Altoona Curve Game Information
May 4, 2014 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ABOUT YESTERDAY: Saturday night saw Altoona drop both games of the doubleheader to the Akron RubberDucks, losing game one 9-7 and the second game 2-1 at Peoples Natural Gas Field. In the first contest, The Curve plated two runs when Mel Rojas, Jr., hit a two-RBI double that scored Alen Hanson and Gift Ngoepe. Akron tallied three in the second and three more in the third and took a 6-2 lead but the Curve responded in the bottom of the third when Drew Maggi walked, stole two bases, and scored on a Rojas RBI single. After the 'Ducks put up another three-spot in the sixth, Altoona tried to rally late in the game. Down 9-3, the Curve batted around in the sixth and scored four runs which included RBIs by Maggi, Hanson, Jarek Cunningham, and Gift Ngoepe. In the seventh, Altoona brought the tying run to the plate but couldn't mount the comeback. Tyler Sample took the loss for Altoona after he allowed six runs (four earned) over three innings.
Game two saw the Curve struck in the first inning again with one run. After Hanson walked, he scored two batters later when Stetson Allie hit an RBI groundout. In the second, Akron struck for two runs thanks to a two-RBI double by Justin Toole. Brandon Mann took the loss after allowing only the two runs over four innings.
CURVE/RUBBERDUCKS SERIES: Altoona and Akron will play the ninth game against each other this season today with 11 more to go. On April 25, the Curve won the first game in Akron 5-3 but have since dropped five straight to the 'Ducks and are now 2-6 this year against the Indians' Double-A affiliate. The only other win against Akron came on April 8 when Willy Garcia hit a walk off solo home run that gave the Curve the 4-3 win. FOR ALTOONA: RHP Nick Kingham will start the final game of the RubberDucks series and will square off against Akron for the first time this season. After getting off to a fast start, the 22-year-old is trying to get back to his early- April success after faltering in his last two starts. In his last two starts, Kingham has allowed 11 runs (nine earned) over nine innings, compared to his first three starts where he only allowed one earned run over 17 innings. Last year, the right hander started three games against Akron, amassing a 1-0 record and a 1.50 ERA. For More on Kingham, see page two
FOR AKRON: RHP Joe Colon will take the rubber for the Akron RubberDucks. Colon was a 12th round selection by the Cleveland Indians in 2009 from Puerto Rico. The 24-year-old is in his first season of Double-A and has amassed a 1-2 record and a 3.14 ERA in five starts. After a tough first outing when he was rocked by Binghamton (5 ER, 4.2 IP), the six-foot right hander has hurled four straight quality starts including his most recent outing against Altoona on April 27. In that game against the Curve, Colon hurled six innings and allowed two runs on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts to register his first win of the season.
CAN'T HOLD US: A host of Altoona Curve players rank among the league leaders in a host of categories. Adrian Sampson is the current Eastern League leader in ERA at 1.53. Elias Diaz' hot bat has given him third place in the league with a .368 average. Stetson Allie is tied for second in the league with six home runs, Alen Hanson's four triples is tied for the league-lead, and Gift Ngoepe has walked 19 times which ranks second.
SADLER MAKES HIS DEBUT: After a call up to the Pittsburgh Pirates last Sunday, Casey Sadler made his Major League debut on Friday evening against Toronto, becoming the 112th player in Curve history to make it to The Show after playing in Altoona. In his MLB debut, the right hander tossed a scoreless seventh and eight innings and allowed only one hit while striking out Colby Rasmus and Chris Getz. This season for Triple-A Indianapolis, Sadler was 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts, struck out 16 in 27 innings and had opponents hitting .185 off him. In 2013, Sadler led the team with 11 wins while boasting a 3.31 ERA in 23 starts while being named an Eastern League mid-season All-Star.
SPRINTING OUT THE GATES: Getting off to a fast offensive start has helped the Curve tremendously this season. Of the 116 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 11-8 record, compared to a winless mark (0-8) when an opponent strikes first.
DOUBLEHEADER-MANIA: The Curve are 1-6 in doubleheaders this season with the only win falling on Thursday in the first game in Erie. Altoona still has three more doubleheaders scheduled of the course of the season. The next one will occur on May 24 in Erie, followed by a doubleheader at home against the SeaWolves on July 8, then, on July 12 in Harrisburg. Last season, Altoona was 10-11 in doubleheaders and played more doubleheader games than any other team in the Eastern League.
ARMED AND DANGEROUS: Willy Garcia tallied his third outfield assist of the season in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, gunning out Bryson Myles trying to score from second base. Last season, Garcia led all Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguers with 20 outfield assists during his stay with the Bradenton Marauders. The 20 assists were also the most in the Florida State League.
LOOKING AHEAD: Tomorrow the Altoona Curve will welcome the Bowie Baysox to Peoples Natural Gas Field for the first meeting against the Bal- timore Orioles Double-A affiliate this season. Last year against the Baysox, Altoona lost five of the six games played. The two teams will square off 19 total times this season with 17 games played in Curve, Pa., and 12 at Prince George's Stadium. RHP A.J. Morris will start the game for the Curve against a pitcher that is still to be determined.
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