EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: June 3, 2014 vs. Binghamton

Published on June 3, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT SUNDAY: The Curve had another extra inning affair against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Sunday afternoon and fell again in 12 innings by a final score of 2-1. Curve starting pitcher A.J. Morris pitched another quality outing for Altoona by hurling six innings of one-run ball. His lone mistake came in the fourth inning when Kevin Nolan hit a home run that deflected off the glove of Keon Broxton into the left field bleachers that gave New Hampshire a 1-0 lead. The Curve tied the game in the eighth when Drew Maggi led off the inning with a bloop double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Junior Sosa. Alen Hanson followed one pitch later with a single up the middle to score Maggi from third. The Curve had another chance to walk off in the ninth but a double play groundout ended the scoring threat with the winning run on second. In the 12th, the Fisher Cats repeated their Friday night performance with a run off Altoona reliever Ryan Beckman, who suffered the loss.

CURVE/B-METS SERIES: Tonight's game marks the fourth time that the Altoona Curve have played the Binghamton Mets. These two teams previously met from May 13-15 at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton with the B-Mets taking two out of three games. The Curve won the first game of that series 10-3 thanks to a seven-run third inning. The two teams have met 132 total times in history with each team winning 66 games.

FOR ALTOONA: LHP Zack Dodson will start the series for the Curve against Binghamton. Dodson this season is 1-2 with a 2.60 ERA. In the southpaw's last start on May 28 in Richmond, he allowed a run over four innings but the Curve lost that game 5-4. In Dodson's only start this season against Binghamton, he lasted three-innings and allowed run. He didn't go deep in that game because it was his first game back from the Disabled List. In Dodson's four starts since coming back, he's 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA. Dodson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 4th round of the 2009 MLB Draft from Medina Valley High School in Texas. For more on Dodson, see page two.

FOR BINGHAMTON: The B-Mets will send RHP Tyler Pill to the bump in the first game of the series. Pill is 2-5 with a 4.96 ERA this season in nine games (eight starts). Pill is coming off his first relief outing of the season on May 27 when he surrendered five runs n four innings while striking out six New Hampshire batters. This is Pill's second sea- son with the B-Mets after he played only four games last season and went 1-1 with a 7.58 ERA. Pill was the fourth round draft pick by the New York Mets in the 2011 MLB Draft from Cal State Fullerton.

BREAKING THE HABIT: With the loss on Sunday, Altoona lost its ninth consecutive game. During the current skid, Altoona has lost seven of the nine games by two runs or less. The pitching staff has been able to keep the team in several of the games and holds a 3.92 ERA in the last nine games (1.36 ERA during the current homestand). How- ever, the offense has been stagnant after a great first couple weeks of May. The offense during the losing streak holds a .199 batting average and are batting .169 (12-for-71) with runners in scoring position. The team is approaching dangerous water with this losing streak and are only two losses away from tying the longest losing streak in franchise history set in 2000 when the Curve lost 11 straight from April 15-26.

DROUGHT SEASON: When the Curve scored a run with one out in the eighth inning of Sunday's loss, it was the club's first run in the last 33.1 innings, the longest such skid in franchise history. The previous high was 33.0 innings that came from the 2011 club from June 19-24. The 2011 Curve team failed to score a run for three consecutive games, with the second shutout falling in game one of a doubleheader against New Hampshire followed by a ten in- ning shutout loss at the hands of Harrisburg. As a team, Altoona has plated 231 runs this season, which ranks ninth in the Eastern League.

KING(S) OF THE HILL: Sunday's starting pitcher A.J. Morris allowed one run over six innings and still leads the league in ERA at 1.64, just ahead of Richmond's Jack Snodgrass. Morris, 27, also commands the second-best bat- ting average against for any starter in the league behind Portland's Henry Owens and the third-best WHIP in the cir- cuit (1.05). Friday's starting pitcher Adrian Sampson tossed eight shutout innings and saw his ERA reach under 2.00 for the first time since May 2 (1.98). Sampson enters today ranked third in the Eastern League in ERA. Saturday's starter Nick Kingham cracked the ERA leaderboard with his seven-inning performance and holds a 2.95 ERA which is good for tenth in the league.

MAY-DAY: The Curve look to turn a new page in June after going 10-23 in the month of May, which is tied for the second-fewest wins in the month of May in team history (10-20 in 2013). The 2009 Curve had the fewest wins in the month (nine) while the 2010 team had the most (19). However, the 23 losses sets a new franchise record for losses in any month in franchise history. It surpasses the 21-loss record from last August.

KEYS TO THE CITY: Curve left fielder Keon Broxton went 1-for-5 in Sun- day's loss against New Hampshire and has now hit safely in five consecutive games. Altoona's everyday left fielder batted .374 in 31 games in May with seven doubles, four triples, four homers and 10 RBI to go along with 18 runs scored. His 18 runs are 14 more than he had in all of April (17 games). The former Diamondbacks farmhand had the third-best average during May in the Eastern League and the sixth-best in all of Double-A. The Florida na- tive was acquired by the Pirates in a trade on March 27.

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE (LEADER)BOARD: The following Curve players rank among the league leaders entering today's game: Alen Hanson (5 3B,T- 1st), Willy Garcia and Keon Broxton (4 3B, T-2nd), Nick Kingham (2.95 ERA, 10th), A.J. Morris (1.64 ERA, 1st | 1.05 WHIP, 3rd | .208 BAA, 2nd | 5 wins, T-2nd) and Adrian Sampson (1.98 ERA, 3rd | 1.08 WHIP, 4th)

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Eastern League Stories from June 3, 2014


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