also found himself on some additional prospect 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.
THE CUPID SHUFFLE: Three of the four Altoona infielders from the Opening Day lineup spent time with the Curve in 2013. While the same group of players is returning, some will be playing in different positions. Jarek Cunning- ham, who primarily played second base in each of the last two seasons and has logged 429 career games at second base (of 470 played), will move to third base in 2014 (30 previous games played in his MiLB career). Gift Ngoepe, who played at short during his stint with the Curve in 2013, will move to the vacated second base spot. Ngoepe has logged 85 games (of his 364 total games played) at second base and last played there in Bradenton in 2012.
HUNGRY HOWIE: Justin Howard returns to Altoona to begin the 2014 season after putting up an impressive cam- paign 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 average was the third-best average for any player at the Double-A level over the same time frame with at least 70 games played.
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.
THE 5 MILLIONTH FAN: The Curve are primed to welcome their five mil- lionth fan in franchise history to the ballpark during the first homestand. Entering the season, the Curve have welcomed 4,993,495 fans to Peoples Natural Gas Field during regular season games over the first 15 seasons. The fan selected as the five millionth fan will receive a prize pack that consists of a trip for two to Pirates Spring Training with the Altoona Curve Booster Club in 2015, Altoona Curve season tickets for life, a honorary captainship on the Curve Alumni Team during the Curve, Pa. Heroes Game at the Eastern League All-Star Stop presented by UPMC Health Plan, a personalized Curve jersey and a five millionth fan parking space in the VIP Parking Lot.
Eastern League Stories from April 5, 2014
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