The Result
Curve - 6 runs to 1

The Curve - Year-to-Date
20 won and 13 lost

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - First base
Batting - #3

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - home run, 1 x run-batted-in, 2 x runs scored, 2 x walks

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - low and away
Ball - high
"And that pitch is drilled fairly deep into centrefield and the fielder is going back and he reaches up and makes the catch"
Fly out to centrefield - F8
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - one down
Called strike - fast ball
Ball - outside in the dirt
Ball - low and away
Ball - low
Called strike
Ball
Walk
Advanced to third base on a hit
Scored on a sacrifice fly
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher - Oscar Alvarez
Bases empty - two down
Ball - low and outside
"That ball is driven high and deep into leftfield and Roneberg has himself an opposite field home run!!! ...... and that is Brett's third round-tripper of the season"
HOME RUN - 1 x RBI and 1 x R (click here for all the details)
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
"And as Roneberg steps into the box there is a conference on the mound and they are going to give him an intentional walk ...... and they are showing respect for Roneberg's left-handed stick and they will go after the righthander coming up next"
Intentional walk
"Out on a force play at second base and that will end the innings so the plan in walking Roneberg worked"
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - low
Called strike
Ball - low
Foul ball - down the leftfield line and into the bleachers
"Brett lifts that into the air in leftfield and the fielder moves a couple of paces to his left to make the catch"
Fly out to leftfield - F7

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve (20-13) avoided a three-game sweep and beat the Harrisburg Senators (18-15) Wednesday afternoon at Commerce Bank Park, 6-1

The win was much needed as the Curve headed into Wednesday’s game having lost five of six

Altoona took the lead in the third inning and never looked back when shortstop Javier Guzman led off with a double to left off of Harrisburg starter Oscar Alvarez (1-2)
Adam Boeve’s one out double scored Guzman and moved Brett Roneberg to third who previously walked
Roneberg scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Alvarez

Matt Peterson (3-2), who was winless in his last three starts, had a great outing on Wednesday allowing only one run on four hits

Harrisburg’s Alex Escobar did the only damage for the Senators with a two-out first inning home run

Peterson’s ERA dropped from 4.18 to 3.86

Altoona added two insurance runs in the top of the eighth, as the Curve sent eight men to the plate against Senator reliever Danny Rueckel
Vic Buttler and Brandon Chaves scored on a Simon Pond single to left and a Guzman sac-fly respectively

Brandon Knight and Josh Sharpless sealed the deal for the Curve, pitching three combined scoreless innings out of the bullpen
Knight pitched an efficient seventh and Sharpless finished the game in fine fashion, sitting down six of the seven batters he faced

Roneberg wasted no time starting a new hit streak as he belted a home run to left in the fifth to give the Curve a 3-1 lead
Roneberg’s team-high 13-game hit streak was snapped the night before when the Australian-native went 0-for-4
The first basemen finished 1-for-2 on Wednesday, with two runs and two walks

Altoona had been held homerless in their previous five games

The Curve return home on Thursday, May 11 for the opening of a four-game series with the Binghamton Mets
Right hander Jason Roach (3-2, 1.57) will start for the Curve against Miguel Pinango (0-2, 4.68) for the Mets
Thursday’s game marks the beginning of a seven game homestand at Blair County Ballpark

The Senators were looking for a sweep on Wednesday afternoon over the Curve, but instead fell 6-1

The Senators only run came in the first inning on a solo blast off the bat of Alex Escobar

With the loss the Senators fall to 18-15 and Altoona moves to 20-13 with the win

Oscar Alvarez started and allowed four runs on five hits, but he also struck out eleven in the game including four in the second inning

The Senators offense couldn't muster much off of three Curve pitchers in the homestand finale

Over 3,400 fans made their way to Commerce Bank Park and they were greated by lots of sun and no clouds, on a perfect day for baseball

And though the Senators didn't come through with a win, they were defensively perfect for the fourth game in a row
The Senators entered the contest having not committed an error over their past three games, and they were errorless again on Wednesday afternoon

The Senators now travel to Akron to begin a four game series with the Aeros

Curve starting pitcher Matt Peterson was winless in his last three starts going into Wednesday afternoon’s game before 3,849 at Commerce Bank Park
Peterson, however, stopped his own personal skid, tossing a four-hitter over six innings, striking out five, walking three and allowing one earned run in the Curve’s 6-1 win

Altoona starters had a 5.65 ERA in their last 15 games before Wednesday’s game

As a team, the Curve (20-13) did some damage control in avoiding a sweep by the Senators (18-15)
They had lost five of their last six games before the win

After recording only five hits Tuesday, the Curve had 11 the next day

They chased Senators starter Oscar Alvarez, who had 11 strikeouts, in the sixth

Down 1-0 after an Alex Escobar two-out solo home run to left field in the first inning, Altoona scored two runs in the third to take the lead for good
Javier Guzman, who was in a 7-for-60 slump before going 2-for-4, rapped a leadoff double to left and scored on Adam Boeve’s double to center
Rafael Alvarez’s sacrifice fly plated Brett Roneberg

