The Result
Sea Dogs - 3 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
14 won and 6 lost

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Designated Hitter
Batting - #3

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 4 at-bats - single, double, 1 x run-batted-in

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Called strike - outside corner
Ball - low
Ball - outside
"Brett hit that well and lined it into left but the fielder came in and made the catch at about chest level"
Line out to leftfield
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - one down
Ball - inside
Foul ball - up the first base line
Ball - inside
"Roneberg bloops that into centrefield and the runner is being waved around third and will score without a throw"
Single to centrefield - 1 x RBI
Left stranded at the end of the inning
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Foul ball - high fast ball and fouled it back
"That pitch is hit deep and over the centrefielder's head and all the way to the wall and Roneberg has himself an easy double"
Double to centrefield
Left stranded at the end of the inning
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Called strike
"Hit that one down the line towards the first-baseman who picks up the ball and steps on the bag for the first out of the inning"
Infield ground out to first base

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Written on Thursday 27th April 2007
It's been a pretty good start and I definately liked going from 'the 7 hole' to 'the 3 hole'
Not sure if I will be staying there - but fingers crossed and if I keep going like I am I think I will
Not much else going on here - today was an off day that was very boring!!
We leave for Akron tomorrow morning

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve (14-6) held two separate leads in Wednesday’s game, but ultimately couldn’t hold off the Portland Sea Dogs (10-10), falling 3-2 in the series finale

Portland took two of three games from Altoona, marking the first time the Curve lost a series in 2006

The Sea Dogs entered the seventh inning trailing by a run, but capped off three consecutive base hits with a two RBI double down the left field line by Chad Spann to take a one-run lead

Altoona put the tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth when Octavio Martinez was hit by a pitch
Chaz Lytle came on as a pinch runner for the second night a row, but was thrown out trying to steal second base to end the game

Jason Roach (1-2) suffered his second loss of the season, allowing three earned runs in 6-1/3 innings while striking out two

Randy Beam picked up his first win of the season, throwing one inning of relief
Teammate Jonathan Searles notched the save, his first of the year

Both teams’ offenses started slowly in the game, combining for just one hit in the first three innings

The Curve broke the scoreless tie with back-to-back hits in the bottom of the fourth
Brett Roneberg had two hits in the game, including the RBI single in the fourth inning to score the game’s first run

Brant Ust collected his first two hits as a member of the Curve, finishing the game 2-3

Relievers Jorge Vasquez and Chris Hernandez combined to allow just one hit in the final 2-2/3 innings, but the Curve were unable to tie the game in the late innings as they had on Tuesday night’s contest

Altoona is off on Thursday before taking off on a seven-game road trip to Akron and Erie
Mike Connolly will make his fifth start of the season on Friday at Canal Park against division rival Akron
He will be opposed by top pitching prospect, Adam Miller

The Portland Sea Dogs finished off a seven-day roadtrip with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Altoona Curve on Wednesday afternoon at Blair County Ballpark

The game ended when Sea Dogs catcher Alberto Concepcion fired out Chaz Lytle on a stolen base attempt of second base

Portland returns home 3-4 on their trip but took two of three from the Eastern League’s best club

Chad Spann had the game-winning hit, doubling home two runs in the seventh inning off losing pitcher Jason Roach (1-2)
The rally started on back-to-back singles by David Bacani and Luis Jimenez

Randy Beam earned his first win of the season with an inning of scoreless relief and Jon Searles pitched the final two and 1/3 innings to earn his first save in the Red Sox organization

Altoona took an early lead off Portland starter Devern Hansack on an RBI single by ex-Sea Dog Brett Roneberg

The next half inning, Jimenez launched a solo home run over the left field wall, his second home run of the series

The Curve came back in their fifth inning, taking a 2-1 lead on Brandon Chaves’ sacrifice fly

Hansack left the game on the down side but worked five and 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, and two walks and fanned one

Portland became the first team to win a series at Blair County Ballpark this season

Altoona entered play with a 10-3 record at home and the best overall record in Double-A baseball (14-5)

Curve manager Tim Leiper often speaks of the importance of winning each series and, in particular, taking the rubber match when the series is tied
His club had accomplished those goals through the season’s first five series, but Wednesday, Portland became the first opponent to get the better of the Curve
The Sea Dogs scrapped out a 3-2 win before 3,386 fans at Blair County Ballpark to take the series, two games to one

“It was a good series, a good game” Leiper said
“They pitched, they played defense, they didn’t make any errors today, and when you throw strikes and pitch the ball, you’re going to win games
And that’s what they did”

Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus said his club, “played our best series of the year”

That’s the kind of effort teams are finding it takes to topple the Curve, who are 14-6 with a half-game lead over Harrisburg in the Southern Division standings

“They’re a very good ballteam, and to beat a club like that, that swings the bats the way they do, is pretty good” Claus said
“They don’t have an out in their lineup”

Altoona grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning when Brandon Chaves, who had the game-winning RBI in Tuesday night’s come-from-behind victory in 11 innings, plated Rafael Alvarez on a sacrifice fly

