Casey at bat for Altoona

Sean Casey (pictured) will join the Altoona Curve for their series opener in Erie on Friday to begin a rehab assignment as he recovers from two fractures in his back
The three-time National League All-Star has been on the disabled list since April 15 and has played only nine games for Pittsburgh in 2006, his first season with the Pirates
The plan is for the first baseman to play a couple of games in the field and maybe a game at designated hitter before the club re-evaluates him on Sunday
Altoona was chosen because Triple-A Indianapolis is playing on artificial turf this weekend
The Curve will begin a four-game set against the Erie SeaWolves on Friday at Jerry Uht Park, which features a natural-grass playing surface
Pittsburgh’s manager Jim Tracy commented on the importance of having a healthy Casey return to the team’s lineup on PittsburghPirates.com
"His presence has been dramatically missed by a young ballclub
We've lost thirteen one-run games and it would have been nice to have him for some of those at-bats" he said
The 31-year old was acquired by the Pirates last December in a trade with Cincinnati that sent former Curve pitcher Dave Williams to the Reds
Prior to the deal, Casey spent eight seasons with the Reds and was named an All-Star in 1999, 2001 and 2004
Raised in Western Pennsylvania, Casey attended Richmond University after leading Upper St. Clair High School (PA) to its first league title in 1992
A second-round selection of the Cleveland Indians in 1995, he played 97 games in the Eastern League for the Akron Aeros in 1997 before making his debut in the big leagues with the Indians later that season
During his minor-league career, Casey totaled a .347 batting average with 31 home runs and a 194 RBI in 258 games

Trouble for Erie? -- you 'Brett'cha!

In four games against the Erie SeaWolves this season, Brett Roneberg is batting .474 with four runs scored
The Australian native has the highest on-base percentage (.500) of any Curve player against Erie, going 9-for-19 with a walk against the intrastate rival
Roneberg became the seventh player in the history of the Curve to collect five hits in a game when he went 5-for-6 against the SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park on May 3, and has had at least one hit in all four games he's played against Erie

The Result
Curve - 8 runs to 6

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

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Leftfield
Batting - #4
----------changed to first base at the start of the bottom of the seventh innings

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 4 at-bats - 2 x singles, 1 x run-batted-in, 3 x runs scored, 1 x walk, 1 x caught stealing

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
"That pitch is driven well into leftfield but it will hang up and the fielder will make the catch"
Fly out to leftfield - F7
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball
"That ball is rifled the other way and out into leftfield and Roneberg has his first hit in the ballgame"
Single to leftfield
Later in the innings, Brett attempted to reach second base, but was caught stealing (first time this season)
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runners at first and third base - one down
Ball - upstairs
"There's a hit through the infield and it bounces over the shortstop's glove and out into centrefield ...... and a run comes in to score for the Curve"
Single to centrefield - 1 x RBI
The runner at first base also advanced to second base
Brett went to second base on a hit
Scored on another hit
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - upstairs
"That pitch is popped up into shallow centrefield ...... and the fielder is coming in----and he over-runs it and the ball gets passed him!!! ...... and Roneberg reaches second base and the runner reaches third base ...... and that should be a double----no, they ruled it an error!!! ...... unbelievable!!! ...... some of the official scoring here tonight has left a lot to be desired!!! ...... in my opinion, Brett was robbed of an extra base hit!!!"
Safe at second base due to an error by the SeaWolves centrefielder - E8
Scored on a home run
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher - "side-winder"
Bases empty - two down
Strike - called/foul???
Ball - inside
Ball - low
Ball - outside
Ball - low
Walk
Scored on a hit by the following Curve batter

Heard during the game

(#01) As he was giving out the starting lineups during the Pre-Game Show, the commentator said - "Batting fourth and playing leftfield is Brett Roneberg ...... and following yesterday's game, Brett became eligible for the 'Eastern League Batting Top-10' and he is currently third in the batting average category with a mark of 319"
Note - for all the details on the 'Batting Top-10' - click here

