The Result
Curve - 4 runs to 3

The Curve - Year-to-Date
64 won and 47 lost

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

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 4 at-bats - 2 x strike outs

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - fast ball - outside
Called strike
Ball - downstairs
"That is lined sharply but caught by the Rock Cats second-baseman for the final out of the innings"
Line out to second base - F4
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Called strike
"There's a little roller down the first base line and it's picked up by the pitcher who throws on to first base for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to the pitcher - 1 to 3
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Called strike - on the outside corner
Ball - in the dirt
Ball - just outside
Foul ball - down the left side
Foul ball - "Roneberg turns on that pitch and rips it down the rightfield line but it's foul by about ten feet"
Ball - low and away
"Here comes the '3-2' pitch!!! ...... and the runner is going!!! ...... and it's a called strike three!!! ...... and Roneberg strikes out to end the innings!!!" (the play-by-play report says it was a swinging strike out - ???)
Strike out
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Called strike
Called strike
Foul ball - "a little flair that went over the third-baseman's head and drifted foul"
"And here comes the two strike pitch ...... and Roneberg swings and misses as he chased a pitch that was up in the zone ...... and Roneberg, who has been 'red hot' at the plate recently, is 0-for-4 tonight with two strike outs"
Strike out

Heard during the Game

(#01) As Brett came in for his first at-bat, the commentator mentioned - "Brett Roneberg now steps to the plate and he has been 'very hot' at the plate recently ...... over his last sixteen games he is batting 22-for-55 for an average of 0.400 ...... and he has also driven in fourteen runs during his last eight games"

(#03) During Brett's second at-bat, the commentator said - "Coming in to tonight's game, Brett was tied for sixth in the Eastern League with a batting average of 0.296 ...... and he is also tied for fifth with sixty-two runs-driven-in for the season"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Brandon Knight picked up the final two outs of the Curve’s 4-3 win on Sunday night over the New Britain Rock Cats to earn his twenty-second save of the season

The right-hander is now tied with Justin Kaye for the most saves in a single season in franchise history

The Altoona Curve scored the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a throwing error by Rock Cats’ pitcher Justin Olson
Ray Sadler tapped a ground ball back to the mound, but the right-hander’s throw to the first baseman was wide of the bag and Dave Parrish raced around to score from first to break a 3-3 tie

New Britain scored three times in their first at-bat, but was held scoreless through the final twenty-four outs as the Curve slowly chipped away at the lead

Landon Jacobsen was denied his league-leading thirteenth victory, earning a no-decision for just the second time in twenty-one appearances this season
The right-hander allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings and struck out five

Two pitchers that were added to the Curve roster earlier in the day, Romulo Sanchez and Dave Davidson, saw action in the game
Sanchez pitched the first two outs of the eighth inning before Davidson came in to finish the frame and start the ninth
Davidson would earn the victory despite facing just two batters

Olson was the losing pitcher, surrendering the game-winning run after his errant throw to first base in the eighth inning
Olson struck out the side in the only inning he worked, but issued a walk to Parrish before committing the error

The Curve scored a single run in the second and third innings to narrow the gap, and tied the game in the sixth
Altoona loaded the bases in the sixth after back-to-back singles to start the frame and a walk by Sadler
Brandon Chaves delivered a run-scoring single to left field, but Parrish was caught up between third and home and was tagged out on the base path
Javier Guzman would then ground into the rally-killing 6-4-3 double play to end the inning

Vic Buttler and Simon Pond had three hits each in the ballgame as the Curve out-hit the Rock Cats for the third time in the three games series

Altoona continues its homestand on Monday night when it welcomes the Connecticut Defenders to Blair County Ballpark for a 7.05pm contest
Mike Connolly will start for the Curve against Geno Espinelli for the Defenders

David Parrish scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error in the eighth inning as Altoona edged visiting New Britain, 4-3, on Sunday

With the score tied, 3-3, Parrish drew a two-out walk from reliever Justin Olson, who fielded a roller hit by Ray Sadler and threw it over the head of first baseman Daniel Matienzo
Parrish scored to put the Curve (64-47) ahead for good

Altoona reliever Dave Davidson (1-1) got two outs to pick up the win

Brandon Knight set down the final two batters to notch his Eastern League-leading twenty-second save, which tied Justin Kaye's 2005 franchise record

The Curve's Vic Buttler ripped three singles and had an RBI, while Simon Pond doubled, stroked a pair of base hits and scored twice

Starter Landon Jacobsen allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings, fanning five and striking out two

New Britain starter Adam Harben yielded three runs on nine hits in five innings, striking out four

