Altoona Curve Game Notes
April 10, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
Altoona Curve (0-2) at Erie SeaWolves (2-0)
Friday, April 9 - 6:35 p.m. First Pitch
Jerry Uht Park- Erie, PA
Game #3 Road Game #3
LAST NIGHT: For the second straight night, the Altoona Curve plated seven runs and recorded 12 hits, but wound up suffering the loss to drop to 0-2 on the season...Former first-round draft choice Brad Lincoln started for Curve, making his Double-A debut and struck out six batters over 4.0 ip...The Bucs '07 first-rounder Daniel Moskos also made his Double-A debut, following LIncoln and pitched 1.0 inning of relief...However, the downfall for Altoona was seven walks issued by four Curve hurlers that allowed Erie to capitalize and win the contest, 10-7.
TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERS: Altoona's Jared Hughes will make his first start of the season tonight. The 6'7" righty split the 2008 season with the Lynchburg Hillcats before earning a mid-season promotion to the Curve (7/10 for a spot start then for good on 8/5). With Altoona last year, Hughes, 23, posted a 2-2 mark with an ERA of 4.94 in six total starts
The 'Wolves will send right-hander Alfredo Figaro to the mound to make his Double-A debut. Figaro split last season between West Michigan and Lakeland...After a stellar 12-2 mark in low-A, Figaro stumbled in High-A, going 0-5 with a 4.91 ERA in six games (five starts). A former Dodgers farm hand, Figaro signed with the Tigers as a minor league free agent in 2005.
CURVE/ERIE SERIES: Tonight is the third of 25 meetings between Altoona and Erie. With the unbalanced schedule in the E.L., Erie will be the Curve's most common opponent in 2009. In 2008, Altoona sported an 11-7 record against the SeaWolves to run the all-time mark against their Southern Division rival to 96-100.
T.G.I.F.: Leadoff hitter Brian Friday has been impressive in his first two Double-A games as a table-setter. Besides smacking his first home run in a Curve uniform last night in the sixth inning, the Rice University product is 5-for-9 in his first two games and his been on base six times scoring all six times.
TOP DAWGS: The combination of Brian Friday, Jim Negrych and Jose Tabata have proven to be a very formidable 1-2-3 punch at the top of the Altoona batting order. Over the first two games, the trio has combined to go 14-for-28 (.500) with 11 runs scored and five RBI.
LET'S NOT GO THERE: With a victory tonight, the Altoona Curve would prevent themselves from starting 0-3 for just the third time in franchise history. The Curve dropped three straight games to start a season in both 2001 and 2008. Both of those years, the Curve finished with their worse marks in franchise history -- 63-79 ('01) and 65-77 ('08)...never have the Curve started a season 0-4.
LOOKING 'CURVE' COOL: For the second straight year, the Altoona Curve were listed among the top 25 minor league team's by Minor League Baseball. The Curve has a brand new line of merchandise available for the 2009 season and can be viewed online at AltoonaCurve.com/store.
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Eastern League Stories from April 10, 2009
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- Altoona Curve Game Notes - Altoona Curve
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