The Result
Curve - 7 runs to 0

The Curve - Year-to-Date
43 won and 28 lost

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

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

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Called strike
Swing and a miss - "that was a very good breaking ball"
Ball - fast ball - up and away
"There's a line drive base hit into rightfield and the Curve have a two out baserunner"
Single to rightfield
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - outside and in the dirt
Ball - outside
Ball - high
Called strike - on the outside corner
Foul ball - at the plate
"Roneberg rips that past the Senators' first-baseman and down the rightfield line ...... the runner was off on the pitch on a hit-and-run play, and this enabled him to come around and score as Roneberg goes into second base with a double ...... the first-baseman was holding the runner, and as he moved off the base to field as he should, Brett drove the ball down past his left hand side right through the area he had just vacated"
Double to rightfield - 1 x RBI
Scored on a hit
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - low
Ball - fast ball - high
"That's a line drive and base hit into centrefield and Roneberg has his third hit of the ballgame"
Single to centrefield
Advanced to third base on a hit
Scored on a dropped-third-strike-wild-pitch-error
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball - breaking ball - "and that pitch was over the head of Roneberg"
Called strike - on the outside corner
Foul ball - check swing foul
Foul ball - down the third base side
"That is a one hopper towards third base and the fielder picks it up and throws to first base for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to third base - 5 to 3

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Curve didn’t take long to get back on the winning track after Wednesday's extra-inning loss, defeating the Harrisburg Senators, 7-0, in a six-inning, rain-shortened contest at Commerce Bank Park on Thursday night

Landon Jacobsen earned the complete game victory in his first game back with the Curve after being sent down from Indianpolis

The Curve jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after Craig Stansberry homered in the team’s first at-bat and then added three straight two-run innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth before the rain came and ended the game prematurely

Jacobsen won his seventh game for the Curve, just days after being added back into the rotation from the Indianapolis Indians’ (Triple-A) roster
The right-hander gave up three hits and struck out five in six full innings of work

Vic Buttler continued his incredible season at the plate, finishing the game 3-for-4 with two runs scored

Teammates Brett Roneberg and Simon Pond each chipped in three-hit games as well, as the Curve outhit the Senators 13-3 in their shutout victory

Justin Echols (5-3) started for Harrisburg and took the loss, surrendering four earned runs on ten hits in 3-2/3 innings

Despite the game lasting only six innings, eight of the nine Curve hitters had at least one base hit

The Curve and Senators will play the fourth and final game of their series Friday night at Commerce Bank Park in Harrisburg at 6.35pm
Ron Chiavacci takes the ball and an eight-inning shutout streak against David Maust for the Senators

On Thursday night the Senators and Altoona Curve hooked up for the third game in their four game series with Altoona coming out on top 7-0

The game was shortened to just six innings because of rain

The Senators had just three hits, two of them by Kory Casto, and never threatened off of Altoona starter Landon Jacobsen

The Curve scored a run in the first, two in the third, fourth, and fifth innings for their seven run total

The final game of the series in Friday night at 6.35pm with LHP David Maust on the mound for the Senators

The game can be heard beginning with Senators weekly at 6.05pm on 1460 The Ticket and through the Senators website

Landon Jacobsen hurled a three-hitter as Altoona posted a rain-shortened 7-0 victory over Harrisburg on Thursday at Commerce Bank Park

Jacobsen (7-5) struck out five and did not walk a batter in six innings before the rain came

He was credited with the twelfth complete-game shutout in the Eastern League this year

Jacobsen, making his first start for the Curve since June 4, lowered his ERA to 3.19 in 67-2/3 innings
The 27-year-old right-hander's previous two starts came for Triple-A Indianapolis in which he allowed twelve runs in ten frames

Brett Roneberg and Vic Buttler each went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for Altoona (43-28), while Simon Pond collected three hits and drove in two runs

Craig Stansberry slugged a solo homer in the first and Javier Guzman hit a run-scoring double in the fifth

Harrisburg starter Justin Echols (5-3) gave up five runs - four earned - on ten hits in 3-2/3 innings
He struck out four and walked two

Kory Casto registered two of the three hits for the Senators (39-32)

Not that Landon Jacobsen needed it last night, but the Altoona Curve right-hander received a big lift from his offense

And not that the Curve needed it last night, but heavy rain and thunderstorms shortened a 7-0 triumph over the Harrisburg Senators in a neat little six-inning package

Jacobsen fired a three-hit shutout, and Altoona belted thirteen hits off Senators starter Justin Echols and reliever Jason Norderum before the Eastern League contest was halted by nasty weather just before the seventh inning got underway

