Saturday 7th June 2003
(by Cory Giger)

Two guys in particular felt pretty good about the Curve's win Saturday night

"It was nice for both of them," manager Dale Sveum said of Chris Duffy and Brett Roneberg, each of whom drove in a pair of runs.

Both hitters had been struggling for a while but picked the same game to come through in the clutch.
Their efforts helped the Curve beat Harrisburg 6-1 before 5,489 fans at Blair County Ballpark.

"I've been struggling a little bit -- it's no secret -- and tonight was just a good feeling to get a couple hits and a couple RBIs," said Roneberg, who entered the night with a .204 average since May 1.
"It makes you feel a lot better."

Roneberg's RBI double scored Chan Perry for a 2-1 lead in the first inning, putting the Curve on top to stay.

Roneberg later delivered the defensive play of the night by throwing out Senators pitcher Gustavo Mata at the plate to protect the one-run lead in the third.
"It was a huge throw Roneberg made," Sveum said. "That could have changed the game around."
Mata (3-4), the losing pitcher, was waived home by Senators manager and third base coach Dave Machemer on Noah Hall's two-out hit to left.
Roneberg charged and fired a strike to catcher Chris Heintz to nail the runner by at least 10 feet.
"They're both big," Roneberg said of his offensive and defensive exploits.
"I like driving in runs, and I like helping out the pitcher. Our pitching does an outstanding job every night, so if I can help them out, I'm more than happy to."

Duffy, who went 3-for-4, did his part to help the pitching minutes later with a two-run triple to center in the third.
The blast scored Perry, who went 3-for-3 with three runs, and Shaun Skrehot for a 4-1 lead.
"That's definitely a confidence builder for me," said Duffy, who got off to a hot start this season but was batting 0.181 since April 20. "It's finally starting to feel like my hard work's starting to pay off."

Altoona finished off the scoring thanks to an error by Harrisburg and RBI single by Roneberg in the sixth.

The six runs, surprisingly enough, matched the Curve's highest output at home this season.

That was plenty of support for Sean Burnett (6-2), who turned in his most efficient outing of the season for his fourth straight victory.
He struck out two with no walks, giving up just an unearned run in the first inning.
The lefty has had troubles with high pitch counts, but he made it through seven innings on only 86 pitches Saturday.
"I was just throwing strikes," Burnett said. "(Pitching coach Jeff) Andrews pulled me aside the other day and told me I need to get more outs early in the count, get my pitch count down. I pretty much focused on trying to get outs the first few pitches."
Burnett, it turns out, has set a club record for longest stretch without allowing a home run.
He hasn't served one up all season, a span of 68 2-3 innings.
"He keeps the ball down as well as anybody, especially when he gets out of jumping at the catcher," Sveum said.
"He was just letting his body take over, and that's when his ball really sinks."

As impressive as Burnett looked, the postgame rave in the clubhouse centered around reliever Jeff Bennett.
Andrews told the right-hander he looked "absolutely filthy" in striking out all three hitters on nine pitches in the ninth.
"We've been trying to throw the ball through the catcher all year long instead of thinking on the mound," Bennett said.
"I didn't think about the performance as much as I did making the pitch. I hope it's like that every time."