Roneberg, who had a 13-game hitting streak stopped Tuesday, started another by stroking a two-out, solo homer to left in the fifth

The Curve had gone homerless for five straight games

In the sixth, Vic Buttler, who went 3-for-5, laced a one-out triple to right and scored on a Brandon Chaves sacrifice fly

The Curve loaded the bases in the two-run eighth on three straight hits by Buttler, Chaves and Octavio Martinez
Simon Pond’s pinch-hit single to center chased Buttler home, and Guzman’s sacrifice fly plated Chaves

Altoona (Double-A, 20-13) won, 6-1, at Harrisburg (Nationals)

After giving up a run in the first inning, RHP Matt Peterson threw five scoreless innings, giving up just four hits

CF Vic Buttler went 3 for 5 with a triple and two runs scored, while 1B Brett Roneberg hit a solo home run

Matt Peterson allowed one run on four hits over six innings to lead visiting Altoona past Harrisburg 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon
Peterson (3-2) did not allow a runner past second base after being touched for a first-inning run
The 24-year-old right-hander struck out five while walking three

Brandon Knight and Josh Sharpless combined to toss three scoreless innings

Vic Buttler went 3-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored to lead the Curve (20-13) offensively
Javier Guzman went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and a run scored, while Brett Roneberg went yard in the fifth frame

Alex Escobar hit a first-inning dinger to account for the Senators' (18-15) lone run

Oscar Alvarez (1-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits over 5-1/3 innings

Dan Kolb tossed 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Danny Rueckel surrendered two runs on five hits over two frames

After spending the past three days renewing old acquaintances, Tim Leiper finally got the opportunity to enjoy something else on his first trip back to Commerce Bank Park in nearly eight years
Victory

Getting a quality start from Matt Peterson and timely hits from just about everyone in the batting order, Leiper's Altoona Curve popped the Harrisburg Senators 6-1 in front of 3,849 sun-worshipping fans yesterday on City Island

The loss snapped the Senators' (18-15) three-game winning streak

Altoona (20-13) won for just the second time in seven games

For Leiper, the hitting coach on the Harrisburg side that claimed the 1998 Eastern League championship by beating New Britain, yesterday's win was his first on City Island in quite some time
"I don't even think I came back with the trophy on the bus, when driver Art Mattingly carried it off the bus" said Leiper, Altoona's first-year manager
"Yeah, it's the first time back - so it's kind of neat"

Neat also applies to Peterson (3-2), who surrendered just five hits and a single run during his six-inning stint
The 24-year-old righty, who hadn't won since April 19, walked three and fanned four before leaving with a 4-1 cushion

The Senators put men on base in each of Peterson's last four innings, but couldn't cash in
Only Alex Escobar, whose first-inning homer gave the Senators a 1-0 lead, caused real damage

"Peterson did a good job - he mixed his fastball and change" Harrisburg manager John Stearns said
"We didn't see his breaking ball as much as he used to throw it
He kept us off balance
He did a good job for six and, by that time, we were down and we just couldn't get it going"

Despite being down and in an early hole against Senators starter Oscar Alvarez (1-2), the Curve eventually got it going, even though the Harrisburg lefty struck out 11 in five-plus innings

As it turned out, Altoona scored all the runs Peterson and Co. needed in the third when it went up 2-1
Javier Guzman opened the third by smacking a double off the wall in left
After Craig Stansberry whiffed and Brett Roneberg walked, Guzman scampered home and Roneberg steamed into third on Adam Boeve's double to center, a hit that Harrisburg's Frank Diaz nearly turned into an acrobatic out
Rafael Alvarez made it 2-1, plating Roneberg with a sacrifice fly

Roneberg tacked on a home run to left-center in the fifth to bump Altoona's lead to 3-1

The Curve tacked on another run an inning later on Vic Buttler's one-out triple and Brandon Chaves' sacrifice fly

Altoona tacked on two more runs in the eighth off reliever Danny Rueckel, loading the bases on consecutive singles by Buttler, Chaves and Octavio Martinez
Pinch-hitter Simon Pond's RBI single made it 5-1 before Guzman scored Chaves with a sac fly

Soon, Leiper had the chance to reminisce with some fans
"You don't want to come in and get swept, but we're pretty comfortable with what we're doing" Leiper said
"It's just nice for Peterson
After seeing those guys a couple of days, he really made adjustments
He pitched to his game plan - he executed what he wanted to do"

Notes
Marcos Yepez made his Class AA debut yesterday for the Senators, going 0-for-4
Yepez, an infielder promoted earlier this week from Class A Potomac when Ian Desmond was placed on the disabled list, fanned three times
Catcher Salomon Manriquez (hamstring) missed his fourth straight game
In his first 26 innings, the Senators' Alvarez fanned just 14 batters
Pond (1998) and Roneberg (2003) played for the Senators