EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: June 19, 2014

Published on June 19, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: The Curve dropped the middle game of the three-game series, 6-5, against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Wednesday evening at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester. The Curve got off to another quick start thanks to a solo blast in the second inning by Elias Diaz and a two-run shot off the bat of Stetson Allie in the fourth. After New Hampshire plated two in the bottom of the fourth, Altoona responded with a run in the fifth after Willy Garcia hit a double and scored later on a wild pitch. New Hampshire got a run back in the sixth to make it a 4-3 game with Altoona in front. Tempers flared in the seventh inning after Jarek Cunningham was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, which led to both benches clearing and nine total ejections including Altoona's Cunningham, Gift Ngoepe, and Keon Broxton. Altoona blew it's 13th save of the season by giving up three runs in the eighth inning and threatened with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth but only managed one run.

CURVE/FISHER CATS SERIES: Altoona will aim for their second win against the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate in the series finale tonight. The two teams met before at Peoples Natural Gas Field from May 30-June 1 and that series saw the Curve offense go stagnant in the three-game sweep by the Fisher Cats. Of those three games played, two when to 12 innings and the Curve collected only one run the entire three-game set. Despite the sweep at the hands of New Hampshire, the Curve still hold the all-time lead in the series with a 35-32 record and hold the lead in Manchester all-time with a 18-1 record.

FOR ALTOONA: RHP Pat Ludwig will make his first ever Double-A start tonight against New Hampshire. The righty made his Double-A debut on June 14 against Reading and was tagged for three runs on six hits (four doubles) over three relief innings against the Reading Fightin Phils. Ludwig suffered the loss in that game for the Curve. The Yale product spent the bulk of the first half of the season with the High-A Bradenton Marauders and collected a 2-1 record with a 3.96 ERA in 15 games (four starts). In his four games as a starter, Ludwig went 2-0 and had a 3.80 ERA. The 24-year-old was drafted by the Pirates in the 10th round of the 2012 Draft. For more on Ludwig, see page two.

FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE: LHP Richard Bleier will start for the Fisher Cats in the series finale tonight. The southpaw is 3-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 17 games (one start) with New Hampshire. Bleier started the season in Double-A and was briefly promoted to Triple-A for one appearance before returning to the Eastern League. The Davie, Fla. native has started just one game this season in the second game of a doubleheader in Reading where he pitched effectively (5.0 IP, 1 R, 7 H, BB, K). Bleier made one appearance against Altoona this season in Curve, Pa. where he tossed two shutout innings in relief. The 27-year-old became a member of the Toronto system this offseason after previously playing within the Texas Rangers system.

GIVE ME A BAKER'S DOZEN: Curve shortstop Alen Hanson went 0-for-4 on Wednesday and saw his streak of 13 games with a hit come to an end. Hanson's 13-game streak included his infield single in Wednesday's suspended game against Portland. However, the stat is not official, but it will be once the game is completed this weekend in Portland when the Curve are at Hadlock Field. Hanson is batting .269 this year with 36 RBI and an Eastern League- best seven triples. The 21-year-old holds a .327 batting average this month which doesn't include his base hit Wednesday.

CLARK "ADRIAN" KENT: Adrian Sampson continued his phenomenal season on the mound in Tuesday's win over New Hampshire. The Seattle, Washington native tossed seven innings of one-run ball and saw his ERA lower to an even 2.00. Sampson now ranks second in the league behind his former teammate A.J. Morris, who will drop out of the leaderboard after Thursday's game, which will put Sampson first.

LENGTHY BUSINESS TRIP: The Curve will continue their longest road trip of the season with the final game of the series in New Hampshire. After Altoona finishes this three-game series, they will play four games plus a resumption of Wednesday's suspended game in Portland, and conclude the trip with a three-game set in New Britain before return- ing to Curve, Pa. on June 26. Altoona is 11-20 away from Peoples Natural Gas Field this year.

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 33 home runs in 585.2 innings so far this season.

That's second-fewest in the league only to Portland's 28. 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 this Friday.

SIMMER DOWN: Altoona blew it's 13th save of the season last night against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the eighth inning. The Curve are now 12-for-25 in save opportunities this season. Despite the poor showing late in games, it's not the most blown saves in the league. That title goes to New Hamp- shire who is 19-for-34 in save situations this year. The 12 saves by Altoona is also not the fewest, with the Harrisburg Senators owning nine saves.

RED TAGGED: Altoona has been defensively sound in their last three games with no errors but still rank last in the Eastern League in fielding. The Curve have committed a league-high 78 errors, four more than the Read- ing Fightin Phils, who have the second most. The Curve committed an error in the suspended game from June 11 and will have at least 79 once that game is completed. Last year, Altoona was one of the best defensive 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.

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 (2.00 ERA, 2nd | 1.06 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.

Check out the Altoona Curve Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from June 19, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central