(#02) Below is the official Game Log for the bottom of the fourth innings
Kody Kirkland hit by pitch
Brent Clevlen doubles on a fly ball to center fielder Brandon Chaves. Kody Kirkland to 3rd
Christopher Maples walks
Vincent Blue out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brett Roneberg. Kody Kirkland scores
Juan Francia walks. Brent Clevlen to 3rd. Christopher Maples to 2nd
Tony Giarratano out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brett Roneberg. Brent Clevlen scores
Jackson Melian strikes out swinging
*****************************
Sacrifice Fly #1 - "That ball is driven into leftfield and Roneberg is under it and makes the catch ...... and it's a great throw by Roneberg to the plate ...... and the runner is----safe at the plate!!! ...... the runner was able to slide under the tag ...... you couldn't ask for a better throw from Brett ...... it was right there at the plate ...... and the Curve Manager Tim Leiper is coming out of the dugout to look at the home plate area"
Sacrifice Fly #2 - "There's a ball into leftfield and Roneberg makes the catch ...... and the throw to the plate is not in time and a little bit into foul territory ...... this was a much tougher play for Brett as he was backing up as he made the catch ...... under the circumstances, it was still a good throw by Brett"

Email from Brett

#01 - My fourth at-bat
They are going to try and get the error changed to give a hit for me
Probably wont happen - but you never know!!
#02 - The '7-to-2' throws
Well, they were close
And thank God I didn't have to throw any more after that!!

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve fell behind early, but rallied late thanks to Ray Sadler's three-run home run in the eighth, to beat the Erie SeaWolves 8-6 on Friday night, and extend their winning-streak to five games

Eight different players collected hits for the Curve and the bullpen continued their solid play, tossing four scoreless innings to give Altoona the opportunity to climb out of an early 6-1 hole

After waiting out a 36-minute fog delay, the teams matched zeros through the first two innings, but the Curve broke the scoreless tie in the third
David Parrish started the frame with a double, and later came around to score on a single from shortstop Javier Guzman to give the Curve a 1-0 edge

The lead was short lived though, because Erie scored four times in the bottom of the inning, and twice more in the fourth to jump in front 6-1
Erie’s Brent Clevlen played a pivotal role in both rallies, smashing a home run and a double, while scoring two runs to pace the SeaWolves

Altoona started to chip away at Erie’s lead in the sixth, scoring three runs, to trim the deficit to 6-4
Guzman doubled to start the inning, and Brandon Chaves followed with a single to put two runners aboard for rehabbing slugger Sean Casey
Casey was unable to move the runners along, popping out to short stop, but Brett Roneberg picked up the former All-Star, lacing a single into center field to score Guzman and cut the score to 6-2
An RBI-single from Simon Pond and an RBI-double off the bat of Craig Stansberry rounded out the scoring and brought Altoona to within two, at 6-4

The Curve continued to scratch and claw their way back into the game in the top of the eighth
Rafael Alvarez started the late-inning rally with a single, and Roneberg reached on an error to set the stage for Sadler’s heroics
The 26-year old, who joined the Curve a little over a week ago, smashed his second home run of the season, to give the Curve their first since 1-0

Altoona tacked on an insurance run in the ninth, when Pond added to his league-leading RBI total scoring Roneberg from first on a double for his 34th RBI of the year

Matt Peterson started for the Curve and struggled through his five innings of work, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out two, and left the game with the Curve trailing 6-1

But, as has been the story all season, the Curve bullpen kept the SeaWolves off the scoreboard and gave Altoona the opportunity to comeback
Chris Hernandez tossed two scoreless innings and Javier Vasquez did the same to pick up the win and close out the Curve victory

Altoona will look to continue their hot play on Saturday evening when they take on the SeaWolves in the second game of a four-game set at 6.35pm
LHP Josh Shortslef (5-0, 3.48) will toe the rubber for Altoona and will be opposed by RHP Nate Bumstead (2-5, 3.11

After the four games in Erie, the Curve will head to Akron for three with the Aeros before returning to Blair County Ballpark on June 2nd to square off with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats

The Curve struck first in the top of the third inning off of starter Bobby Jones
David Parrish led off with a double pass the third baseman Kody Kirkland
With one out, Javier Guzman singled, bringing in Parrish, putting the Curve 1-0

The SeaWolves got on the scoreboard on the very first pitch of the inning, Brent Clevlen hit an opposite field home run, tying the game at 1-1
The homer for Clevlen was his third of the season
On the very next pitch, Chris Maples doubled and Vince Blue sacrificed him over to third with a bunt
Juan Francia followed with an RBI single giving the ‘Wolves their first lead of the game 2-1
After a Tony Giarratano flew out, Jackson Melian doubled in Francia for the third run of the game for the Howlers
Kurt Airoso followed with a hot shot to third base that he beat out down the line
On the throw the ball went passed Sean Casey at first and Melain scored from third, putting Erie up 4-1

