Connolly Promoted To Triple-A

Mike Connolly will return to the Indianapolis Indians, the Curve announced on Tuesday
The left-hander, who has started the last four seasons with Altoona, was promoted at the end of the 2005 season and pitched thirteen games for the Tribe
This year, Connolly is 6-3 for the Curve and won Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors for the week ending May 28
Connolly’s promotion coincided with several other roster moves for Altoona
Wardell Starling was promoted from the Lynchburg Hillcats’ pitching staff to fill a spot in the Curve’s starting rotation and Landon Jacobsen returns from Indianapolis after an eight-day call up
Starling will start for the Curve when it opens its four-game series on the road against the Harrisburg Senators on June 20
The 23-year old was 4-4 with a 3.18 ERA with the Hillcats this year, the second straight season he began with Lynchburg
Starling enjoyed a fantastic month of May, amassing a record of 3-1 with only five earned runs allowed in five starts
The right-hander was a fourth round selection in the 2002 draft, but didn’t sign until May of the following year as a draft-and-follow after attending Odessa Junior College
Jacobsen returns to his spot in the Curve rotation after going 0-1 in two starts with the Indians this month
The seven-year veteran made his Triple-A debut on June 11 and received a no-decision for the Tribe against the Louisville Bats
He would lose his next start, allowing seven earned runs in five innings
Jacobsen began the 2006 season with Altoona and won his first four starts before dropping five of his next six decisions
He is 6-5 with a 3.50 ERA with the Curve this year
To make room on the roster for the two additions, Matt Lorenzo was sent to the Lynchburg Hillcats after making one start for the Curve

Start Me Up

The Altoona Curve ride a five-game winning streak into their current road trip, thanks in large part to phenomenal starting pitching
The current string of victories began on June 14 against Harrisburg at Blair County Ballpark
Mike Connolly started that game for the Curve and didn’t allow an earned run during three innings of work
Although he had to leave the game following a fifty-four minute rain delay, he had laid the foundation for a succession of dominating pitching performances
Kip Wells made a major league injury rehab start the following game and surrendered just three runs in 7-1/3 innings to get the victory

The Curve picked up their third win in a row when Shane Youman pitched the first six innings of a shutout against the Reading Phillies on Friday, June 16
Altoona made it back-to-back shutouts the next night thanks to a strong outing by Ron Chiavacci, who allowed just two hits and no runs in seven innings
Matt Peterson earned his first win in over a month on Father’s Day, holding the Phillies to just one run in six innings
In total, Curve starters have given up just four earned runs and are a combined 3-0 during the last five games

Triple Your Pleasure

Vic Buttler established a new Curve franchise record by ripping his thirteenth triple of the season in Friday’s victory over Reading
Buttler, who leads the Eastern League and all of Minor League Baseball in three-baggers, eclipsed the previous mark of twelve set by Tike Redman in 1999
Buttler will now set his sights on the Eastern League record of twenty-eight, set by Al Gianfriddo of the 1944 Albany Senators

The Result
Curve - 9 runs to 5

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

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Leftfield
Batting - #4
----------......and changed to first base during the bottom of the ninth innings
----------The score was 9 runs to 5 with the Curve leading
----------The Senators had loaded the bases with two outs and the tying run was at the plate
----------The Curve had just changed pitchers, bringing in their closer, Brandon Knight
----------In addition, a few defensive changes were made, including Brett going to first base
----------The batter popped up to second base - Game Over!!!

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 4 at-bats - 2 x doubles, 1 x run-batted-in, 2 x runs scored, 1 x walk, 1 x grounded-into-double-play

