The Result
SeaWolves - 3 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
52 won and 38 lost

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

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 3 at-bats - 1 x walk, 1 x strike out

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at third base - one down
Called strike - change up - on the inside corner
Foul ball - breaking pitch - back
"And here comes the '0-2' pitch ...... and a swing and a miss at a fast ball that was high in the zone"
Strike out
Second at-bat
(did not listen)
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Third at-bat
(did not listen)
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Fourth at-bat
(did not listen)
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Walk
Forced out at second base on a fielder's choice hit-and-play by the next Curve batter

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Curve lost their second straight game to the Erie SeaWolves Friday night, falling 3-2, in front of 7,872 fans at Blair County Ballpark

Knotted at two apiece in the top of the ninth, Erie catcher Danilo Sanchez knocked in the winning run for the SeaWolves with an RBI double
Prior to Saturday’s contest, the backstop was 1-for-19 (.053) against Curve pitching this season

After waiting until the sixth inning to score in Thursday’s game, the Curve wasted no time on Friday, and scored before registering an out
Left fielder Nyjer Morgan, who singled to leadoff the first for Altoona, scored on a RBI triple by the shortstop Brian Bixler

It was Bixler’s third triple and ninth RBI since joining the Curve on June 29th
The 23-year old finished 3-for-4 on the night

The SeaWolves would answer right back in the top of the second
After Curve starter Jason Roach walked catcher Sanchez to load the bases, first baseman, Kelly Hunt, drove in Don Kelly with an RBI single to center
Roach escaped further damage after forcing the following batter, Vince Blue, to bounce into the inning-ending 4-6-3 double play

Simon Pond and Dave Parrish equalized an Erie run in the top of the fourth inning by hitting back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the frame to knot the game at two apiece

Parrish extended his hitting streak to six games and has reached base safely in thirteen consecutive contests
During his hit streak, the backstop is 11-for-23 (.478)

Curve reliever Franklin Perez pitched three shutout innings of relief Saturday night, extending his streak of consecutive innings pitched without allowing a run to 18-1/3
It marks the longest consecutive shutout streak of the season
The franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings is 20-1/3, set by Chris Spurling during the 2002 season

Brandon Knight, the leading closer of the Eastern League, suffered his fourth loss of the year after allowing the game-winning run to score in the top of the ninth

Erie's Eulogio De La Cruz picked up the win for the SeaWolves, his second on the year
He pitched a shutout ninth inning for Erie, allowing one hit

Roach received a no-decision for his efforts after pitching five full innings, giving up two runs on six hits
The 30-year old struck out three and walked two
Friday marked his first start since being sent from Indianapolis (AAA) on Thursday
The right-hander went 2-2 with a 3.54 ERA in ten games (nine starts) with the Indians

Saturday night, the Curve continue their unique and innovative Retro Celebrity Series with an appearance by Jerry Mathers, who is best known for his role as “Beaver Cleaver” on the hit show 'Leave it to Beaver'

Left-hander Shane Youman (5-2, 1.57) will get the start for the Curve against Erie’s Virgil Vasquez (4-7, 4.00)

The first pitch is scheduled for 7.05pm

Curve Notes
Taber Lee was back in a Curve uniform Friday night and appeared as a pinch-runner for Dave Parrish in the ninth
Lee, who was promoted to Indianapolis (AAA) on May 21st, returned from the Indians earlier Friday
This marks the first time this season Erie has won two consecutive games against the Curve

Danilo Sanchez doubled in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to propel visiting Erie to a 3-2 victory over Altoona on Friday

Don Kelly worked a leadoff walk against reliever Brandon Knight (1-4) but was erased when Kody Kirkland grounded into a forceout
Kirkland advanced on a wild pitch and came home on Sanchez's line-drive double to left field to break a 2-2 tie

SeaWolves reliever Eulogio De La Cruz (2-5) gave up a single and a walk in a scoreless eighth to nab the win

John Ennis pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth for his eleventh save

Starter Nathan Bumstead yielded two runs on six hits with two strikeouts in seven innings

