The Result
SeaWolves - 5 runs to 3

The Curve - Year-to-Date
18 won and 9 lost

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

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 3 at-bats - 2 x singles, 1 x run scored, 1 x walk

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - inside and low
Ball - inside and low - "and Roneberg had to jump out of the way of that one"
"There's a ground ball through the right side and Roneberg has a base hit
Single to rightfield
Advanced to second base on a ground ball error by the SeaWolves' first-baseman
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - breaking ball - in the dirt
Ball - breaking ball - just off the inside corner
Swing and a miss - "that looked like a slider that was down and in"
Foul ball - back
Ball - breaking ball - just missed outside
"That pitch is drilled into deep centrefield and the fielder goes back and makes the catch up against the fence"
Fly out - F8
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Called strike - fast ball - at the knees
Ball - in the dirt
Ball - high
Ball - high - "and Roneberg checked his swing"
Ball - high
Walk
Scored on a home run by the next Curve hitter
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Swing and a miss - "and that was a 92mph fast ball that was high inside"
Foul ball - down the third base line
"A line drive that comes off the glove of the diving second-baseman and into rightfield and Roneberg has his second hit of the night"
Single to rightfield
Advanced to second base on an infield ground out
Left stranded at the end of the innings

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Simon Pond belted his team-high sixth home run of the season, but the Curve failed to complete a four-game series sweep of Erie, falling to the SeaWolves, 5-3, Thursday morning at Jerry Uht Park in Erie

Despite the loss, Altoona (18-9) took three of four games from their divison rivals and finished their seven-game road trip to Akron and Erie with a 4-3 record

The Curve will enter their three-game home series against Reading this weekend with a 1/2 game lead over second-place Akron in the Eastern League's Southern Division
Altoona has been tied for or in possession of first place in the E.L. South for 28 of the season's first 29 days

One night after posting 17 hits in an 11-5 win over the SeaWolves, the Curve offense managed just six hits against Erie starter Humberto Sanchez and two relievers
Sanchez (3-1), one of the Detroit Tigers' top minor league pitching prospects, worked 7-1/3 innings, allowing a pair of runs on four hits to earn his third win of the season

The two runs allowed by Sanchez came off the bat of Pond, whose two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning cut Erie's lead to 4-2
The 29-year old first baseman's sixth longball of the season ties him for the league lead in that category and gives him an E.L.-high 22 RBI

Altoona starter Landon Jacobsen, who was pitching on his 27th birthday, lasted just 3-2/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits to suffer the loss
Jacobsen (4-2) dropped his second straight decision after becoming the first pitcher in Curve history to win each of his first four starts to open a season

After staging a ninth-inning comeback victory over the SeaWolves on Wednesday night, Altoona hoped to duplicate that feat trailing 5-2 entering the final frame
After reliever Ian Ostland set down the first two Curve hitters in the inning, Brant Ust singled to center before pinch-hitter Taber Lee doubled him home to cut the Erie lead to 5-3
However, Eulogio de la Cruz came on and retired Javier Guzman for the final out of the game to earn his first save of the season and help the SeaWolves avoid a series sweep in their home ballpark

Two of Altoona's six hits came from Brett Roneberg, who extended his hitting streak to nine games
The 27-year old Australian native, who joined the club last Monday from Pirates' extended spring training, has hit safely in each game he's appeared in with the Curve

Altoona will return home for a brief three-game stop-over at Blair County Ballpark beginning Friday night against the Reading Phillies at 6.35pm
The Curve will send right-hander Matt Peterson (2-2, 3.58) to the mound for Friday's series opener against Reading righty Scott Mathieson (2-1, 3.62)

Fans attending Friday's game at Blair County Ballpark will have the opportunity to meet and greet former 'CHIPS' star Erik Estrada, who is taking part in the Curve's "2006 Retro Celebrity Series"
Ballpark gates will open at the special time of 5.00pm for all of the "Cinco de Estrada" festivities

Altoona (Double-A, 18-9) lost, 5-3, at Erie (Tigers)

RHP Landon Jacobsen (4-2) allowed four runs in 3-2/3 innings pitched

1B Simon Pond hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, a team-high sixth on the season
DH Brett Roneberg was 2 for 3 with a walk

The SeaWolves salvaged the final game in a four-game set against the Altoona Curve 5-3, in day-game action at Jerry Uht Park

One start removed from striking out a career high, Humberto Sanchez tossed anther gem for Erie and he picked up his third win of the season
It was his third consecutive victory - two against Binghamton and one against Altoona
Sanchez went deep into the game going 7.1 innings, his longest outing of the year
He allowed two earned runs off of four hits while walking three and striking out five

Erie came right out of the gate scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning against Altoona’s starter Landon Jacobson
Jacobson, who earlier in the season defeated the SeaWolves, took the loss in the game and fell to 4-2 on the year

Tony Giarratano led off the bottom of the first with a walk and Scott Tousa followed with a single, putting runners on first and second with no one out
Brent Clevlen came to the plate and doubled over the centerfielder Brandon Chaves scoring Giarratano from second, putting Erie up 1-0
A walk to Dmitri Young followed the double loading the bases for Kurt Airoso
Airoso hit into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Tousa from third, putting the ‘Wolves up 2-0

The SeaWolves tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth, the same inning they would knock out the Altoona starter Jacobson
Mike Rabelo led off the inning with a double
Jacobson retired the next two batters, but Vince Blue came through with a double to left, scoring Rabelo, putting Erie up 3-0
Giarratano followed by walking for the second time in the game and Tousa came through with his second hit of the game to bring home Blue from second

