EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: June 14, 2014 vs. Reading

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


ABOUT YESTERDAY: After trailing 4-0, the Curve came together and rallied and defeated against the Reading Fightin Phils, 5-4, on Friday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Reading scored all of their runs with two outs in the top of the third against Curve starter Zack Dodson who pitched effectively by throwing a season-high six innings. Jarek Cun- ningham got Altoona on the board for the first time in the game with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth and the Curve gathered three more in the seventh to tie the game at four. Gift Ngoepe led off the seventh with a triple and scored two batters later on a pinch-hit RBI single by Matt Curry, who came across home on Alen Hanson's league- best seventh triple of the year. Hanson then tied the game by crossing the plate on an Andy Vasquez RBI base knock. After Kenn Kasparek worked a scoreless eighth and ninth, Altoona won it in their last at bat after Cunningham scored from second on a sacrifice bunt by Hanson and an error by the Reading defense.

CURVE/FIGHTINS SERIES: Altoona continues the three-game series with game two against the Fightins at Peoples Natural Gas Field in the only series in Curve, Pa. this year. The two teams will only meet six times this season with this three game series followed by a three-game set at FirstEnergy Stadium from August 8-10. Last season, Altoona won only three of the ten games played against the Fightins and are 126-134 all-time against the Philadelphia Phillies Double-A affiliate. Despite trailing in the all-time series, Altoona holds the advantage at home with a 72-63 record.

FOR ALTOONA: RHP Joan Montero will make his first start of the season for the Curve in game two of the three-game series. The native of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic is 2-1 with a 4.40 ERA in 20 relief outings for Al- toona this year. Montero has never gone more than two innings this season in any of his relief outings but has been a starter before in his career. Last season with Bradenton, Montero appeared in 40 games with three starts. As a starter last year, the 25-year-old he was 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in three games (15.0 IP, 1 ER). Montero was signed as a non- drafted free agent in 2009. After Montero's outing is finished, RHP Pat Ludwig is scheduled to make his first career Double-A appearance after he was recently called up from High-A Bradenton. For more on Montero, see page two.

FOR READING: The Fightins will toss southpaw Hoby Milner to the bump in game two of the series against the Curve. Milner is in his first year of Double-A ball and holds a 4-3 record with a 3.60 ERA in 11 starts. He's coming off an outing where he allowed a career-high 11 hits but only three runs in a loss against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, which gave him his fourth quality start of the season. Milner was a 7th round draft pick by the Phillies from the University of Texas at Austin.

BEAT ON THE BRAT WITH A BASEBALL BAT: Curve shortstop Alen Hanson has hit safely in every game he has played so far this month and holds a Curve season-high ten-game hitting streak. Hanson's ten-game streak includes his infield single on Wednesday against Portland. However, the stat is not official but it will be once Wednesday's game is completed next weekend in Portland when the Curve are at Hadlock Field. Hanson is batting .267 this year with 35 RBI and an Eastern League-best seven triples. The 21-year-old holds a .342 batting average this month which doesn't include his base hit Wednesday.

I KNOW HIM: Former Curve starting pitcher Nick Kingham made his Triple-A debut last night for the Indianapolis Indians and tossed seven shutout innings against the Durham Bulls but collected a no-decision. The day before, A.J. Morris tossed a complete game shutout in his second career Triple-A game. The right hander allowed only six hits while striking out seven. During his time in Curve, Pa. Kingham was 1-7 but had a stellar 3.04 ERA in 12 starts (five quality starts) while Morris went 5-1 with an Eastern League-best 1.64 ERA. If Morris doesn't return to Altoona, his final day atop the ERA leaderboard will be next Thursday when the Curve finish their series with New Hampshire. He will not qualify for the Eastern League leaders based on appearances (minimum 0.8 IP/team games).

BATS ARE AFRAID: The Curve pitching staff has done a nice job all season long of keeping the ball from leaving the ballpark. Entering play today, the Curve pitching staff has allowed 31 home runs in 549.2 innings so far this season. That's second-fewest in the league only to Portland's 27. However, the staff allowed a home run on June 11 against Portland but because that game was suspended, the statistic will not be made final until the game is completed next Friday.

PLAN FOR AT LEAST A DOUBLE: Altoona right fielder Willy Garcia has been an extra-base hit machine this season for the Curve. Of his 44 hits, the native of Santo Domingo has 24 extra base hits including 12 doubles, four triples, and eight home runs. At the pace Garcia is on, he's in the discussion for most extra base hits all-time in Curve his- tory. Adam Hyzdu belted 72 extra base hits in 2000 and is the franchise leader in extra base hits. Behind Hyzdu are Starling Marte (58, 2011), Alex Dickerson (56, 2013), and Tony Alvarez (53, 2002).

RED TAGGED: Altoona committed another error in the Friday's win and rank last in the Eastern League in fielding. The Curve have committed a league- high 77 errors, eight more than the Reading Fightin Phils, who have the sec- ond most. However, the Curve did commit an error in the suspended game from June 11. Last year, Altoona was one of the most defensively sound teams with only 121 errors and a .977 fielding percentage, good for fourth in the league. The inaugural Curve team in 1999 was the worst defensive team in franchise history after they committed 194 errors.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: Altoona hasn't fared well in weekend games this season. As a team, the Curve is 5-17 in weekend games which features a 2-11 record on Saturday's. In weekday games, Altoona owns a 20-22 record.

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE (LEADER)BOARD: The following Curve players rank among the league leaders entering today's game: Alen Hanson (7 3B, 1st), Willy Garcia and Keon Broxton (4 3B, T-3rd), and Adrian Sampson (2.07 ERA, 2nd | 1.08 WHIP, 4th). A.J. Morris (1.64 ERA, 1st | 1.05 WHIP, 3rd | .208 BAA, 2nd) no longer plays for the Curve after his promo- tion to Triple-A big still qualifies among the league leaders.

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