Brian Bixler, who went 3-for-4 for the Curve (52-38), opened the scoring with an RBI triple in the first
The 23-year-old shortstop has three triples and nine RBIs since joining Altoona from Class A Advanced Lynchburg on June 29

The SeaWolves (39-50) rallied for a 2-1 lead as Kelly Hunt singled in Kelly in the second and fourth

David Parrish's RBI double in the fourth tied it for the Curve

The SeaWolves won their second straight game over the Altoona Curve on Friday night by a score of 3-2

The Curve got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning off of SeaWolves starter Nate Bumstead
Nyjer Morgan led off the inning with a bloop single to left
The next batter, Brian Bixler, tripled to deep centerfield bringing home Morgan for a 1-0 Curve lead
Following the triple, Bumstead would retire the side in order

The ‘Wolves tied the game in the top of the second inning
With one out, Don Kelly and Kody Kirkland both singled to put runners on first and third for Danilo Sanchez
Sanchez drew a walk to load the bases for Kelly Hunt
Hunt took an 0-2 pitch and lined it into centerfield, tying the game at 1-1

Erie took their first lead of the game in the top of the fourth
Kelly led off the inning with a walk and got to second with two down on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Sanchez
Hunt followed with his second RBI single of the game to left field, giving the SeaWolves a 2-1 advantage

Altoona tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth
Simon Pond doubled with one out and scored on a Dave Parish double

The score would remain the same until the top of the ninth inning

Kelly led off the inning with a walk - Kelly reached base in all four of his plate appearances (two base hits and two walks)
Kirkland hit into a fielder’s choice and the Curve retired Kelly at second base for the first out
Kirkland would get to second base on a wild pitch from Altoona’s closer Brandon Knight
Sanchez would come to the plate and he smashed a double down the left field line that just stayed fair, allowing Kirkland to score from second, giving the ‘Wolves their first lead since the fourth inning at 3-2

John Ennis came into the game in the bottom of the ninth and gave up a single to Parish
Ennis followed by striking out Ray Sadler and induced a game ending 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Brandon Chaves to preserve the SeaWolves win

The win went to Eulogio De La Cruz who worked a scoreless eighth inning

Bumstead went seven innings and got a no-decision
He allowed two runs off of six hits and struck out two while not issuing a walk
Bumstead retired the last seven batters he face in the game

The SeaWolves have won back-to-back games for the first time this season against Altoona

The Erie SeaWolves are currently in last place in the Eastern League’s Southern Division, but it isn’t because of their play on the road this year
Erie is one of just three league teams with a winning record away from home, and the Wolves continued their road-warrior run at Blair County Ballpark Friday night

Erie beat the Curve for the second straight night, pushing across a ninth-inning run on catcher Danilo Sanchez’s RBI double to prevail, 3-2, before 7,872 fans

After Curve reliever Franklin Perez had extended his club season-best scoreless-inning streak to 18-1/3 innings with three scoreless innings, Sanchez smoked a one-out double down the leftfield line off Curve flame-throwing closer Brandon Knight to score Kody Kirkland from second base in the ninth
Kirkland reached first on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on a Knight wild pitch as Erie improved its road record this season to 24-21

Erie manager Duffy Dyer was scratching his head when asked to explain the discrepancy between his club’s road success and its 15-29 record at its home field, Jerry Uht Park

“I have no idea why we play so much better on the road’’ said Dyer, the former Pittsburgh Pirates’ catcher who is in his second year as the SeaWolves manager
“This is the second year in a row we have played better on the road than we have at home
It’s nice to play well on the road, but you also like to play well in front of your home fans
Our hitters seem to struggle more at home than they do on the road, but our park is a hitter’s park
The team played well at home before I became the manager two years ago, so maybe it’s me’’ Dyer deadpanned

While Erie’s road success might be somthing of a mystery, Sanchez wasn’t fooled at all by Knight’s fast ball in the top of the ninth inning
It was down the middle, and he jumped on it for the game-winning hit
“I was looking for a fast ball on the 2-1 count’’ Sanchez said

