The Result
Curve - 4 runs to 3

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

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Designated hitter
Batting - #4
----------Replaced by a pinch runner after hitting a single to lead off the bottom of the eighth innings

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 4 at-bats - single

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - fast ball - away
Called strike - on the outside corner
Ball
Swing and a miss - on the inside edge
Ball - fast ball - just missing away
"That's a bouncer towards shortstop and it's fielded and thrown to first base for the first out of the innings"
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 3
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Swing and a miss - fast ball - "got him to chase the high heat"
Ball - "and the runner is off!!! ...... and the pitch is high and outside ...... and the runner is in at second base and in scoring position for Roneberg"
"That is bounced towards the SeaWolves first-baseman and he collects the ball and flips to the pitcher covering the base"
(NOTE - the "Play-by-Play" report says that this was a ground out to second base!!! - did the commentator get it completely wrong??? - doesn't really matter, as Brett was out at first base whichever play it was!!!)
Ground out to first base - 3 to 1
Runner advanced to third base
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Called strike - on the outside corner
Ball - outside
Swing and a miss - outside
"Roneberg drives this deep into right-centrefield and it's a long run for the fielder!!! ...... he's still going!!! ...... and he makes the catch on the warning track as he crashes into the wall!!! ...... and he robs Roneberg of extra bases!!!"
Fly out to centrefield - F8
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - "inside and apparently high"
Ball - low
"Roneberg lines that pitch into leftfield and the fielder is not going to get there and it drops in for a base hit"
Single to leftfield
------This at-bat was in the bottom of the eighth innings
------The Curve were leading four runs to three
------The next batter flew out, making it one down
------Brett was then replaced by a pinch runner

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve earned a split in their four-game series with the Erie SeaWolves, winning 4-3 in the series finale on Sunday evening at Blair County Ballpark

First baseman Simon Pond blasted his twelfth home run of the season in the sixth inning and scored two runs for the Curve in the win

For the second night in a row, Erie jumped on top first, scoring in the second inning
SeaWolves first baseman Kody Kirkland hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Don Kelly from first base

The lead was short-lived however as Curve catcher Dave Parrish continued his hot hitting, driving in two runs with a fourth-inning double
Parrish, who had his six-game hitting streak end on Saturday, has now reached base safely in fifteen consecutive games
He is batting 13-30 (.433) over his past eight games

After an Erie run in the top of the sixth, Simon Pond connected for his twelfth home run of the year in the bottom of the frame, giving the Curve a 4-2 lead
Pond finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored

The SeaWolves closed the gap in the seventh, but could not push the tying run across the plate
Curve starter Landon Jacobsen was forced to exit after allowing Erie to load the bases with one out
Chris Hernandez was called upon in relief and minimized the damage, only allowing one run to score before retiring the side
The run was credited to Jacobsen

Jacobsen picked up the win for Altoona after pitching 6-1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, one walk and two strikeouts
It was his ninth win of the year

Erie starter Jair Jurrjens, who exited the game after giving up the home run to Pond, picked up the loss for the SeaWolves after throwing 5-1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits
The 20-year old walked two and struck out five

Franklin Perez earned his first save for the Curve after pitching a scoreless ninth inning and extending his streak of consecutive scoreless innings pitched to 19-1/3
He is just one inning shy of the franchise record for consecutive scorelss innings (20-1/3), set by Chris Spurling during the 2000 season

The Curve begin a stretch of 14 of 17 games on the road Monday night against the first-place Akron Aeros at Canal Park in Akron

Altoona will play three games in Akron through Wednesday before traveling to Bowie, Maryland to take on the Baysox in a four-game set starting next Thursday

Mike Connolly (6-3, 3.91) will take the mound for Altoona on Monday against Akron’s Dan Denham (4-1, 4.85)
The first pitch is scheduled for 7.05pm

Curve Notes
Taber Lee was back in the lineup for the first time since May 20th
The infielder opened the season with the Curve and hit .167 (2-for-12) in six games before being promoted to Indianapolis (AAA) from 4/24-4/30
The shortstop was one-for-three on the night
After an Akron loss to Trenton earlier in the day and the Curve victory tonight, Altoona is only one game out of first place
7,170 fans were on hand to see the Curve’s series finale with Erie
Over the four-game home stand, 28,213 fans visited Blair County Ballpark to cheer on the Curve
Altoona has gone a perfect 8-0 this season in Sunday home games at Blair County Ballpark, allowing a total of just eleven runs in those eight contests

David Parrish went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as Altoona held off visiting Erie, 4-3, on Sunday

Parrish put the Curve (54-38) ahead for good, 2-1, with a two-run double to center field in the fourth inning

Brandon Chaves added an RBI single in the fifth and Simon Pond hit a solo homer, his twelfth, in the sixth

Landon Jacobsen (9-7) picked up the win after allowing three runs on eight hits over 6-1/3 innings
He struck out two and walked one