Jay Sawatski tossed 2-2/3 scoreless frames before Olson (6-6) surrendered the decisive run in the eighth

Doug Deeds, Matt Moses and Matienzo each delivered an RBI for the Rock Cats (48-63)

The way the Curve won Sunday night could be made into one of those cheesy baseball movies where one team prevails in unbelievable fashion

An ironic sequence of events transpired to help Altoona overcome a 3-0 deficit and post a 4-3 win over New Britain

The 6,727 fans at Blair County Ballpark saw the following wackiness:-
Curve manager Tim Leiper got ejected in the fifth inning, at the time a potentially uplifting move to spark his team, which he said hasn’t been playing up to par lately
Hitting coach Brandon Moore took over for Leiper running the club and coaching third base

Moore has little experience coaching third and made a snafu on a huge play that could have cost the Curve a chance to win
But as fate - or as Leiper calls it, the baseball gods - would have it, Moore got another chance on an eerily similar play
This time he made the right call, leading to the winning run

“Tonight I screwed up” Moore said with a laugh
He could still laugh at the situation because the Curve won

“It’s great that we won for Brandon because I don’t think he would have slept too good tonight” Leiper said

The Curve, down 3-2, had the bases loaded with no outs and Brandon Chaves up in the sixth inning
Chaves ripped a single to left, scoring Simon Pond with the tying run, and catcher Dave Parrish chugged hard into third base
Conventional wisdom says to hold up the slow-running catcher and not risk anything with no outs
Moore was waving Parrish home, though, then put up a late stop sign after the runner had rounded third too far
The Rock Cats threw out Parrish in a rundown, and the Curve’s chance to take the lead ended when Javier Guzman grounded into a double play

“He did everything right” Moore said of Parrish
“I was waving him
I wanted him to keep some momentum going in case the guy bobbled the ball
Obviously I didn’t stop him in time, and that’s my fault”

“He was waving, then he gave me the stop sign” Parrish said
“I’m not a very light person, so it takes me a little while to slow down
So when I tried to slam on the breaks, it just took me a few too many steps and I got hung up in no-man’s land”

In an ironic twist, Moore and Parrish got a chance at redemption when it mattered most

Parrish walked with two outs in the eighth inning with the score still tied
Ray Sadler then dribbled a comebacker to pitcher Justin Olson (6-6), who threw wide of first baseman Danny Matienzo
The ball rolled into right field foul territory as Parrish raced into third base
Once again he saw Moore waving him home, only this time there would be no stop sign
“The second time around, he wasn’t stopping” Moore said
Parrish scored easily for a 4-3 lead, and the Curve held on in the ninth for the win

“It’s rare that you have that kind of situation happen, especially with the same runner” Moore said
“I take full responsibility for the first one, and we got in that situation again and it worked”

All part of the learning process in the minor leagues, which also extends to coaches

“The greatest thing about that, it’s how you learn” Leiper said
“Moore hasn’t been out at third base a lot - but it’s because of those situations, and knowing Brandon, you learn from those and that’s how you get better”

Leiper was ejected arguing a play at first base involving Brian Bixler
New Britain third baseman Matt Moses made a nice stop down the line and threw on to first, resulting in a bang-bang play with Bixler getting called out
Always one to stick up for his players with the umpires, Leiper darted to first base and argued, then got ejected
He continued to argue with the home plate umpire for another fourty-five seconds before leaving the field

“It’s a sparkplug, it gets us going” Bixler said of seeing his manager stick up for the players
“As an individual, you appreciate your manager backing you up like that
Leip is respected for sticking up for his players, and we just get real fired up when he gets excited like that”

The ejection could have been seen as a tactical move to pump up his team, but Leiper said that wasn’t the case
Instead, he talked about how his move may have hurt the club because it forced Moore into an unfamiliar position

New reliever Dave Davidson (1-0) won in relief for Altoona after starter Landon Jacobsen gave up three runs in seven innings

The Rock Cats scored twice with the help of two Curve errors in the first

Brandon Knight retired the final two batters for his twenty-second save, tying the franchise record

Altoona rallied behind three-hit games from Simon Pond and Vic Buttler, getting a run in the second and another in the third

Despite the win, Leiper said his club hasn’t been sharp lately
“Right now we’re not playing good baseball, and the one thing I want to make sure we do here in the next three days is tighten up” the manager said
“Fundamentally, we come out tonight and we weren’t very good
We haven’t done a great job hitting-wise in situational hitting
For us to go on and be a team that’s going to win in the playoffs, we need to play better baseball”