The Result
Curve - 5 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
49 won and 35 lost

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

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 4 at-bats - home run, 1 x run-batted-in, 1 x run scored

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Called strike - curve ball
Called strike - fast ball - on the outside corner
"That's a big bouncer to shortstop and the fielder collects it and throws to second base for the force and final out of the innings"
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 4 fielder's choice
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Called strike - fast ball
"Roneberg hits that line drive well but the Phillies first-baseman is able to backhand it and take the catch for the first out of the innings
Lined out to first base - F3
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball - curve ball
Called strike - fast ball - on the outside corner
Ball - fast ball - a bit low
Called strike - fast ball - down the inside edge
"That curve ball is hit across the diamond to the second-baseman who throws to first base for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher - Nick Mattioni
Led off the eighth innings
Ball - change up - low
Foul ball - popped foul back over the screen
Ball - curve ball - high
Ball - fast ball - inside
Foul ball - on the ground behind home plate
Foul ball - back to the screen
"Roneberg gets onto that pitch and drives it deep into rightfield and the fielder is going back ...... and he is looking up ...... and it's gone!!! ...... and Roneberg is rounding the bases with his sixth home run of the season!!!"
HOME RUN - 1 X RBI - 1 X R (click here for all the details)

Heard during the game

(#01) During Brett's first at-bat, the commentator mentioned - "At the start of tonight's game, Brett was batting .294 which is tied for seventh in the Eastern League"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Wardell Starling allowed just one run on two hits over six innings to earn his second win in four starts with the Curve and All-Star selections Simon Pond and Brett Roneberg each homered as Altoona avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-2 win over the Reading Phillies Thursday night in Reading

Starling (2-1), who was promoted from Class-A Lynchburg on June 19th, retired the R-Phils in order in five of his six innings of work in picking up the victory
The 23-year old right-hander allowed his only run and two hits in the bottom of the fourth after the Curve had already posted a 3-0 lead

Altoona built its early advantage with a run in the top of the second and two runs in the fourth on RBI's by Brian Bixler and Brant Ust

The Curve padded their lead with single runs in the sixth and eighth innings on solo home runs by Pond and Roneberg
Pond's blast - his tenth of the season - tied teammate Ray Sadler for the club lead among active players

Brandon Knight retired the final four batters of the game to pick up his team-leading fifteenth save of the season

20-year old Reading starter Gio Gonzalez (4-9), one of the top young pitchers in the Eastern League, took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits in five innings
The left-hander will make his next appearance in Sunday's Major League Futures Game before heading to Altoona for next Wednesday's Eastern League All-Star Game

Bixler led the Curve's eleven hit attack with three hits in four at-bats

Pond and leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan each added two hits for Altoona, which improved to 49-35 with the victory

Reading (36-48) had its four-game winning streak snapped

The Curve will continue their seven-game, pre-All-Star Break road trip with the first of four games against the Erie SeaWolves Friday night at Uht Park in Erie
All-Star left-hander Shane Youman (5-2, 1.46) will take the mound for the Curve against Erie southpaw Jon Connolly (0-1, 6.00), the younger brother of Altoona starter Mike Connolly

First pitch is set for 7.05pm

The Reading Phillies will have to wait a little longer for their first five-game winning streak and series sweep of the 2006 season

Wardell Starling went six strong innings and Simon Pond homered and scored three runs in the Altoona Curve's 5-2 Eastern League win over the Reading Phillies Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium

Starling (2-1) allowed two hits and one run
He walked one and struck out one
He retired the Phillies in order in five of his six innings

Pond singled to start the second
He later scored on a Brant Ust sacrifice fly to make it 1-0

Pond drew a one-out walk in the fourth and came around to score on a double by Brian Bixler
A single by Ust scored Bixler to make it 3-0

The Phillies got their first baserunner in the fourth when Peter Bergeron tripled off the right-field wall
He scored on a single by Joey Hammond

Pond started the sixth inning with his tenth homer of the season and Brett Roneberg led off the eighth with his sixth home run of the year to make it 5-1

Jason Jaramillo delivered an RBI single in the eighth for the Phillies, but Brandon Knight got the final four outs for his fifteenth save

Gio Gonzalez (4-9) allowed three runs in five innings to take the loss

The Phillies (36-48) had their four-game winning streak halted

The Curve (49-35) won the season series 9-7 over the Phillies

The Curve extended their annual streak of bragging rights over Reading on Thursday

Altoona salvaged the finale of a three-game series, 5-2, at FirstEnergy Stadium, and won the season series against the R-Phils for the fourth straight year

Thursday’s victory gave the Curve a 9-7 edge, and because of a quirky schedule, the two in-state rivals will not meet again this season

Altoona’s head-to-head dominance against Reading is a far cry from the way things used to be in the series
The R-Phils bullied their way to a 48-28 lead in the all-time series through the 2002 season, making them the Curve’s toughest opponent
Altoona has owned Reading over the past four years, though, going 50-27 to surge back and take a 78-75 advantage in the all-time series

