The Result
Curve - 4 runs to 3

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

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

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - single, 1 x run-driven-in, 1 x walk, 1 x strike out, 1 x stolen base

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher - "very low side-winder"
Runners at second and third base - none down
Ball - outside
Called strike
"That hit gets the ball past the pitcher's glove and out to the second-baseman who throws to first base for the first out of the innings ...... the runner from third base is coming in to score and Roneberg picks up his sixty-third run-driven-in for the season ...... and the other base runner has advanced to third base"
Ground out to second base - 1 x RBI
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher - "very low side-winder"
Bases empty - two down
Called strike
Ball - downstairs
Called strike
Ball - "that was a 'hair' high and outside"
Foul ball - down the leftfield line
Foul ball - change up
"Roneberg hits this pitch sharply into centrefield for his first hit of the ballgame"
Single to centrefield
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher - "very low side-winder"
Bases empty - two down
Ball
Ball - inside
Ball - low and away
Ball - low and away
Walk
Stole to second base!!! ...... on a lefthanded pitcher!!! - "Brett got a great jump on that pitch and is in to second base without a throw!!! ...... it is Brett's seventh stolen base of the season"
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - one down
Ball - outside
Called strike - on the outside corner
Called strike - on the outside corner
"And here comes the '1ball-2strike' pitch ...... and Roneberg swings and misses for the second out of the innings ...... Brett appears to be having a few words with the home plate umpire and now I think that Brett and the pitcher are also saying something to each other ...... I don't know what is going on there"
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 with runners at second and third base ...... Brett has driven in fourteen runs during his last nine games"
After his at-bat, the commentator continued - "With that run, Brett has now driven in sixty-three runs for the season"

(#03) During Brett's second at-bat, the commentator said - "Coming in to tonight's game, Brett was ninth in the Eastern League with a batting average of 0.293 ...... and he is also in seventh position with sixty-two runs-driven-in for the season"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve came from behind for the second night in a row to beat the Connecticut Defenders Monday night at Blair County Ballpark, 4-3

The Curve fought off two separate one-run deficits to win the series-opening contest

The Curve scored the game-winning run in the seventh inning, in a scenario that was similar to the way they won Sunday night’s game
With one out and the score tied 3-3, Taber Lee scored the go-ahead run when Connecticut shortstop Jake Wald made a throwing error
The errant throw sailed past the third baseman and rolled into the dugout, awarding Lee home plate

It was the second night in a row that a late-inning throwing error allowed the Curve to score the eventual game-winning run

Mike Connolly started his franchise-best seventy-ninth game in a Curve uniform and earned the victory, his first for Altoona since June 9
The left-hander pitched seven innings, allowing just three runs on three hits and striking out five
Connolly allowed the three runs in the first three innings, aided by three Curve defensive errors

He finished the game by retiring the final fifteen batters he faced in order, before turning the ball over to reliever Brian Rogers
Rogers pitched the final two innings and struck out four batters while allowing just one hit in collecting his second save for the Curve

Altoona responded in the bottom of the first inning after falling behind 1-0
Nyjer Morgan, Brian Bixler and Vic Buttler opened the Curve at-bat with three consecutive base hits
After back-to-back singles by Morgan and Bixler, Buttler ripped a double to right-field to score Morgan, and Brett Roneberg’s ground-out plated Bixler to give the Curve a lead

After Connecticut put a two-spot on the scoreboard in the third, Altoona tied the game when Morgan led off the fifth with a triple and Bixler brought him plateward with a single to right

Geno Espinelli started for the Defenders and earned a no-decision after five innings pitched
The lefty scattered eight hits and allowed three runs in his first no-decision in his last seven appearances

Bixler and Morgan led the way for the Curve offensively, picking up two hits apiece and combining to score three runs

The Curve will continue its series against Connecticut on Tuesday night at 7.05pm at Blair County Ballpark
The game features an appearance by Bernie Kopell (“Dr. Adam Bricker”) as well as a Singles’ Mingle on the party deck with karaoke from 5.00pm to 7.00pm