Curve starter Jason Roach had limited Portland to a run on four hits for 6-1/3 innings before running into trouble

The Sea Dogs took the lead behind back-to-back singles from David Bacani and Luis Jimenez and a two-run double by Chad Spann

Roach (1-2), who allowed three runs on seven hits, said losing this particular rubber match shouldn’t have much impact on the club
“I don’t know if it’s that big of a deal” he said
“We’re playing well, and it was a good baseball game.
After that comeback Tuesday night, and today was a really good ballgame, I don’t think it’s going to slow the momentum down”

Randy Beam (1-1) earned the win in relief for Portland, while Jonathan Searles worked the final 2-1/3 innings for his first save

The Curve put the tying run on base with two outs in the ninth as Searles walked Octavio Martinez
Chaz Lytle came in to pinch run and was thrown out at second base to end the game
“We took a chance right there, and it didn’t pay off” Leiper said of the steal attempt
“I like the aggressiveness, and that’s what Lytle was in the game to do
With [Vic] Buttler and [Craig] Stansberry coming up there behind him, I thought we had a pretty good chance, especially with a runner on second base”

Stansberry doubled with one out in the fourth and scored on Brett Roneberg’s single for a 1-0 Curve lead against Portland starter Devern Hansack

The Sea Dogs tied it in the fifth when Jimenez homered off Roach

Altoona swept the first four games of the season against Trenton, then won the rubber match in three straight series before taking three of four from Akron

“That’s one of my big things” Leiper said
“I think each series is huge, especially in a game three
The more of those series you win, the better off you’re going to be
During the course of 140 games, you can kind of just float around and not be focused, but when you look back at the end of the season, there’s certain games that really have meaning
To me, these are games you get up for, this last game
And our guys were up for it”

The Curve have had the luxury of playing 14 of their first 20 games at home and came out of the stretch with the best start in franchise history

“It’s definitely a confidence builder” Buttler said of the hot start
“When you’re winning, you’re having fun, so when you’re having fun, you go out there and play with the least amount of pressure as possible”

The Curve are 10-4 at home, but they’ve also proven they can win on the road with four wins in six games at Reading and Trenton

Following today’s breather, the club will hit the road for seven games against Akron and Erie
“We’re going to Akron, and we’re going to see some pretty good pitchers here the next couple days” Leiper said

Good pitching generally stops good hitting, one reason the Portland Sea Dogs won 2 of 3 games in a series against the Eastern League-leading Altoona Curve
The Sea Dogs took the final game of the series Wednesday afternoon, posting a 3-2 victory before a crowd of 3,386 at Blair County Ballpark

Altoona, which had won its first five series of the season, entered Wednesday's game with the league's best record (14-5) and team batting average (.277), but Portland pitchers Devern Hansack, Randy Beam and Jonathan Searles combined to limit the Curve to eight hits and forced them to leave seven base runners in the series finale

"We played our best series of the year against a very good ball team" said Portland Manager Todd Claus, whose team improved to 10-10
"To beat a club like Altoona that swings the bats the way they do - and they play good defense, too
They're a very strong team, and I don't think they have an out in their lineup, so we had to play very good baseball"

Claus credited his pitchers for shutting the door on the Curve batters
"Our starters did a great job this series" Claus said
"They kept us in the ballgame and that's all you can ask
Hansack came out of spring training as a reliever and for him to get us deep into the game, one out from a quality start, was tremendous"

A sacrifice fly by Brandon Chavez scored Rafael Alvarez to give Altoona a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, and Hansack left with two runners on and two outs in the sixth

Beam, who picked up his first win, got out of that jam and then turned the game over to Searles with two on and two outs in the seventh

Searles gave up only one hit in 2-1/3 innings to earn his first save

"Our bullpen has been one of our strengths up to this point" Claus said, "and they did a great job holding that one-run lead"

The Sea Dogs overcame the 2-1 deficit when Chad Spann ripped a two-run double in the seventh
After hits by David Bacani and Luis Jiminez, Spann turned on a fastball and drilled it into left field, scoring both runners and giving the Dogs a 3-2 advantage
"That was a huge hit" Claus said
"When you can drive a guy Jiminez in from first base, it's obviously a huge hit.
In Harrisburg, we hit a lot of balls hard that didn't find holes, but this was one of those games where we got a break - we got a big hit and it found a hole, and we were fortunate because that ball was right on the line"

Altoona scored in the fourth when Craig Stansberry doubled and scored on a single to center by former Sea Dog Brett Roneberg

Portland tied it on an opposite-field home run to left by Jiminez in the fifth

Altoona (Double-A, 14-6) lost, 3-2, at home to Portland (Red Sox) one night after winning an 11-inning thriller

It's the first time this season the Curve have been swept in a series

RHP Jason Roach lost his second game of the season after giving up three earned runs on seven hits in 6-1/3 innings of work

3B Brant Ust went 2 for 4 at the plate, while Brandon Chaves and Brett Roneberg each knocked in a run