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and third base - one down
Foul ball - down the leftfield side
"Roneberg drives that hard and deep into rightfield ...... and it's over the fielder's head and off the base of the wall!!! ...... and the runner at third base comes in to score and the other runner holds at third base as he had to wait at first base to see if the ball was caught ...... and Roneberg cruises into second base with his eighth double of the season and one run driven in"
Double to rightfield - 1 x RBI
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Foul ball
Ball - fast ball - low
Ball - "and that pitch is in the dirt and will be a wild pitch as the runner advances to second base and into scoring position for the Curve"
Called strike - "and that was a good breaking ball"
Ball - breaking ball - in the dirt
Ball - inside
Walk
Advanced to second base on a hit
Scored on another hit
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - high and away
"That ball is ripped down the rightfield line past the diving Senators' first-baseman and Roneberg has his second double of the ballgame"
Double to rightfield
The runner at first base advanced to third base
Brett scored on a hit
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
"That is bounced on the rightside and picked up by the first-baseman who throws to the pitcher covering the base and that is one pitch for the first out of the innings"
Ground out to first base - 3 to 1
Fifth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - one down
Foul ball - "Roneberg hits that deep into leftfield and the fielder is chasing it down but it slices foul"
"That's a grounder towards second base and it's fielded and thrown on to shortstop who relays the throw to first base in time for the inning ending double play"
Grounded to second base and into a double play - 4 to 6 to 3

Heard during the game

(#01) As Brett came in for his first at-bat, the commentator said - "And now Brett Roneberg steps to the plate, and he is currently fifth in the Eastern League with a batting average of 304"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve won their sixth game in a row, matching a season-high win streak, defeating the Harrisburg Senators at Commerce Bank Park on Tuesday night, 9-5

Simon Pond added three more RBI's to his team-high total and finished the game 2-for-5 with two runs scored

The Curve broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning, scoring five runs
Vic Buttler started the rally, picking up his second single of the game with one out
After a Brett Roneberg walk, Pond plated Buttler with a single and then a Ray Sadler double cleared the bases and brought two more runs in
Another pair of runs would score in the frame when, after David Parrish drew a walk, starting pitcher Wardell Starling ripped a double to right field and would finish the game 2-for-3

The Curve placed Starling on the team roster this morning and the right-hander made his Double-A debut against the Senators, allowing four earned runs on seven hits in three innings

The Senators answered the Curve’s five-run effort with three runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to two

However, Altoona would match Harrisburg with three runs of their own in their next at-bat to put the game away

Franklin Perez earned his first victory of the year after surrendering just one hit in three innings of relief

Brandon Knight earned his twelfth save of the year, and fourth in the last seven days, recording the final out of the ballgame

Harrisburg’s starter, Kip Bouknight, took the loss, giving up all nine runs on twelve hits in four innings pitched

Four different Curve players had multi-hit efforts, led by Buttler’s 4-for-5 night

The two teams exchanged scores in the first inning, with each club crossing the plate once in their first at-bat

The Curve bullpen allowed just two hits in the final five innings of the game to preserve the Curve lead

Shane Youman will start for the Curve on Wednesday night at Harrisburg and try and help Altoona to its longest win streak of the year
The left-hander will be opposed by Oscar Alvarez, first pitch is scheduled for 6.35pm

Simon Pond drove in three runs as visiting Altoona beat Harrisburg, 9-5, on Tuesday

Pond sparked a five-run third inning with an RBI single, giving the Curve a 2-1 lead
He added a two-run triple during a three-run fourth as Altoona (42-27) opened a 9-4 cushion en route to its sixth straight win

Vic Buttler went 4-for-5 with two runs scored for the Curve, who have outscored their opponents, 28-10, during the winning streak

Altoona starter Wardell Starling allowed four runs on seven hits over three innings in his Double-A debut
However, he went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI's

Franklin Perez (1-0) picked up the win with three innings of one-hit relief

Brandon Knight got the final out with the bases loaded to record his twelfth save

Kip Bouknight (3-5) took the loss after giving up nine runs on twelve hits and three walks over four innings for Harrisburg, which had its three-game winning streak snapped

Prentice Redman and Frank Diaz both extended their hitting streaks to fifteen games for the Senators (38-31)
Redman, who drove in two runs, did it with a first-inning double
Diaz singled in his final at-bat

John Stearns is convinced the road to the Eastern League postseason winds through Altoona, the team his Harrisburg Senators faced last night at Commerce Bank Park

The offense is in place, the first-year manager said
But Harrisburg's pitching staff isn't playoff-caliber yet

That painful fact was the difference between the two clubs in Altoona's 9-5 victory before a crowd of 2,935

The Curve (42-27), now four games ahead of Harrisburg (38-31) in the race for the second playoff spot behind Akron, mashed starting pitcher Kip Bouknight's pitches for all nine runs in the first four innings

