The Result
Curve - 2 runs to 0

The Curve - Year-to-Date
40 won and 27 lost

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Leftfield
Batting - #4

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 4 at-bats - single, 2 x strike outs

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at third base - two down
Foul ball - "that is hit well down the leftfield line ...... but slicing foul!!!"
"That's a soft hit towards the Phillies' first-baseman and he picks it up and throws to the pitcher who is covering first base and that's the final out of the innings"
Ground out to first base - 3 to 1
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
"That ball is blooped into left-centrefield for a base hit ...... the pitch was in on the hands and Roneberg got enough of the bat on it to push it out for a hit"
Single to leftfield
Out at second base on a fielder's choice hit by the next Curve batter
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Call - curve ball - "the pitcher really wanted that call and is a bit annoyed he didn't get it and that the umpire said it was a little high"
Ball - fast ball - 86mph - outside
Foul ball - fast ball - 86mph - down the leftfield side
Called strike - curve ball - "and that was a very good pitch"
Foul ball - fast ball - 89mph - "that's the fastest pitch so far in the game by the Phillies' Daniel Haigwood"
Swing and a miss - "and he got him on a curve ball!!! ...... that was another great pitch!!!"
Strike out
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - fast ball - inside
Called strike - curve ball - at the knees
Swing and a miss - curve ball
Ball - fast ball - "and that was close and must have missed by being just inside"
Swing and a miss - "and he struck him out on a nasty curve ball to end the bottom of the eighth innings"
Strike out

Heard during the game

(#01) As Brett came in for his first at-bat, the commentator said - "Brett Roneberg now comes in, and he is currently fifth in the Eastern League with a batting average of 311"

(#02) After the foul ball in Brett's first at-bat, the commentator mentioned - "Roneberg likes to hit the ball the opposite way and he hits the ball very hard ...... and you have to be very careful when pitching to him, as if you make a mistake on the inside half he can really turn on it and hurt you"

(#03) After Brett's hit in his third at-bat, the commentator said - "Boy, the way Roneberg is going, you could roll the ball up there and he would manage to find a hole to put it in!!!"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve shutout the Reading Phillies for the second night in a row at Blair County Ballpark, winning 2-0 on Saturday night

The largest crowd of the season, 7,809 fans, was on hand to see the Curve win their fourth straight, a pitchers’ duel settled by an RBI triple off the bat of Craig Stansberry in the eighth inning
Rafael Alvarez was called upon to pinch hit for pitcher Chris Hernandez to start the bottom of the eighth inning and drilled a double to the gap in left-center field
Following a Brandon Chaves strikeout, Craig Stansberry crushed a triple to right field to score Alvarez, the game’s first run
Vic Buttler would bring home Stansberry for an insurance run with a sacrifice-fly to left field

The offensive flurry energized the nearly-8,000 fans in attendance and threatened to overshadow what had been a stifling pitchers’ duel
Starters Ron Chiavacci and Daniel Haigwood combined for fourteen shutout innings and eleven strikeouts

Facing the Phillies for the second time since joining the Curve, Chiavacci did not allow a run over seven innings, and surrendered just two hits, both to Gary Burnham
Chiavacci also racked up six strikeouts and failed to give up a single walk

Haigwood’s seven shutout innings featured five hits allowed and six strikeouts

Hernandez earned his fifth win of the season, throwing one scoreless inning and striking out two batters
The right hander fanned Michael Bourne with runners on the corners for the Phillies and two outs in the eighth inning

Brandon Knight closed out the contest for his eleventh save of the year, inducing a double-play groundout and finishing the game by ringing up Matt Padgett on a called strike three

The two teams will play the finale of their three-game series on Sunday, Father’s Day, at Blair County Ballpark at 6.05pm
Matt Peterson (3-5) will face off against Reading’s Gio Gonzalez (1-6)

Craig Stansberry's RBI triple in the eighth inning led the Altoona Curve to a 2-0 Eastern League win over the Reading Phillies Saturday night at Blair County Ballpark

The Phillies (28-39) have been blanked in back-to-back games and have not scored in nineteen consecutive innings
They have been shutout ten times this season

Reading has lost three straight games

Pinch-hitter Rafael Alvarez doubled off reliever Evan Fahrner (1-3) to start the eighth
With one out, Stansberry tripled to right-center and later scored on a Vic Buttler sacrifice fly

Fahrner entered the game with 13-1/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run

The Phillies, who managed just four hits, wasted another superb outing by Daniel Haigwood
The lefty tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five

Kutztown University product Ron Chiavacci threw seven scoreless innings for the Curve

Gary Burnham had both hits allowed by Chiavacci

Chris Hernandez (5-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the victory

Brandon Knight worked the ninth for his eleventh save

Altoona (40-27) has won four straight

The Curve are 28-10 against the Phillies at Blair County Ballpark since the start of the 2003 season

Ron Chiavacci and two relievers combined on a four-hitter as Altoona blanked visiting Reading, 2-0, on Saturday