Chris Hernandez worked out of a jam by getting the final out in the seventh and tossed a scoreless eighth

Franklin Perez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save, extending his scoreless innings streak to 19-1/3 - one shy of the franchise record set by Chris Spurling in 2000

Adam Haley went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Erie (39-52) and Kody Kirkland and Don Kelly each drove in a run

Jair Jurrjens (3-2) took the the loss after giving up four runs on six hits over 5-1/3 innings
He fanned five and walked two

The Curve could be back in first place in a couple days and find themselves sitting ever so pretty in the playoff race

“It’s a comfortable spot to be in” pitcher Landon Jacobsen said after Sunday’s 4-3 win over Erie before 7,170 fans at Blair County Ballpark

Altoona trails Akron by just one game and visits the Aeros for a three-game series beginning tonight
The Curve also have picked up two games in the standings on third-place Harrisburg in the past two days and lead the Senators by 7-1/2 games.
With just fifty games left, Altoona has the luxury of going all out for the Southern Division title while also holding all the cards for the wild-card playoff berth

“This is what you play for - the first-place and second-place team playing and one game separates the two” manager Tim Leiper said of this week’s series with Akron

The Curve dropped the first two games after the All-Star break to Erie before bouncing back to win the last two contests and split the series
Harrisburg has lost four in a row and Akron has dropped four of five, giving Altoona a chance to make up ground

Catcher Dave Parrish led the way in Sunday’s win, driving home a pair of runs on a fourth-inning double to put the Curve on top to stay

Parrish, who joined the club May 14, has been a key addition and leads the team in hitting at .317
“A huge factor” Leiper said of Parrish
“He just kind of solidifies us right now in the middle of the order
He’s that one extra guy that you know he’s going to put the bat on the ball, put some good swings on it.
We were pretty lucky to get him and I’m glad we have him
He’s doing a great job for us”

Parrish was released from the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate and has fit in nicely with the Curve

“I’ve enjoyed myself being here” he said
“I’m enjoying getting a chance to play every day, and I’m happy with the success I’ve had and I hope it continues the rest of the season”

Another in-season addition who’s proven reliable is reliever Franklin Perez, who earned his first save Sunday with a scoreless ninth inning
He came aboard June 11 and currently has a streak of 19-1/3 consecutives scoreless frames, just one inning shy of Chris Spurling’s franchise record

“Just working hard and pretty much trying to be consistent” Perez said of his streak, the longest of his career

Leiper called Perez “the hardest worker we’ve got”
“He goes out every day and he busts his tail” the manager said
“He wasn’t in baseball shape when he got here just because he got released in spring training, but he works so hard”

Jacobsen (9-7) moved into a tie for the Eastern League lead with his ninth victory, allowing three runs on eight hits over 6-1/3 innings
He gave up single runs in the second, sixth and seventh but got some help from his offense

Parrish’s two-run double gave the Curve a 2-1 lead in the fourth off Erie starter Jair Jarheads (3-2)

Brandon Chaves singled home Javier Guzman in the fifth, but Erie got that run back in the sixth to close within 3-2

Simon Pond took over the team lead with his twelfth homer in the Curve half of the sixth, making it 4-2

The SeaWolves loaded the bases with one out in the seventh off Jacobsen, who gave way to reliever Chris Hernandez
Adam Haley’s sacrifice fly closed the gap to a run, but Hernandez slammed the door there and again in the eighth before Perez closed out the win

“A nice way to finish the series” Leiper said of the win

The Curve now turn their attention to Akron, but there’s still so much of the season left that the players aren’t getting overly excited about this three-game set
Still, it is Akron, always a challenge and a barometer for the Curve
“It’s always a big series against those guys” Parrish said
“They’ve got a lot of good pitching, and we’ve just got to bring our ‘A’ game every day”

David Parrish had two hits and two runs batted in and Simon Pond homered as the Altoona Curve beat the Erie SeaWolves 4-3 Sunday before 7,170 at Blair County Ballpark

The Curve (54-38) won their second straight over the SeaWolves to pull within one game of first-place Akron
The Aeros lost 10-8 to Trenton

Erie took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Kody Kirkland doubled to score Don Kelly, who had singled to lead off the inning

Altoona took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth
With two outs, Parrish doubled to center, scoring Vic Buttler and Pond

Erie added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings but was unable to draw even

Adam Haley singled and tripled in three at-bats and had a run batted in, but the 'Wolves had few other bright spots offensively

Erie starter Jair Jurrjens took the loss (3-2)
Jurrjens allowed six hits and four runs, all earned, in 5-1/3 innings

Pond reached Jurrjens for his twelfth homer, a solo shot in the sixth

Relievers Preston Larrison, Ian Ostlund and Brian Rogers combined to blank the Curve the rest of the way

Altoona starter Landon Jacobsen improved to 9-7
Jacobsen allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 6-1/3 innings

Franklin Perez pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save with the Curve