The win moved second-place Altoona (43-28) four games ahead of Harrisburg (39-32) in the South Division

"We were pretty well behind, and it didn't look like we were catching them when the rain came" Senators skipper John Stearns said
"We certainly didn't want to lose, but having the game shortened by rain was actually a bit of a break for us
Our bullpen is depleted right now"

Echols lasted just 3-2/3 innings, his shortest start of the season
The right-hander surrendered ten hits and five runs, all earned, before getting yanked

Norderum, a left-hander in his third stint of 2006 in Harrisburg, allowed two runs in the fifth

One simple run - take Craig Stansberry's solo homer in the first - would have been sufficient for Jacobsen, who struck out five without a walk in his first Class AA start since June 4
He pitched two times for Class AAA Indianapolis in between

"After Wednesday night when both teams used a lot of pitchers, this is what we needed" Curve manager and former Senators coach Tim Leiper said
"Jacobsen gave us a big pick-me-up tonight
He had a good fastball, good life on his pitches
He was locating well, and he had that extra giddy-up"

Jacobsen (7-5) allowed two singles to Kory Casto (2-for-3) and an infield single to Melvin Dorta

"I was throwing my fastball down and away, and then I'd come inside late in the count to keep them honest" said Jacobsen, a 6-3, 223-pound South Dakota native

While he painted corners, Echols ran up his pitch count
In his short work, Echols (5-3) tossed ninety-six pitches

"He threw OK, but there were too many balls" Stearns said of Echols, who walked two but went to a full count seven times
"Every count was deep
It was a chore to get through every inning, but he battles
He does this every time
"Once in a while, though, you need a two or three pitch out
You can't throw 25-30 pitches an inning
It takes its toll"

Stansberry launched his team-leading ninth homer to deep left in the first for a 1-0 Curve lead

After pitching out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the second, Echols surrendered three straight hits with one out in the third
An RBI double by Brett Roneberg and an RBI single by Simon Pond, both former Senators, gave Altoona a 3-0 edge

An RBI double by Pond and a wild pitch in the fourth made it 5-0

Off Norderum, Javier Guzman and Vic Buttler smacked run-scoring doubles

Buttler, Roneberg and Pond, Altoona's 3-4-5 hitters, were a combined 9-for-12 with four runs and four RBI's

"You know if you give up three or four runs, you've still got a chance to win" Jacobsen said of pitching for the Curve, who rank second in the league with a .269 batting average
"You just want to keep your team in the game"

Notes
Harrisburg CF Frank Diaz (back) missed his first game of the season - he visited a doctor yesterday, and Stearns said he's waiting for results of that visit to determine how much time Diaz will miss - Diaz said his back was "not good" after last night's contest - don't be surprised if he lands on the disabled list
RHP Brett Campbell, who hasn't pitched since Friday because of a back injury, would have been able to pitch yesterday, Stearns said
Stansberry extended his hitting streak to seven games
Dorta has hit safely in six straight

Only Mother Nature could stop the middle of the Curve lineup Thursday night
Vic Buttler, Brett Roneberg and Simon Pond, hitting third, fourth and fifth respectively, each went 3-for-4 to lead Altoona past Harrisburg, 7-0, in a rain-shortened affair at Commerce Bank Park

The Curve hammered out 13 hits in the six-inning game, and five players tallied RBI's

Landon Jacobsen (7-5) went the distance for Altoona, allowing only three hits - all of them singles - and no walks
The right-hander struck out five in his first game back with the Curve after re-joining the team from Triple-A Indianapolis

Altoona chased Senators starter Justin Echols (5-3) from the game after only 3-2/3 innings
The right-hander gave up five runs on ten hits and two walks

Craig Stansberry staked the Curve to a 1-0 lead when he homered to left with one out in the first

Altoona then scored two runs apiece in the third, fourth and fifth innings, with Buttler registering a hit in each of the three frames

Buttler’s strong showing raised his average to .328, while Roneberg bumped his up to .310

Pond continued his mastery of Harrisburg pitching and has batted .462 (6-for-13) with six RBI's against the Senators in the series
He leads the team and ranks third in the Eastern League with 46 RBI's

Even the two starters who did not hit safely in the game, catcher Milver Reyes and Jacobsen, found ways to keep the Curve’s rallies going
Reyes drew two walks, including one to lead off the fifth inning
Jacobsen dropped down two perfect sacrifice bunts, his second advancing Reyes into scoring position in the fifth and leading to Altoona’s first run of the inning