EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: July 11, 2014

Published on July 11, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: Altoona dropped their fourth in a row after winning six straight after a 12-6 defeat at the hands of the Erie SeaWolves in the series finale at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Thursday night. Curve starter Joan Montero got off to a slow started and lasted only two innings, while relievers Emmanuel de Leon and Nate Baker each sur- renderd three runs. With the Curve trailing late, they brought in position player Andy Vasquez to pitch. Offensively, Altoona's Gift Ngoepe laced a two-run home run in the sixth that brought the Curve to within four, but Erie pulled away to down the Curve and win the series four games to one.

CURVE/SENATORS SERIES: The Curve will conclude their season series against the Harrisburg Senators with a four- game set at Metro Bank Park beginning tonight. Altoona has had phenomenal success against the Double-A affili- ate of the Washington Nationals this season. The Curve are 8-1 against them which includes seven wins at Peoples Natural Gas Field, plus a win in Harrisburg in the first month of the season. The Curve also lead the all-time series against the Senators 156-128.

FOR ALTOONA: LHP Orlando Castro will make his Double-A debut tonight for Altoona after being promoted from the Bradenton Marauders roster today. Castro went 6-4 with a 3.24 ERA and has shown great control all season for the Marauders with only ten walks over 89 innings pitched. The native of Honduras won each of his final three starts before his promotion to Altoona. Castro was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in September of 2009. For more on Castro, see page two.

FOR HARRISBURG: RHP Brian Dupra will take the bump against the Curve for the Senators in the first game of the series. Dupra this season is 1-3 with a 5.01 ERA and is coming off an outing where he received a no-decision against the Curve. In his start against Altoona on July 6, he allowed four runs (three earned) over 5.2 innings pitched in a game the Curve won at home 6-5. Dupra is looking for his first win since April 28 when he picked up a victory in relief. The right hander was drafted by the Nationals in the 7th round of the 2011 MLB Draft from the University of Notre Dame.

ALL-STARS ANNOUNCED: Seven players from the Altoona Curve have been named to the Eastern League All-Star team. Starting pitcher Adrian Sampson and relievers Ryan Beckman and Kenn Kasparek are the three pitchers who will represent the Curve at the Eastern League All-Star Stop presented by UPMC Health Plan. They are joined by catcher Elias Diaz, outfielder Willy Garcia, shortstop Alen Hanson, and utility player Drew Maggi. Sampson has been the staff ace this season and ranks fourth in the league with a 2.89 ERA while Beckman has allowed only three earned runs since June 1. Kasparek has been incredible with the Curve and holds a 0.63 ERA. Diaz has a .316 average which is the best among active catchers in the league, Garcia has 34 extra-base hits this season, and Maggi leads the Curve with 20 steals and has consistently reached base (.387 OBP). All the aforementioned players are participating in their first career All-Star game while Hanson gets the nod for his third All-Star nomination. The Curve shortstop is batting .274 this year with an Eastern League best seven triples. The Eastern League All-Star Stop will be July 15-16 at Peoples Natural Gas Field with the All-Star Clash between the East and West occuring on July 16 at 7 p.m. The seven All-Stars are the most in Curve franchise history, surpassing the 2006 and 2007 teams.

MOSH PIT: Curve newcomer Dan Gamache has held is own in his first three games at the Double-A level. The 23-year-old is 4-for-14 which includes a multi-hit effort in Wednesday's loss to the Erie SeaWolves. Gamache began the year recovering from a broken foot suffered during spring training. The infielder spent all of last season as the everyday second baseman for the Bradenton Marauders and batted batted .258 while playing in 133 of Bradenton's 134 games. Gamache was drafted by the Pirates in the 6th round of the 2011 MLB Draft from Auburn University.

HARDY, HAR-HARLAN: The Curve dropped the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader to Erie 11-5 but that score didn't reflect the great debut of LHP Thomas Harlan. The southpaw was called up to Altoona from Bradenton in be- tween the two games and was marvelous in his first ever game in the Eastern League. Harlan went a career-most five innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits. Throughout his career, Harlan has been primarily a reliever and his start with the Curve on Tuesday was only his second as a professional.

STREAK SNAPPED: Altoona saw their season-best six game winning streak snapped after they lost the first game of the doubleheader against Erie on Tuesday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.. During their win streak, they defeated the Bowie Baysox twice, swept the three game set against Harrisburg, and won Monday's game versus Erie. Dur- ing that time, they averaged 5.3 runs per game while the staff ERA was 2.78 (17 ER/55.0 IP). After that, Altoona faltered in the rest of their last homestand with the pitching staff compiling a 6.00 ERA in the eight total games at home.

KING OF SWING: Altoona's All-Star catcher Elias Diaz is back among the league leaders in hitting. The catcher is hitting .316 which ranks sixth in the league and ranks fourth among active players in the league. Diaz has already matched his career high with five home runs this season. The catcher is hit- ting .333 in eight games this month and recently saw his season-best seven game hit streak end in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: The Curve have struggled this season in doubleheaders in the 12 total games that they've played. Altoona is 2-10 with the majority of those losses coming against the Erie SeaWolves. The two teams have played four doubleheaders against each other and the Curve are 2-6 in the twinbills. The Curve won't have to wait long before their next doubleheader as they'll play two in Harrisburg tomorrow.

ARM-AGEDDON: Altoona's bullpen has made big improvements as the season has gone on and plenty of arms have posted incredible numbers recently. Ryan Beckman has an 1.77 ERA in his last 14 games while sub- mariner Kenn Kasparek has allowed only one earned run this season (0.63 ERA). With his success, Kasparek has turned into the Curve's late-inning, go-to guy. Emmanuel de Leon has appeared in 27 games and is tied for third in the league with eight holds.

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Eastern League Stories from July 11, 2014


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