EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: August 13, 2013

Published on August 13, 2013 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT SUNDAY: For a second straight day, Justin Howard hit a solo home run that gave the Curve a lead but on Sunday it was one they could not hold in an eventual, 5-3, loss to the Harrisburg Senators in the series finale in front of 5,661. Howard's sixth home run of the season came in the fourth inning and broke a 2-2 tie that gave the Curve their first lead of the night. Harrisburg tied it with a solo homer off the bat of Jason Martinson in the sixth inning that came off Curve starter Eliecer Navarro. Navarro left after the sixth but still retained a quality start, tossing six innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with six strikeouts. The 'Sens took the lead for good in the eighth inning off reliever Ryan Beckman (0-1), who suffered the loss, with two runs on four hits. Zack Thornton dealt two scoreless, hitless innings of relief after that but the Curve could not mount a comeback. Howard had the only multi-hit effort for the Curve while Adalberto Santos extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a walk in the first inning.

CURVE/SEA DOGS SERIES: Altoona and Portland meet up for the final time in 2013 for this Tuesday-Thursday series this week in Curve, Pa. Altoona won the final two games of a three-game series in Portland in early June.

FOR ALTOONA: All-Star Casey Sadler strides to the mound in the opener versus Portland on Tuesday night and seeks win No. 11, which would put him into sole possession of first place in the league as he enters play on Tuesday tied for the most wins with 10. Sadler has come off of his DL stint on fire, going 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA in his first three starts off. Last time out, Sadler was credited with his 11th quality start of the season in a win over Binghamton back on August 7. He's faced the Sea Dogs once in 2013 and earned the win up in Portland after allowing four runs in 5.2 innings.

FOR PORTLAND: RHP Keith Couch gets the ball for the Sea Dogs in the series opener on Tuesday night at PNG Field and is making his 26th appearance (11th start) of the 2013 campaign. He began the season in the Sea Dogs bull- pen and stayed there up until the first week of June (coincidentally his last bullpen outing came versus Altoona on June 2). As a starter this season, Couch is 5-1 with a 3.43 ERA and one seven-inning complete game. Opponents were batting .290 off Couch as a reliever this season but as a starter they've only managed to hit .258 in 236 at bats. A 13th-round pick in 2010 out of Adelphi (NY) University, Couch had primarily been used as a starter up until this season when he moved into the bullpen. He amassed a 19-20 record in 70 games (51 starts) with a 3.64 ERA in his first three seasons of pro ball.

THE LAMBO LEAP!: It was announced on Monday that the Pittsburgh Pirates intend to select the contract of 2010- 13 Curve OF Andrew Lambo and call him up to join the Pirates tonight in St. Louis. Lambo began his breakout 2013 season in Altoona and smashed 14 home runs to go along with 46 RBI in 58 games. After his promotion to Triple-A, Lambo continued to terrorize pitchers with 17 more homers and 51 more RBI. The 24-year-old from Newbury Park, Calif. had a combined 31 homers, which led all of MiLB, and a total of 97 RBI this season. When he makes his Pirates debut, he'll be the 109th player to have played in Altoona before making his MLB debut (eighth this season).

RAMMER JAMMER YELLOW HAMMER: University of Alabama alum Jason Townsend picked up the win on Saturday night and continues to throw the ball extremely well after enduring some mid-season struggles. Since the All-Star Break, Townsend has made nine appearances and not allowed a run (14.0 IP) while surrendering just six hits to five walks and eight strikeouts. The right-handed reliever had given up just two runs since July 1 in 17.0 innings and opponents have hit below .200 off him in both July and here in August.

STREAK SANDWICHES: All-Star third baseman Adalberto Santos walked in the first inning on Sunday to extend his on-base streak to 17 games dating back to July 24. During the on-base streak, Santos is hitting .333 (21-for-63) with eight doubles, seven RBI, 10 runs scored and nine walks. His resurgence since June 1 has now placed him back among the league leaders in hitting heading into action tonight. His .289 average is tied for ninth-best in the EL. He's batted .309 since the break (97 at bats) and .351 in 11 games this month.

JUUUUSSTIN: Curve 1B Justin Howard, like teammate Alex Dickerson, has been on fire since the calendar read June 1. Howard has hit .368 (63-for-171) since the calendar flipped to June 1, which is the best average in all of Double-A for that time period. For the season, Howard is hitting .336 with 11 doubles, a career-high six homers and 30 RBI in 77 games played.

ALEXANDER THE REALLY REALLY GREAT: Alex Dickerson has been on a torrid pace since June 1, going 76-for- 221 (.344) with 20 doubles, 12 home runs and 47 RBI in 59 games. That streak has been one of the best in all of Double-A, going well enough for the third-best average in Double-A behind teammate Justin Howard (.366). His 15 home runs total are tied with Jarek Cunningham's 15 for the team lead while his 62 RBI lead the team. After picking up a pair of Eastern League Player of the Week awards in July, Dickerson was named the league's Player of the Month for July after batting .413 with 10 doubles, six home runs 27 RBI and 23 runs scored in 26 games during the month. In his first game back on Sunday after missing three contests with a rhomboid strain, Dickerson went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

HATS FOR BATS, KEEP BATS WARM: The Curve bats have really taken off as a team since June 1 came around. On June 1, the Curve were hitting .229 as a team, which was last in the Eastern League. Entering play today, the Curve as a team are hitting .252 and are eighth in the circuit in terms of team batting average. Since June, the Curve have hit .272 (558-for- 2055).

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Eastern League Stories from August 13, 2013


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