EL1 Altoona Curve

Altoona Curve Game Information: May 9, 2014

Published on May 9, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: Altoona continued their struggles against the Akron RubberDucks by dropping the first game of the series 9-7 thanks to a five-run eighth inning by the 'Ducks. After Jhonathan Ramos was pulled with two men on base in the eighth, Ryan Beckman (1-2) entered in place of Ramos, walked the first batter, then issued a grand slam to Cleveland's top prospect Francisco Lindor. The loss spoiled the good pitching performance by Adrian Sampson, who went a season-best 6.1 innings and allowed four runs. Keon Broxton had a great day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI, and continued his hot start to May. Willy Garcia added a two-run blast and Elias Diaz also hit his first home run of the season. The Curve collected 12 total hits in the game and seven were for extra bases.

CURVE/RUBBERDUCKS SERIES: Friday's game in Akron marks the 11th time the Curve and RubberDucks have squared off against one-another this season with Akron leading the series 8-2. This is the second consecutive road trip where the Curve have faced the 'Ducks. The last time these two teams met at Canal Park, the Curve won the first game 5-3 but have since dropped six straight against the Cleveland Indians' Double-A affiliate. FOR ALTOONA: Altoona's Tyler Sample will try to change the tide for the Curve in game two of the series with the RubberDucks. This season, Sample is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA and is coming off his shortest start of the season where he lasted only three innings against Akron and took the loss. The six-foot-seven-inch right hander walked 20 batters this season which is the second most in the Eastern League. Sample was acquired in the offseason by the Pirates in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft from the Kansas City Royals organization. For more on Sample, see page two.

FOR AKRON: Akron RHP Gabriel Arias will toe the rubber for the RubberDucks in game two of the series. This year, Arias is 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA. Three of Arias' five starts have come against Altoona where he is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA and has alternated wins and losses in all of his starts this year. In his last start at Peoples Natural Gas Field, the 24-year-old allowed three runs over five innings in a win.

THE GREAT MAG-INO: Utility player Drew Maggi has been on a tear lately with Altoona, batting .385 over his last ten games. Along with the bat, Maggi's speed produced a team-high ten steals. In Wednesday's win over Bowie, the Arizona native walked four times. The last time a Curve player walked four times in a single game was on August 13, 2009 when Pedro Alvarez and Jeff Corsaletti accomplished this feat against the Portland Sea Dogs. This season, Maggi has a .316 batting average and 15 walks, which gives him a .458 on-base percentage.

EVERYONE WANTS TO BE LIKE SMALLS: The Curve clobbered four home runs in the loss to the Akron Rubber- Ducks on Thursday night at Canal Park. It was the team's second four-homer game of the season. Who did the other come against? The Akron RubberDucks on April 8 at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

BIG DOGGIES: A host of Altoona Curve players rank among the league leaders in a host of categories. Adrian Samp- son ranks second in the Eastern League with a 2.27 ERA. Elias Diaz' hot bat has given him fifth place in the league with a .354 average. Stetson Allie is tied for third in the league with six home runs while Alen Hanson's four triples is tied for the league-lead.

RUN LIKE A DUCK: Thursday's loss against Akron was the first time the Curve pitching staff surrendered a grand slam. The grand slam was the first one allowed by the Curve since Nate Baker issued one on April 4 of last season to Erie's Daniel Fields. This season, Altoona's bullpen holds a 3.90 ERA and has allowed six total home runs.

THE COLOSSUS OF KEON: Curve left fielder Keon Broxton went 2-for-4 with two home runs Thursday and has en- joyed the new month since the calendar flipped to May. Broxton went 7-for-12 with a triple, two doubles and his first home run of the season during the last Akron series. He followed up that performance with a 5-for-12 series against the Baysox. All told, Broxton is riding an eight-game hitting streak into today's game with the 'Ducks. In nine games this month, Broxton is hitting .452 with three doubles, two triples, three home runs, and nine runs (five more than he had in all of April).

LOOKING DOWN FROM HIS TOWER: OF Mel Rojas, Jr. snared another base hit on Thursday and is now batting .310 this year. The center fielder went 3-for-4 in the win Wednesday afternoon and saw the average climb above .300 for the first time since mid-April. Rojas, like Keon Broxton and Drew Maggi, has turned in a solid start to May thus far with a .417 clip through nine games. In those nine games, Rojas has driven in nine runs, which is just six shy of what he drove in during 22 games in April.

DO YOU WANNA S'MORE?: Getting off to a fast offensive start has helped the Curve tremendously this season. Of the 146 total runs that the Curve has plated this season, 27 have come in the first inning. This season when Altoona strikes first, they hold an 13-9 record (9-4 at home), compared to a winless mark (0-10) when an opponent strikes first.

THAT MAKES THREE OF US: Wednesday afternoon's win over the Baysox was the third time this season the Curve have won on a walk off. During each homestand this year the Curve have had a different player hit the walk off with Mel Rojas, Jr.'s single being the most recent. Willy Garcia hit a walk off home run on April 8 against Akron for the first walk off and Elias Diaz capped off Altoona's four-run comeback on April 23 against Harrisburg with a sacrifice fly.

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Eastern League Stories from May 9, 2014


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