The Result
Mets - 5 runs to 3

The Curve - Year-to-Date
26 won and 17 lost

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

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 4 at-bats - single, 1 x grounded-into-double-play

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
(did not hear the pitch sequence)
Popped up into foul territory near third base and the catch was taken
Infield fly out - F5
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
"There's a base hit into rightfield and Roneberg has his first hit in the three game series"
Single to rightfield
Runner advanced to second base
Brett advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
"Roneberg bounces a ball towards second base and it should be two ...... picked up by the Mets second-baseman who flips to the shortstop covering second base and then throws to first base to complete the play"
Grounded into double play - 4 to 6 to 3
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Foul ball - back to the net
Ball - low
Ball - downstairs
Ball - outside
"Brett drives that ball well into centrefield but straight at the fielder who makes the catch to end the innings"
Fly out to centrefield - F8

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Thank God the last three games are over with!!
Just seemed like it was a battle the whole way through
Everything will change today though
and I am ready to get back in there!!

Game Reports

The Binghamton Mets earned a measure of revenge on Sunday, defeating the Altoona Curve 5-3 to complete a three-game sweep at NYSEG Stadium
Earlier this month, the Curve won all four games the two teams played during their series in Altoona

Craig Stansberry drew the Curve close in the top of the ninth with a two run homer
Altoona could not bring the tying run to the plate however, as Brandon Chaves and Milver Reyes struck out and flied out respectively to end the game

Starter Matt Peterson (3-3) was handed his third loss of the season for Altoona, who were swept for the first time in 2006
The right-hander, who played two seasons with Binghamton earlier in his career, gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings pitched

The Curve cut into an early 3-0 lead for the B-Mets when Rafael Alvarez lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Vic Buttler in the fourth inning

Buttler, the reigning E.L. player of the week, failed to earn a basehit, ended his consecutive games hit streak at 11

Chuck Smith (1-0) made his first start for the Mets and earned his first victory
Smith allowed one run on three hits in five innings to lower his ERA to 0.90

Leading by two runs in the bottom of the fifth, Michel Abreu doubled the Mets’ lead with a two-run homerun to centerfield
The Binghamton first baseman finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI

James Johnson was impressive in his first appearance of the season for Altoona
After missing the first six weeks of the season with a sprained ankle, the Curve reliever pitched the final two innings of Sunday’s game and did not allow a run on just one hit

Altoona now leads the Eastern League’s Southern Division by one and a half games over Akron and will host the Bowie Baysox in a four-game series at Blair County Ballpark beginning Monday, May 22

Left-hander Josh Shortslef (4-0) will oppose Bowie’s James Johnson in Monday’s game

Spot starter Chuck Smith threw five strong innings and Michel Abreu drove in three runs, propelling the Binghamton Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Altoona Curve at NYSEG Stadium Sunday

The B-Mets opened their seven-game homestand with a sweep of the three-game series

The B-Mets (20-23) never trailed, going on top in the bottom of the first
After Altoona starter Matt Peterson issued back-to-back walks to Wilson Batista and Jorge Padilla, Abreu drove in Batista with a single for a 1-0 lead

Batista scored Binghamton’s second run in the third, when he doubled off Peterson (3-3), stole third and came home on Padilla’s base hit to center

After Altoona (26-17) pulled to within 2-1 on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Alvarez in the fourth, Corey Ragsdale drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the inning, stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on Jonathan Slack’s suicide squeeze bunt for a 3-1 B-Mets lead

Abreu drove home Binghamton’s final runs with a two-run homer in the fifth, scoring Batista

Altoona’s Craig Stansberry hit a two-run shot in the ninth, closing the scoring for the Curve

Smith (1-0) got his first win as a B-Met, giving up a run on three hits, striking out four
He also singled in the fourth

The Curve sprinted out of town last week having won seven of eight games, but they’ll limp back tonight with a three-game losing streak and markedly different roster

Binghamton completed a three-game sweep of Altoona at NYSEG Stadium on Sunday, winning 5-3, just a week after the Curve swept a four-game home set against the B-Mets

Despite the tough weekend, which included dropping a doubleheader Saturday, the Curve still hold the top spot in the Southern Division by 1-1/2 games over Akron

The club welcomes Bowie for a four-game series starting tonight

Later this week, the Curve may get a major addition if the Pirates decide to send first baseman Sean Casey to Double-A for a rehab assignment
Casey, on the major league disabled list with a back injury, could join either Altoona or Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday
The Curve will be in Erie over the weekend, making it a short trip for Casey, while Indianapolis will be in Syracuse, N.Y., starting Saturday
The Pirates rarely use Altoona as a rehab spot anymore, opting not to send any rehabbing players to the Curve since the 2002 season (Kris Benson, Armando Rios)