Altoona got on the board in the top of the sixth inning on the only two runs Sanchez would give up in the game
He issued a walk to Brett Roneberg with one out, and Simon Pond followed with a two-run home run over the wall in left, cutting the Erie lead in half at 4-2

The SeaWolves added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh
Brent Clevlen reached on an error and got to second on a wild pitch
Airoso came up with one out and knocked in Clevlen on a single, giving Erie a 5-2 advantage

The Curve scored a run in the top of the ninth inning with two outs off of Ian Ostlund who came into the game in the eighth in relief of Sanchez
Manager Duffy Dyer went to the pen with two outs and brought in Eulogio De La Cruz who retired the final better of the inning to pick up his first save of the year, preserving a 5-3 win

Notes
Brent Clevlen had two hits in the game - he has two consecutive multi-hit games
The win gives Erie a 2-5 record vs. the Curve
Humberto Sanchez leads the league in strikeouts with 46

The Curve couldn’t solve one of the Eastern League’s top pitchers in the finale of their seven-game road trip Thursday
Erie’s Humberto Sanchez made an early lead hold up with 7-1/3 strong innings as the SeaWolves beat Altoona, 5-3, at Jerry Uht Park

Sanchez held a Curve offense that had recorded 17 hits Wednesday night to just four hits

Altoona starter Landon Jacobsen (4-2) fell behind in the first inning for the second game in a row and lost his second straight decision

Jacobsen’s rocky start included a walk to Tony Giarratano, a single by Scott Tousa and an RBI double by Brent Clevlen
Dmitri Young, on a rehab stint from Detroit, then drew a walk, but Jacobsen minimized the damage by getting a double play groundout by Kurt Airoso
Tousa scored on the play to make it 2-0

Erie added two more runs in the fourth as Vince Blue doubled one in and scored on a single by Tousa

The Curve finally got to Sanchez (3-1) in the sixth when Simon Pond ripped a two-run homer
Pond leads the league with 22 RBI's and moved into a tie for tops in the circuit with six homers

Pond’s homer was all Altoona could muster, however, off Sanchez (3-1), who struck out five with three walks and now has a 1.69 ERA

Jacobsen gave up four runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks over 3-2/3 innings

Erie added a run in the seventh off reliever Shane Youman

The Curve pulled within 5-3 in the ninth as Taber Lee doubled home Brant Ust
Altoona got no closer, though, as Eulogio De La Cruz came on to retire the final out for his first save

Brett Roneberg went 2-for-3 for the Curve to extend his hitting streak to nine games
He’s 7-for-9 over the past two contests

All-Star sponsor
The Curve announced Thursday that the EL All-Star Game at Blair County Ballpark will be sponsored by UPMC Health Plan

It was getaway day Thursday, and as Erie SeaWolves players quickly ate their postgame meals and turned their attention to packing, Detroit Tigers designated hitter Dmitri Young approached SeaWolves pitcher Humberto Sanchez at his locker
"You keep throwing the ball the way you are and I'll be seeing you real soon" Young said to the 6-foot 6-inch,230-pound fireballing right-hander
"There will be a uniform waiting for you in Detroit"

Sanchez gave the SeaWolves a sixth straight quality start in Thursday's 5-3 win over the Altoona Curve before a school-day crowd of 2,895 at Jerry Uht Park

"Just watching what I saw today, he's dominant with his pitches and he's very confident on the mound" said Young, who completed his two-day rehabilitation assignment with Erie

With Thursday'svictory, the struggling SeaWolves (10-17) finished a difficult seven-game homestand with a 2-5 record

Sanchez, who leads the Eastern League with 46 strikeouts, earned both wins
Sanchez (3-1, 1.69) worked 7-1/3 innings against the Curve (18-9), allowing two runs and four hits
He struck out five and walked three
"I like the pressure going out there knowing your team needs you to keep them in the game" Sanchez said
"I take that responsibility personally on myself
I get mad at myself when I give up any unnecessary runs because I know we need all the runs we can get and we need to keep the games close as a pitching staff"

On Saturday, Sanchez threw one of the best games of his career in a 1-0 win over Binghamton, pitching seven shutout innings of five-hit ball and striking out a career-high 13
He wasn't as dominant against a veteran Altoona team, which entered Thursday's game with a league-leading .277 team average, but his performance was good enough to help Erie earn a much-needed win

"He's got great stuff, and he didn't have as many strikeouts today, but that's fine" SeaWolves manager Duffy Dyer said
"We like it when he keeps his pitch count down a little bit
Today he was able to get some outs a little quicker on first and second pitches, so that helped him to go a little further in the game"

Sanchez threw 101 pitches and lost his shutout in the sixth, giving up a one-out walk to designated hitter Brett Roneberg and a two-run homer to first baseman Simon Pond

"The fifth and sixth innings were weird innings for me" Sanchez said
"I went out there and I just felt a little bit out of sync, and I don't know for what reason
On the homer, it was a pitch right down the middle to a good batter"

For much of the season, the SeaWolves have had to rely on pitching and defense to stay in games
Dyer was encouraged with seeing his struggling offense produce five runs for the second straight game

SeaWolves center fielder Vince Blue, who hits ninth in the order, and second baseman Scott Tousa delivered two-out, RBI hits in the fourth to give Erie a 4-0 lead
"Vince has picked us up the past couple of games at the bottom of the order and that's what we need" Dyer said
"We need one or two guys to start hitting, especially with men on base
Vince has had the opportunity to drive in some runs the last couple nights and he's done it
The two-out hits are really a big lift psychologically for the ballclub"

The SeaWolves visit Harrisburg for a three-game series beginning today
Erie hosts Akron on Monday at 6.35pm in the opener of a three-game series