EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: August 14, 2014

Published on August 14, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: Altoona won their third straight game on Wednesday night after downing the Trenton Thunder 4-2. Andy Vasquez played a pivotal role on offense for Altoona and was a part of every run scoring play for the Curve. The outfielder hit a two-run single which scored both Alen Hanson and Drew Maggi in the third to give Altoona the advantage. After Trenton tied the game with runs in the sixth and seventh, Vasquez singled in Hanson in the seventh and the outfielder scored two batters later on a pinch-hit single by Kelson Brown. Pitching wise, Jhonathan Ramos struck out a season-best six batters over 5.2 innings and came within a strike of nabbing his second quality start of the year. Kenn Kasparek entered the game in the ninth inning and shut down the Thunder in order and tally his 11th save of the season.

CURVE/THUNDER SERIES: The Curve conclude the season series with the Thunder tonight at Peoples Natural Gas Field and are aiming for the three-game sweep. Altoona and Trenton split the six games played at Arm & Hammer Park this year. A win tonight by the Curve will mean a three-game series sweep for Altoona against Trenton and it will be the first time the Curve have swept the Thunder since June of last year when they did it at home from June 14-16. Altoona has not lost at home against the Yankees Double-A affiliate since June 13, 2012.

FOR ALTOONA: RHP Angel Sanchez takes the hill for the Curve in his third start as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. The 24-year-old has a 3.27 ERA through his first two starts with the Curve and is gunning for his first win. This year has been a tough one for Sanchez, who has split time with four separate organizations. He began the year with the Miami Marlins Double-A club in Jacksonville, then played a few games within the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox organizations before being claimed on waivers by the Pirates on July 31. For more on Sanchez, see page two.

FOR TRENTON: Southpaw Daniel Camarena will start for the Thunder in the series finale against the Curve. The Bo- nita, California native has had struggles adjusting to the Eastern League with an 0-5 record in six starts. He's allowed at least one run in every start in Double-A this year and is coming off a rough outing where he gave up six runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings against Bowie. The 21-year-old joined Trenton in late June after appearing in 16 games with the Tampa Yankees in the Florida State League and going 5-5 with a 2.35 ERA. During his stay with Tampa, he faced Bradenton on May 30 and allowed two runs on four hits over five innings.

A PIRATES' LIFE FOR ME: Pirates infielder Clint Barmes joins the Curve today on a MLB rehabilitation assignment and is expected to play five innings tonight as he recovers from a left groin strain. He's scheduled to travel with the team to Erie on Friday to work out before concluding his rehab stint in Altoona with five innings on Saturday in Erie. He's then scheduled to join Triple-A Indianapolis.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: The Pittsburgh Pirates officially promoted RHP Adrian Sampson to Triple-A Indianapo- lis this afternoon. The 22-year-old put together one of the greatest seasons in Altoona Curve history after he went 10-5 with a 2.55 ERA in 24 starts. Entering play today, Sampson ranked among the league leaders in ERA (2.55, 2nd), wins (10, T-3rd), starts (24, T-1st), innings pitched (148.0, 1st), WHIP (1.05, 2nd), and BAA (.229, 3rd). The All-Star had his best outing of the season when the came within two outs of throwing a no-hitter versus Bowie on July 18 but settled for the first nine-inning complete game one-hitter in franchise history. In a corresponding roster move, RHP A.J. Morris has returned to the Altoona Curve as he looks to return to form after missing time with a right forearm strain.

ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: Catcher Elias Diaz went 1-for-2 on Tuesday to extend is hitting streak to 15 games, which is the longest streak this season by any Curve hitter (and is his personal career high). With the streak at 15 games, it's approaching the record books as if he gets to 16 he'll be tied for the fourth-longest streak in team history with Gorkys Hernandez (2010) and Starling Marte (2011). The Venezuela native also homered last Tuesday, which was his sixth home run of the campaign. All six home runs for Diaz this season have come away from Peoples Natural Gas Field. Entering play today, Diaz is hitting .325, which is the third-best batting average in the Eastern League behind Matt Duffy of Richmond (.332), who is back in San Francisco and Bowie's Niuman Romero (.328).

GOOD WILL(Y) HUNTING On the offensive side of the diamond, Willy Garcia has been no slouch since the All-Star Break. After winning the Ghostman Games for the West as part of the E.L. All-Star Stop, Garcia has gone on a tear in the 26 games of the unofficial second half. In those 26 games, Garcia is hitting .344 (33-for-96) with nine doubles, five homers, 18 RBI and 16 runs scored. Since June 1, Garcia has hit .306 (66-for-215) with 27 extra-base hits (16 doubles, one triple and ten home runs). Defensively, the outfielder has 17 outfield assists and is one shy of tying Starling Marte's club record of 18 set in 2011.

BIRTHDAY BELL: Josh Bell got off to a slow start after he was promoted to the Curve in the middle of July with a .111 batting average through his first five games. Since then, Bell has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games. All told, Bell is hitting .287 with seven RBI through 24 games with the Curve. He carries a six-game hit streak into the series finale against Trenton tonight. Today also marks Bell's 22nd birthday.

PARTY POST-BREAK: The Curve are 17-9 in their 26 games played since the All-Star break entering play today. In those 26 games, the Curve have hit .293 (256-for-873) as a team with Elias Diaz (.394, 18 G), Willy Garcia (.344, 26 G), and Stetson Allie (.295, 25 G) leading the charge. The team ERA during the stretch is 3.21.

THE BIRD CAGE: A large part for the success of the Curve since the break has been the bullpen, who have a collective ERA of 2.78 (24 ER, 77.2 IP) in their 25 games since the break. They've given up fewer than a hit an inning (69 hits in 77.2 IP) and opposing hitters have hit .236 off them in the 25 games. Ryan Beckman has yielded just one run in eight appearances while Kenn Kasparek has also given up just one run since the break (11 games).

PUT IT IN THE BOOKS: All-Star closer Kenn Kasparek has been a rock at the back end of the Curve bullpen since re-joining the team from Triple-A in early June. In 24 games total this season in Double-A, Kasparek is 1-0 with 11 saves in 12 opportunities while boasting a 0.87 ERA. The big righty failed to convert on his first save opportunity of the season on Friday night in Reading. Despite the setback, he's whiffed 30 in 31.0 innings while op- ponents bat just .155 off him.

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