Thursday’s win also enhanced the Curve’s position in the standings as they picked up a game on Harrisburg in the battle for the Southern Division’s final playoff spot
Altoona trails first-place Akron by 3-1/2 games but has a 4-1/2-game cushion over the Senators

Wardell Starling (2-1) worked six strong innings to earn the win
The right-hander allowed just a run on two hits, struck out one and walked one

Reading starter Gio Gonzalez (4-9) gave up three runs on six hits over five innings for the loss

Brant Ust’s sacrifice fly in the second inning put the Curve ahead to stay, and they added two more runs in the fourth behind an RBI double from Brian Bixler and run-scoring single by Ust

Simon Pond hit his tenth homer in the sixth inning for a 4-1 lead, and Brett Roneberg smacked his sixth homer in the eighth inning

Reading scored single runs in the fourth and eighth innings

The R-Phils pulled within 5-2 and had two runners on in the eighth before Brandon Knight closed out that inning and worked a perfect ninth for his fifteenth save

Simon Pond and Brett Roneberg homered to power visiting Altoona to a 5-2 win over Reading on Thursday at FirstEnergy Stadium

Pond, who went 2-for-3 and scored three runs, led off the sixth inning with his tenthth homer to give the Curve a 4-1 lead

Roneberg opened the eighth with a drive over the right-field fence for his sixth homer, snapping a fourty-five game homerless drought for the 27-year-old Australian
His last one came on May 15 against the Phillies

Brian Bixler went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored while Brant Ust drove in a pair of runs for Altoona (49-35)

Curve starter Wardell Starling (2-1) gave up a run on two hits and a walk through six innings while striking out one

Brandon Knight recorded the last four outs for his fifteenth save

The Phillies (36-48) scored in the fourth when Peter Bergeron led off with a triple and came home on Joey Hammond's single up the middle

Jason Jaramillo delivered an RBI single in the eighth

Eastern League All-Star Gio Gonzalez (4-9) gave up three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in five innings for Reading

Reading Phillies manager P.J. Forbes has said from Day 1 that in order for his club to push runs across the plate it has to execute at maximum efficiency at all times
His lineup just doesn’t have the firepower to produce at half-speed
For four days the Phillies did that, moving baserunners and coming up with enough key two-out hits to string together a four-game winning streak

Thursday night that streak was snapped

“Tonight is a direct indication of why we haven’t won more than four in a row all season” Forbes said after a 5-2 Eastern League loss to visiting Altoona
“You’ve got to come every night” Forbes said
“You can’t be flat, you can’t go through the motions, and that’s exactly what we did tonight and we got slapped around
I’m very disappointed, there’s no two ways about it”

The Phillies didn’t get a hit until the fourth, never got more than two hits in an inning and finished with just six total hits
Two never left the infield

“I didn’t think we competed very well at the plate tonight” Forbes said
“I thought we were very flat, got ourselves out a lot against a guy that didn’t show much to me
I thought he was a very generic right-hander
I’m disappointed in the effort, especially when we’re playing so hard and so well”

Altoona starter Wardell Starling was making just his fourth Double-A start
He entered with a 1-1 record and 4.85 ERA but checked the Phils on two hits over six innings

Reading starter Gio Gonzalez again had a subpar outing, allowing six hits and three runs over five innings
The Eastern League strikeout leader managed just three strikeouts and needed 92 pitches go as far as he did

The Phillies were hoping to sweep a series for the first time all season, but the Curve jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 and were never threatened

“A loss is disappointing, no matter where it comes from” said center fielder Peter Bergeron, who got Reading’s first hit with a fourth-inning triple, then scored on Joey Hammond’s single
“You’ve got to look at the positives, you’ve got to build on the fact that we had a good homestand, taking four out of seven
Winning four straight is definitely going to get you some momentum
Hopefully we can go back to what got us the four wins, the timely hitting, picking each other up, stuff like that
It didn’t happen tonight, but hopefully it’s just the one night off”

The Phillies were bolstered by the arrival of right-hander Scott Mathieson after being deflated about the loss of All-Star outfielder Matt Padgett, who suffered a broken arm Wednesday and will be lost for the season

“You see Padgett in there with his arm in a sling, and that kind of gets you discouraged” Bergeron said
“Then with Mathieson back you know you’re going to get a good outing every time he takes the mound
That’s going to lift us up whenever he goes out there every five days”

Altoona (Double-A, 49-35) won, 5-2, at Reading (Phillies)

RHP Wardell Starling (2-1) gave up one run on two hits over six innings

SS Brian Bixler was 3 for 4 with an RBI, and 3B Brant Ust drove in two runs
1B Simon Pond and LF Brett Roneberg each hit solo homers, while RHP Brandon Knight recorded his fifteenth save