Getting Casey would be a welcome addition to a team that just lost three of its best players - right fielder Adam Boeve, reliever Josh Sharpless and starter Jason Roach - to Triple-A
Coincidence or not, Altoona’s three-game losing streak started after the departure of those players

The three players, by the way, are off to great starts in Triple-A
Boeve has torched the ball so far, going 10-for-15 (.667) with a homer, double and two RBIs in four games
Sharpless has worked three scoreless innings in two outings and has one save, while Roach picked up the win Sunday against Louisville after allowing two runs in 5-2/3 innings

The Curve trailed from the outset Sunday as Binghamton got a run off Matt Peterson in the first inning and never looked back

Altoona was down 2-1 after scoring in the top of the fourth, but the B-Mets took control with a run in their half of the inning and two more in the fifth on a homer by Michel Abreu

Peterson (3-3), a former B-Met making his first start for an opposing team at NYSEG Stadium, allowed five runs on nine hits over six innings for the loss
He walked four and struck out four

Binghamton reliever Chuck Smith (1-0), making a spot start, gave up a run on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks over five innings for the win

Craig Stansberry hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Curve, whose other run scored on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Alvarez

Vic Buttler went 0-for-1 with three walks to snap his 11-game hitting streak

Their opening day starter was in Norfolk
And another ace was making the glorious ride to New York City
And so on the mound Sunday at NYSEG Stadium stood Alabama native Chuck Smith, trying to stay aggressive in his new role as a starter and hoping to log some much-needed innings for a thinning Binghamton Mets pitching staff

"Before the game" B-Mets manager Juan Samuel said, "we were really thinking if Chuck didn't give us five innings at least, we would probably be in trouble"

Mission accomplished
Crisis averted

Smith fired five strong innings in his first start with the team, and Binghamton continued to hit well at home as the Mets completed a three-game sweep of Altoona with a 5-3 win before an announced crowd of 2,787 fans

Smith allowed one run on three hits, striking out four and walking two

Minus a two-run homer in the ninth, the bullpen was steady the rest of the way

And first baseman Michel Abreu led the sustained attack on former B-Mets pitcher Matt Peterson, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, including a two-run homer that broke things open in the bottom of the fifth inning

After dropping six of seven games on their most recent road trip, the B-Mets took three straight from the Southern Division's top team over the weekend

"We've got the momentum turned now" Smith said
"It's good to come home, because you can turn things around at home a lot better than (when) you're on the road
And everybody's playing good, hitting the ball a whole lot better now, and I think we're going to turn it around, make a good stretch right here"

Now a starter with Altoona, Peterson spent two seasons with Binghamton from 2003 to 2004 before being shipped to Pittsburgh in the five-player deal that brought Kris Benson to New York
The B-Mets never eased up on him Sunday, putting at least two men on base in each of his six innings

"The first time we played them, they were a little bit more free swinging" Peterson said
"And not only that, I go out there and throw quality strikes and make them swing the bat
But (on Sunday) I fell behind, and they would just sit there and wait for their pitch to hit
And eventually they got it"

Wilson Batista scored three times and notched one of Binghamton's three stolen bases as the teams played through a brief burst of rain and a constant wind that blew foul balls fair and kept the flags rippling

Smith needed just 57 pitches to get through his five innings
He cruised through the first three before Altoona's Vic Buttler led off the fourth with a walk and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly

By then, though, the B-Mets were already sitting on a 2-0 lead they'd pad with three more runs over the fourth and fifth innings

"The key, I think, is we are getting some big, two-out base hits" Samuel said
"The bats seem to be coming around
We had some problems on this recent road trip scoring runs
And those guys are being a little bit more patient at the plate, trying to get a good pitch to hit"

Smith came in with a 0.00 ERA after allowing just one hit over five innings in his first two games with the team
His successful spot start was a boost for a team that's lost Evan MacLane to Norfolk and, as of late Saturday night, Alay Soler to the New York Mets

"You try to be aggressive just the same way (as when you're relieving)" Smith said
"I've started in the past before, and that's been my problem, not being aggressive whenever I start
So today I went out there and tried to be aggressive from the very first pitch"

More on Pelfrey
One day after Mike Pelfrey lasted just two-thirds of an inning, Samuel was asked more about the 2005 first-round draft pick's roughest start as a B-Met
"It's something that probably we need to straighten out with our pitching coach in the pen" Samuel said before Sunday's game
"His command wasn't there
His ball was moving too much (Saturday)
And he just threw too many pitches
We just didn't want to take any chance with him
Hopefully, he can come back some point soon and throw the ball the way he's capable of"
Pelfrey, who struck out a team-high 10 batters in a game earlier this month, allowed two runs and three walks in the first inning Saturday