EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: June 5, 2014

Published on June 5, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: For the first time since May 24 in game one of the doubleheader against Erie, the Curve de- feated an opponent after downing the B-Mets 6-5 on Wednesday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field. After the Curve surrendered two runs to Binghamton in the second, they responded in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring double from Altoona first baseman Matt Curry. The Curve took their lead in the game thanks to a four-run fifth which included a two-run triple by Alen Hanson and a two-RBI double by Elias Diaz. After Binghamton scored two in the seventh to cut Altoona's lead to 5-4, Willy Garcia hit an RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth. The insurance run proved valu- able after the Curve gave up a run in the ninth but Quinton Miller shut the door with the go-ahead run on base. Joely Rodriguez notched his fourth quality start of the year when he held Binghamton to two runs on six hits over six strong innings of work to earn his third win of the year.

CURVE/B-METS SERIES: Tonight's game marks the sixth time that the Altoona Curve have played the Binghamton Mets in the 2014 campaign and the third of seven to be played at Peoples Natural Gas Field. These two teams previ- ously 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 134 total times since they started play in 1999 with the two clubs splitting the all-time series with 67 wins apiece.

FOR ALTOONA: Altoona will send up RHP Adrian Sampson in the series finale against the Binghamton Mets. Samp- son has been one of the most effective pitchers on the Curve this season and showcased his talents in his last start against New Hampshire when he held them through eight shutout innings. The right hander owns a team-high seven quality starts out of his 11 total starts this year. Sampson faced Binghamton on the road on May 15 and allowed a pair of runs over a then-season-high seven innings but didn't factor into the decision. The 22-year-old was drafted in the 5th round of the 2012 draft from Bellevue Community College. For more on Sampson, see page two.

FOR BINGHAMTON: Binghamton will toss LHP Angel Cuan in the series finale. The native of Panama City is in his second year with the B-Mets and is 1-2 with a 7.80 ERA in three starts after joining the team on May 19. Last sea- son, Cuan played one game with Binghamton in mid-July and will square off against the Curve for the first time in his career tonight. Cuan was acquired by the Mets as a non-drafted free agent in September 2007. EAT, SLEEP, BREAK THE STREAK: With the win on Wednesday over the B-Mets, Altoona snapped a streak of ten straight losses. During that skid, Altoona has lost seven of the ten games by two runs or less and the offense was stagnant after a great first couple weeks of May. Curve bats during the losing streak held a .201 batting average (67- for-333) and batted .197 (15-for-76) with runners in scoring position. The team was only one loss away from tying the longest losing streak in franchise history set in 2000 when the Curve lost 11 straight from April 15-26. The 2000 Curve team finished the season 74-68 that season.

FIVE TIME, FIVE TIME: In Tuesday's loss against Binghamton, Curve right fielder Willy Garcia hit a double and a home run which gave him five RBI in the game, tying his career-high that he set July 1, 2012 when he was with West Virginia. The right fielder added a double on Wednesday and has been an extra-base machine for Altoona this season. The native of Santo Domingo has bashed 24 extra base hits of the 41 total hits this season. At the pace Garcia is on, he is in the discussion for most extra base hits all-time in Curve history. Adam Hyzdu belted 72 extra base hits in 2000 as part of his MVP season 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).

DON'T BE A LEMON: Altoona struck out 13 times in Wednesday's victory over Binghamton and continue the trend of strikeouts offensively. This season, the Curve have struck out 493 times which ranks atop the Eastern League and all of Double-A. During this homestand alone, the Curve have gone down on strikes 58 times which included a 16 strikeout game against New Hampshire on May 30. However, the Curve have been able to get on base by drawing 202 walks which ranks third in the league.

BREAK THE WALLS DOWN: Curve outfielder Keon Broxton couldn't get a hit in Wednesday's win over Binghamton and saw his six-game hit streak come to a close. However, Broxton did reach base safely by drawing a walk in the fifth and has reached base safely in seven straight. During his hit streak, he batted .391 (9-for-23) in that span. Last month, Broxton batted .374 with eight doubles, four triples, and four homers to go with his 18 total 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 native was acquired by the Pirates in a trade on March 27.

I DO ALL THE JOBS: With the Curve trailing Binghamton late on Tuesday, position player Andy Vasquez entered the game as a relief pitcher, marking the first time this season the Curve have opted to save a bullpen arm in that fash- ion. Vasquez induced an inning ending popout in the eighth but then surrendered two home runs in the ninth. The Santo Domingo native struck out Dustin Lawley for his first career punchout. It was Vasquez' fifth career appearance after he made one with the Curve last year and three with Bradenton in 2012.

BEST IN THE LEAGUE AT WHAT I DO: 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 batting average against for any starter in the league behind Portland's Henry Owens and the third-best WHIP in the circuit (1.05). Fri- day'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 league in ERA. Saturday's starter Nick King- ham cracked the leaderboard with his seven-inning performance and holds a 2.95 ERA which is good for tenth in the league.

THE NEXT ARRIVAL: RHP Tyler Sample was placed on the Curve Disabled List on Thursday with a left ankle injury. As a result, LHP Yao-Hsun Yang has been assigned to the Curve. The 31-year-old lefty was signed by the Pirates on February 2014 after spending his entire professional career playing with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Japancese Central League and is 5-5 with a 2.88 ERA in 38 games (12 starts) in his professional career.

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE (LEADER)BOARD: The following Curve players rank among the league leaders entering today's game: Alen Hanson (6 3B, 1st), Willy Garcia and Keon Broxton (4 3B, T-3rd), Nick Kingham (2.95 ERA, 9th), A.J. Morris (1.64 ERA, 1st | 1.05 WHIP, 3rd | .208 BAA, 2nd | 5 wins, T-3rd) and Adrian Sampson (1.98 ERA, 3rd |1.08 WHIP, 5th).

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