The Result
Curve - 3 to 2

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
0 wins - 1 loss

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing leftfield
Batting #5

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 4 at-bats - single, 2 x strike outs

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Did not hear
Fly ball to leftfield (??)
Second at-bat
Did not hear - but the commentator mentioned it later in the game
Runner at third base - two down
Strike out
Third at-bat
Runners at first and third base - two down
Swing&miss
Swing&miss
Swing&miss - check swing but went around too far - and had a few words to the umpire!!!
Strike out
Fourth at-bat
Runner at second base - none down
Jumped on the first pitch a drove a "solid" single to rightfield
Runner advanced to third base
Went to second base when the next hitter was hit by a pitch
Went to third base on a sacrifice-fly
Left stranded at the end of the innings - and he was the tying run in the top of the ninth!!!

Heard during the game
As Brett came in for his fourth at-bat, the commentator mentioned that "Brett has had a rough night for his return to Portland, being 0-for-3 with two strike outs and stranding three"

Email from Brett
(written on Friday 9th April)
Well, yesterday's game went ok - considering that it was really cold and tough to hit!
1 for 4 - but with two K's
and a pitch I should've hit out with two outs and a runner at third
Did get an assist from the left field line to second in the first inning
Weather - nice right now and even have a little sunshine out
Did feel ok but not bad for a first night - will do better today
Hope the broadcast is better tonight and I do some "good things"!
Bye

Game Reports
Altoona spoils opener

Charlie Zink's knuckleball didn't knuckle quite enough in the Portland Sea Dogs' season opener Thursday night.

The Altoona Curve scored single runs in the first and second innings off Zink and never trailed.

Portland later came up short during a ninth-inning rally and lost its debut, 3-2 at Blair County Ballpark.

Zink's knuckleball didn't have much movement early in the 40-degree weather, and Altoona's hitters made him pay.
The Curve showed patience, worked the counts in their favor and stayed back on the knuckleball.
"I couldn't feel my hand at all," Zink said.
"I was searching for a release point, but I couldn't feel what I was doing wrong."

Altoona's Nate McLouth doubled to the gap in left-center with one out in the first and scored on Kevin Nicholson's shot just inside the third-base line.

Ray Sadler walked leading off the Curve second and swiped second base.
Zink threw one of his sharpest knucklers to get a 1-2 count on Jeff Keppinger, but Keppinger rapped the next offering for a single to right that scored Sadler for a 2-0 lead.

"I thought they did a good job waiting me out," Zink said. "I would have, too."
Zink, considered to have the best knuckleball in the minor leagues, showed it as the game wore on.
He started fooling Altoona's hitters in the middle innings, but by then the damage had been done.

The Curve added an unearned insurance run for a 3-0 lead against reliever Jerome Gamble in the sixth.

Portland couldn't do much against Altoona right-hander Ian Snell, who used his 94 mph fastball to throw five shutout innings.
"They gave me the run support hitting the ball everywhere," Snell said of his offense. "It helped me out."

Portland catcher Edgar Martinez helped keep the early deficit manageable by throwing out three Curve runners trying to steal over the first three innings.

The Sea Dogs tried to bite back in their final two at-bats but came up short.

Jesus Medrano's solo homer in the eighth cut Portland's deficit to 3-1.

The Sea Dogs loaded the bases with no outs off Elio Serrano in the ninth but managed just one run on Eric Johnson's sacrifice fly.
John Hattig tried advancing from first to second on a pitch in the dirt but was thrown out by the catcher Ronny Paulino.
Serrano then struck out Kenny Perez for the save.

Portland's only other scoring opportunity came in the sixth inning, but the Sea Dogs couldn't cash in.
Medrano singled and Sheldon Fulse walked to start the inning, chasing Snell.
Former major leaguer Andrew Lorraine came in for the Curve and got out of the jam.
Lorraine got a flyout from Mike O'Keefe then, with runners at the corners, struck out Jeff Bailey looking and Brett Roneberg on a check swing.
"I was just thinking about getting out of there with no more than a run," Lorraine said.
"When it got to first and third with one out, I was just thinking, 'get an out here.' If you get an out there, then you can limit the damage."