Erie added two more in the bottom of the fourth
Kirkland led off the inning being hit by a pitch and Clevlen doubled putting runners on second and third for Maples who drew a walk to load the bases
Vince Blue sent a sac-fly to left field, scoring Kirkland from third, putting Erie up 5-1
Franica drew a walk to reload the bases and Giarratano hit a sac-fly to left scoring Clevlen, putting the ‘Wolves up 6-1

The Curve scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning against Jones and the SeaWolves made a call to the bullpen to bring in Brian Rogers to record the final out

Altoona took the lead for the first time since the third inning in the top of the eighth inning
With one out and two runners on base, Ray Sadler homered over the wall in left, putting Altoona up 7-6

The Curve would add one more run in the top of the ninth and they shut down the ‘Wolves in the bottom half to preserve an 8-6 win

Ray Sadler's three-run homer in the eighth inning lifted visiting Altoona over Erie, 8-6, on Friday

Altoona (31-17) was trailing 6-4 in the eighth before Rafael Alvarez began the decisive rally with a single
Brett Roneberg reached on an error before Sadler launched his second homer of the year over the center-field wall, helping the Curve to their fifth straight win

Simon Pond went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs and Craig Stansberry had two doubles and drove in a run for Akron, which overcame an early 6-1 deficit

Reliever Chris Hernandez (3-1) struck out three over two hitless innings to pick up the win and Jorge Vasquez worked two perfect frames for his second save

Pittsburgh's Sean Casey began his rehab assignment with the Curve, going hitless in three at-bats while playing six innings at first base
This was his first action since he suffered multiple fractures in his back during a collision against the Chicago Cubs on April 14

Ian Ostlund (2-1) took the loss for the SeaWolves (23-24), allowing three runs - two earned - on three hits while retiring just one batter

Brent Clevlen homered, doubled and scored twice for Erie

The Erie SeaWolves did everything right offensively against Altoona Curve starter Matt Peterson on Friday while building a 6-1 lead in the first five innings
But against the Curve's bullpen, it was another matter
While Altoona right-handers Chris Hernandez and Jorge Vasquez held the SeaWolves scoreless and hitless after the fifth, the Curve offense rallied for seven runs in the last four innings to defeat the SeaWolves 8-6 before a crowd of 2,596 at Jerry Uht Park

Curve right fielder Ray Sadler, who joined the club last week from Triple-A Indianapolis, drilled a game-winning three-run homer off Erie lefty Ian Ostlund in the eighth

The start of Friday's game was delayed 37 minutes by fog, and the teams played the opener of their four-game weekend series in a steady, misty rain

"It was a tough night for the bullpen and we didn't play well in the elements" SeaWolves manager Duffy Dyer said
"The fog got us
It got them on one ball we hit, but they played on the wet field and in the fog a lot better than we did"

Altoona came into the game with the league's highest-scoring offense and were second in team batting (.274)

Trailing 6-1, Altoona scored three times in the sixth, the last run coming on Craig Stansberry's two-out, flyball double that dropped in front of Erie right fielder Brent Clevlen, who appeared to lose the ball in the fog

Rafael Alvarez opened Altoona's eighth with a base hit
Altoona's Brett Roneberg followed with a fly to shallow center
Erie center fielder Vince Blue raced in and overran the ball, which dropped behind him as he tried to make a backward lunging grab
Blue was charged with a two-base error, which sent Alvarez to third
"It looked like he didn't see it off the bat and didn't get a great jump, but then I thought he had it" Dyer said
Sadler made the SeaWolves pay for the missed out
He put Altoona up 7-6 with a three-run homer to left-center, off Tullio Arena

"I was looking to hit something hard" Sadler said
Sadler's homer, his second with Altoona since joining the club, was the Curve's 37th homer this season

Altoona is 21-4 in games when they hit at least one homer and 25-1 when they outhit their opponent (they outhit Erie 13-8

Sadler was assigned to the Curve after struggling at Indianapolis with a .186 average with two homers and six RBIs in 36 games
His two homers with Indianapolis came during an opening-day win at Pawtucket

"I got off to a bad start and never could pick it back up" Sadler said
"I was not relaxed there and I was trying to do too much"

Sadler won Thursday's game with a two-run triple that broke a tie in a 3-1 home win over Bowie

The loss was Erie's second straight and dropped the SeaWolves to 23-24
Erie had a season-high nine-game winning streak snapped on Thursday with a 7-5 loss at Harrisburg

Altoona (31-17), winners of five straight, improved to 6-2 against Erie this season and retained its 2-1/2 game lead over second place Akron in the Southern Division

"They're a good offensive club" Dyer said
"Their pitching is solid and they're definitely going to be there all year"