The visitors' winning streak stands at six

The early offense allowed Altoona to survive some shaky pitching of its own
Starter Wardell Starling, making his first Class AA start, lasted only three innings, permitting four runs
Curve manager Tim Leiper had to call on four relievers to finish off the Senators

Harrisburg managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, capitalizing on a shaky two-thirds of an inning by reliever Blaine Neal
But with the bases loaded and two out, Altoona closer Brandon Knight came on to get Salomon Manriquez to pop out to second baseman Craig Stansberry
Knight's save was his twelfth

Teammate Franklin Perez (1-0), who relieved Starling and worked three scoreless innings, got the win

"We need to start competing a little better against Altoona, they have a nice club" Stearns said
"We have to catch them to get to the playoffs
And that means we have to pitch better
If you look at the stats, we're in last place in most of the key pitching stats
That's gotta change
We need to start getting ahead consistently and challenging hitters
If you're a hitter, the difference between a 2-1 count and a 1-2 count is like night and day
It's huge
We fall behind too many times"

Such was the case for Bouknight (3-5)
He allowed twelve hits and three walks and Stearns said he had to leave him in an inning too long because one of his pitchers - he declined to single him out - is battling through a minor back injury

Altoona pushed across a single run in the first before knocking around Bouknight for five second-inning runs and adding three more in the fourth
The key hit was delivered by Starling, who was 2-for-2
With the Curve up 4-1 in the third, Starling lined a two-out, two-run double to right to extend the visitors' lead to five runs

Altoona's Simon Pound bashed a two-run triple an inning later

In the middle of it all for the Curve was center fielder Vic Buttler, the team's No. 3 hitter
He finished 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored

The Senators racked up ten hits - four of them doubles - but left eleven runners on base

Melvin Dorta and Tim Raines Jr., the 1-2 hitters, each had a pair of hits and a run scored
Third baseman Kory Casto reached base four times on a hit, two walks and a fielder's choice and scored three runs
Senator outfielders Prentice Redman and Frank Diaz each extended hitting streaks to fifteen games
Redman hit an RBI double in the first inning and Diaz touched Neal for a two-out RBI single to left field in the ninth

"Bouknight had a hard time locating his fastball" Stearns said
"If you fall behind, you're going to get hit
But I think it was just an off-night for him
He really has been one of our best pitchers"

"It was good to see Redman and Diaz extend their hitting streaks" he added
"I like our club offensively
We just gotta start pitching better"

The Curve welcomed newcomer Wardell Starling to the team with a shower of hits Tuesday night
The right-hander labored through a three-inning start in his Curve debut, but Altoona picked up the slack at the plate

The Curve ripped fourteen hits to topple Harrisburg, 9-5, at Commerce Bank Park and matched a season high with their sixth consecutive win

Eight of the nine Curve starters registered a hit, including Starling, who delivered a two-run double in the third inning and finished 2-for-3

Franklin Perez (1-0) tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Starling to earn the win

Altoona battered Senators starter Kip Bouknight (3-5) over four innings, scoring nine runs on twelve hits off the right-hander

The Curve batted around and scored five runs in the third inning to jump out to a commanding 6-1 lead
The inning was highlighted by two-run doubles from Ray Sadler and Starling

Altoona sent another eight batters to the plate the next inning, chasing three more runners home to blow the game open after Harrisburg had narrowed the score to 6-4
Simon Pond led the Curve’s fourth-inning charge with a two-run triple, and Dave Parrish also chipped in with an RBI double

Vic Buttler went 4-for-5 to raise his average to .328
Buttler has sizzled at the plate lately, hitting .486 (18-for-37) in his last nine games

The Curve’s superb showing at the plate bailed out Starling, who surrendered four runs on seven hits in his three innings of work
The right-hander squirmed out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the bottom of the third inning
Starling walked in a run but managed to induce a double-play grounder from Frank Diaz to minimize the damage

Derrik Moeves, making his second appearance for the Curve, relieved Perez in the seventh and pitched two dominant innings, striking out five and allowing no hits and one walk

Brandon Knight recorded his twelfth save when he inherited a bases-loaded mess in the ninth inning and retired the last batter of the game