Earlier in the game, Sanchez had grounded into a sixth-inning double play to squelch an Erie chance and keep Perez’s scoreless string intact

“I was glad to see Sanchy come through for us’’ Dyer said
“He’s a much better hitter than what his numbers show, and that hit was good for his confidence, and for our team’s, too’’

Despite two straight losses after Wednesday’s Eastern League All-Star Game at Blair County Ballpark, Curve manager Tim Leiper said his team isn’t about to lose any of its confidence

“Baseball is a game of routines, and maybe having some time off put a little bit of a wrench in our routines’’ Leiper said
“Not everybody is as sharp as they can be right now, but the last couple days isn’t something that is going to happen to us very often
We’re a good team, and if you worry about a couple late-inning losses, you’re going to have problems
I think we’re going to be fine’’

Friday’s game was an entertaining one that kept the hefty crowd interested throughout

The Curve opened the scoring in the first inning against Erie All-Star pitcher Nate Bumstead when Nyjer Morgan stroked a single and scored on Brian Bixler’s triple to left-center

Bixler was 3-for-4 at the plate in the game

Erie responded in the top of the second with a run against Curve starting pitcher Jason Roach, a righthander who returned to Altoona this past Thursday after a stint at Class AAA Indianapolis
Kelly Hunt’s bases-loaded single to center scored Don Kelly, who had opened the inning with a single

Erie went ahead, 2-1 in the top of the fourth when Hunt’s single to left scored Kelly, who had drawn a leadoff walk, from second base

The Curve tied the game, 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning on consecutive doubles by Simon Pond and David Parrish

It stayed that way until the ninth, when Sanchez came through against Knight

Erie reliever John Ennis worked a scoreless ninth for his eleventh save, surrendering Parrish’s leadoff single but striking out Ray Sadler and inducing Brandon Chaves to ground into a game-ending double play

The Curve’s loss put somewhat of a damper on Perez’s outstanding scoreless-inning streak
He now needs only 2-1/3 more scoreless innings of work to break the all-time Curve franchise record of 20-1/3 innings set by Chris Spurling during the 2002 season

“He’s one of the hardest-working players we have, and he’s done a great job for us’’ Leiper said of the big righthander Perez
“Every time I give him the ball, I’m confident he’ll pitch well for us’’

Around the Curve
The Curve added Taber Lee to the roster after he was sent down from Indianapolis Friday
Lee pinch-ran for Parrish in the ninth inning
Infielder Brant Ust was temporarily added to the Indianapolis roster to complete the transaction
Curve center fielder Vic Buttler made an outstanding sliding catch of a shallow fly ball by Erie’s Adam Haley to close the seventh inning

The Erie SeaWolves beat the Altoona Curve 3-2 in dramatic fashion in front of 7,872 fans Friday night at Blair County Ballpark

With the score tied 2-2 with one out in the top of the ninth inning, catcher Danilo Sanchez drove in Kody Kirkland with his fourth double of the season for the go-ahead run
Kirkland reached first base on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Brandon Knight (1-4)

The victory was the second in a row on the road for Erie, which is 24-21 in away games but just 39-50 overall

The Curve, three games behind first-place Akron in the Eastern League's Southern Division, dropped to 52-38

Nyjer Morgan singled and scored on a triple by Brian Bixler in the first inning to give the Curve a 1-0 lead

The SeaWolves answered in the second inning when Kelly Hunt drove in Don Kelly with a single

Hunt drove in Kelly again with an RBI single in the fourth inning to put Erie ahead 2-1

The Curve tied the game at 2-2 with back-to-back doubles from Simon Pond and David Parrish in the bottom of the fourth

Eulogio De La Cruz earned his second win with one inning of work in relief of Nate Bumstead, who allowed two earned runs in seven innings

John Ennis came on in the ninth inning for his eleventh save

Brent Clevlen went 2-for-4, including a double for the SeaWolves

Bixler had three hits for the Curve