EL1 Altoona Curve

Game Notes and Information vs. Richmond

Published on April 17, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release


ABOUT YESTERDAY: Altoona finished the six-game road trip with a 5-2 victory over the Harrisburg Senators Wednesday afternoon. The Curve scored two runs in the first inning thanks to a Mel Rojas, Jr. single to left-center field that allowed Gift Ngoepe and Stetson Allie to score. With Altoona leading 2-0 late in the game, the crew added three insurance runs in the eighth on a pair of base hits. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Willy Garcia hit a double in the gap in left that allowed Ngoepe and Allie to score their second runs of the game. Later in the inning, Jarek Cunningham hit a sacrifice fly that scored Rojas, Jr.. Adrian Sampson tossed another solid outing for the Curve. The right hander hurled six shutout innings to earn his second win of the season. Sampson allowed only three hits, struck out six, and walked three and saw his ERA drop to 1.59.

CURVE/SQUIRRELS SERIES: Thursday's game marks the fifth time that Altoona and Richmond have faced each oth- er this season. During the last road trip, Altoona started off in Richmond and spoiled the Squirrels' home opener but Richmond took the next three games including a 5-4 walk off win last Friday. This is the first of 14 games between the Curve and Squirrels at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Last season, Altoona went 6-5 against Richmond in Curve, Pa., and have won 30 of the 47 games all-time against the Squirrels at Peoples Natural Gas Field. FOR ALTOONA: RHP Nick Kingham will take the bump tonight for the Curve in the opening contest against the Squirrels. Kingham this season is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA and is tied for third in the Eastern League in ERA with Bowie's Tim Berry. Ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates system according to Baseball America, Kingham tossed six innings of one run ball against the Squirrels last Friday and was in line to pick up his second win of the season before Richmond rallied in the ninth to win. For more on Kingham, see page two.

FOR RICHMOND: RHP Clayton Blackburn will make his second appearance against Altoona this season. The Ama- rillo, Texas native had a tough time against the Curve on April 10, lasting only four innings and giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits and taking the loss in the process. Blackburn this season is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in just two games. Ranked as the tenth best prospect in the Giants farm system by Baseball America, Blackburn tossed five innings of one-run ball in his first start on April 4 in New Britain. He is one of the four Richmond Flying Squirrels starters that are ranked in the Top-10 by the aformentioned Baseball America entering the season. In fact, all three starters in this series are in the Top-10 as the Curve will once again miss LHP Ty Blach in this series.

GLAD TO BE HOME: The Curve finished the six-game road trip with a 2-4 record. Offensively, Aloona batted .227 and the relief corps surrendered 13 runs in 22.2 innings. Monday night's one-run defeat at the hands of Harrisburg was the third of road trip and the second time that they've been on the wrong side of a walk off on the road trip. In all three of the one-run losses, the Curve commanded leads at some point or another in the game with the lead being three runs in the seventh inning or later in two of the three setbacks.

OUT OF THE BLOCKS WITH EASE: The Curve had no problem scoring first while on the road as they scored in the first inning in five of the six games played during the last trip. All told, the first inning ranks as the team's second- most successful inning in which to score (seven runs total). Altoona has scored a majority of its runs in the eighth inning coming into tonight (12 of 39).

A GIFT FOR YOU: Second baseman Gift Ngoepe has gotten out of the gate well for the Curve in his second go around at the Double-A level in 2014. Despite going 0-for-3 at the plate and seeing his seven-game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday, Ngoepe did walk twice and score a pair of runs in Altoona's 5-2 victory. Ngoepe has reached base safely in eight straight games, tied with Mel Rojas, Jr. for the club lead.

CRAZY EIGHT: Center fielder Mel Rojas, Jr. is currently riding team-best eight-game hitting streak into tonight's game against the Flying Squirrels. During Rojas' current hitting streak, he is batting .333 (10-for-30). The 23-year- old's longest hitting streak came in 2012 when he hit safely in ten straight games with the Bradenton Marauders from July 31 to August 12.

PITCH ON THE PITCH: One shining spot for the Curve during their last road was the starting pitching. The rota- tion combined to allow only nine runs over 29.2 innings pitched, good for a 2.73 ERA. Despite the struggles over the final few games in Richmond, the Curve pitching staff still checks in with the second-best ERA in the 12-team Eastern League (3.18). Nick Kingham has the fourth-best ERA (0.75) and the second-best batting average against (.158) for any pitcher in the league. Wednesday morning's starter Adrian Sampson holds the eighth-best ERA in the league (1.59) and is fourth in batting average against (.183)

"WILLY" CONTINUE?: Outfielder Willy Garcia (No. 14 - Baseball America) has hit safely in five of his last six games but is still looking for his first multi-hit game of the season. During the road trip, Garcia batted .200 but came through in several clutch situations and collected six RBI during the road trip. This season Garcia is batting .146 with a team-high three home runs. Last season, Garcia led the entire Pirates minor league system and Florida State League in outfield assists in 2013, throwing out 20 runners. The Curve record for outfield assists in a season is 18, which was set by Starling Marte in 2011.

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