Chiavacci went seven innings, permitting two hits and striking out six without issuing a walk
The 28-year-old right-hander allowed only one runner to reach second base and retired the last eleven batters he faced as he lowered his ERA to 3.00

Chris Hernandez (5-2) yielded two hits in the eighth, but struck out Michael Bourn with runners on the corners to end the frame and get the win

Brandon Knight tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his eleventh save and complete the Curve's second straight shutout against Reading (28-39)

Altoona (40-27) could not push a run across against starter Daniel Haigwood, but scored twice against Evan Fahrner (1-3) in the eighth
Rafael Alvarez led off with a double and Craig Stansberry tripled one out later
Vic Buttler, who was 0-for-3, lofted a sacrifice fly to left

Haigwood gave up five hits, walked two and struck out seven over seven innings and is still seeking first win since April 18
The 22-year-old lefty stranded two runners in scoring position and lowered his ERA to 3.55

Gary Burnham slapped two singles for the Phillies, who lost their third straight

The Curve played a game Saturday night that some team members probably would have paid to watch

‘‘That was a great baseball game’’ Altoona’s manager Tim Leiper said
‘‘You do become a fan
I became a big Curve fan at about the eighth inning’’

That eighth inning consisted of reliever Chris Hernandez squirming out of a jam in the top half and Craig Stansberry smacking a dramatic RBI triple to break a scoreless tie in the bottom half
Those heroics led the Curve to their fourth straight win, 2-0, over Reading before a season-high home crowd of 7,804 at Blair County Ballpark

‘‘If you’re not pumped for that, you know, you should not be playing’’ Altoona’s starter Ron Chiavacci said
‘‘I’m a real hyper guy, real emotional, and it’s good to see a team come back and fight like that’’

The decisive eighth inning overshadowed a superb outing by Chiavacci, who, making his second start for the Curve, engaged in a classic pitchers’ duel with his Phillies counterpart, Daniel Haigwood
Both pitchers tossed seven scoreless innings, with Chiavacci striking out six and allowing only two hits and no walks
The right-hander retired seventeen of his last eighteen batters faced, and only one hitter reached a three-walk count against him all night

‘‘Chiavacci did great and their guy, Haigwood, was outstanding’’ Leiper said
‘‘We had to match those guys pitch for pitch and we did’’

Both hurlers turned the game over to their respective bullpens in the eighth, and Altoona’s proved to be stronger

The Phillies attacked in the top of the inning, placing runners on the corners against Hernandez (5-2)
With two outs, the right-hander faced Michael Bourn and struck him out on a full-count slider, and the crowd erupted in cheers

‘‘It’s actually more fun to not be on the field and hear it’’ Curve closer Brandon Knight said
‘‘You don’t hear it when you’re pitching
You really don’t
But I did get pumped up when Hern struck out the guy to end the eighth
I got really excited about that’’

Altoona provided more excitement for the fans when its offense finally broke through in its half of the frame
Pinch-hitter Rafael Alvarez led off with a double off Phillies reliever Evan Fahrner (1-3), but for the second straight inning, the Curve failed to bunt a runner over, leaving Stansberry at the plate with one out

‘‘I was just thinking, ’We need to get this done right here’’’ Stansberry said
‘‘It’s time to win this game right here
We don’t need to go into extras’’

Stansberry then crushed a ball into the right-center field gap that eluded the diving right fielder to score Alvarez
‘‘He looked like he was closing in on it’’ Stansberry said
‘‘I don’t think he really got too close on the dive, but I was little worried he might come up with a miraculous catch’’

Knight then sealed the win by pitching a hitless ninth inning for his eleventh save, but not before more heroics from Stansberry
After a leadoff walk by Reading, Gary Burnham smoked a one-hopper up the middle that Stansberry did well to field
He then charged to second base before making an acrobatic throw to first for the unassisted double play
That was just one of the many scintillating plays he made all night

‘‘I’ve always prided myself on defense’’ he said
‘‘It goes uncelebrated a lot, playing solid defense night-in, night-out, but I think a lot of us on this team pride ourselves on playing solid out there behind our pitcher’’

Altoona’s efforts made sure Chiavacci’s start did not go to waste
The Phillies knocked Chiavacci around in his last start on Monday, with Joey Hammond batting 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs against him
Chiavacci struck out Hammond on three pitches in his first trip to the plate Saturday
‘‘I’m a, I wouldn’t say a grudge-holder, but I know who got me and who didn’t, so it felt good to do that’’ Chiavacci said

The rest of the Phillies hitters didn’t fare much better, and their frustration began to show late in the game
In the seventh inning, their cleanup hitter, Matt Padgett, who went 0-for-4, rolled a routine grounder to first base and flung his bat angrily on the ground
The bat bounced all the way close to the Curve dugout

‘‘The quality of his pitches was great’’ Leiper said
‘‘He really didn’t miss the ball over the middle of the plate all night’’