Altoona will send a yet-to-be-named starter to the hill against the Defenders’ James Garcia (2-6, 5.12)

Notes
The Curve improved to 18-0 in 2006 when the starting pitcher lasts at least seven full innings
The victory tied the season series between the Curve and Defenders at two games apiece
It was Hank’s Bark in the Park Night, with over one-hundred fans bringing their dogs to the ballpark to watch the game
The Curve have now committed seven errors in the last three games following a season-high stretch of four consecutive games without a single defensive miscue

The Defenders got out to a fast start, but their bats were virtually non-existant after the third inning as they lost game one of a three game set at Altoona 4-3

Connecticut scored in the first inning thanks to a lead off double by Derin McMains, followed eventually a couple of batters later, by a Brian Horwitz sacrifice fly for an early 1-0 lead

Geno Espineli was touched up for two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Defenders got them both back with a two run third inning
McMains led off with another double, and he was followed by a Nate Schierholtz triple
Schierholtz would score, making it a 3-2 Defenders lead

After the three Defenders runs in the first three innings, Michael Connolly buckled down and sat down the last fourteen Defenders he faced
The Defenders managed only a Brian Horwitz single that turned out to be harmless for the rest of the game

Altoona was not done scoring after three innings

In the fifth, a Nyjer Morgan lead off triple led to the tying run, and the Curve struck one more time in the seventh inning scoring on an error by Jake Wald who tried to cut down the lead runner with one out
That made the score 4-3, which would be the final

The Defenders will need to win each of the next two games to win their fourth straight series

On Tuesday, right-hander James Garcia (2-6) goes to the mound for Connecticut

The first pitch is scheduled for 7.05pm

Michael Connolly limited the Connecticut Defenders to only four hits and three runs, all earned, over seven innings to lead the Altoona Curve to a 4-3 win Monday night in Eastern League action

After giving up three runs over the first three innings, Connolly and Brian Rogers combined to shut down Connecticut the rest of the way

The Defenders got on board in the first on Brian Horwitz’s sac fly, scoring Derin McMains from third

After giving up two runs in the bottom half of the inning, Connecticut scored twice more in the third
Nate Schierholtz’s triple scored McMains, who led off with a double
Schierholtz then scored on an error

Altoona took the lead for good in the seventh when shortstop Jake Wald commited his twenty-third error of the season, enabling Taber Lee to score the winner

Jason Waddell (1-2) took the loss in relief of Eugene Espineli
Waddell allowed only one hit over the final three innings

Brian Bixler couldn’t see what Connecticut’s shortstop did with his grounder as he dashed down the first base line, but he had an inkling what had happened

“I just heard the crowd” Bixler said
“I thought he messed it up and I looked, and he had thrown it away”

Bixler and the Curve overcame another tough night in the field, capitalizing on a late Defenders miscue for a 4-3 victory before 4,248 fans at Blair County Ballpark on Monday night

For the second straight night, Altoona committed three errors but cashed in on its opponent’s only one to win the game

“Those errors are gong to happen; it’s no big deal” Curve manager Tim Leiper said
“The important thing is, you bounce back, and we did a good job
That’s what good baseball teams do”

With the game tied, 3-3, in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Taber Lee ignited a Curve rally with a sharp single to left, snapping a 1-for-26 skid

“It’s my one opportunity, so try to make the best of it” Lee told himself as he walked to the plate
“It’s the toughest thing in baseball - to enter late in a game
I have a little more respect for relievers coming in the game”

Lee advanced to second on Nyjer Morgan’s sacrifice bunt, bringing Bixler to the plate
The Curve shortstop yanked a grounder to his Connecticut counterpart, Jake Wald, who flung the ball hastily to third base in an attempt to nail Lee for the forceout
Wald’s low throw skipped away, allowing the go-ahead run to score

“Yeah, we’re fortunate” Leiper said
“But we created that error too.
Lee’s aggressive baserunning forced the guy to make a throw he probably shouldn’t have made, and we benefited from it”

Bixler admitted to feeling some relief in contributing to his team’s game-winning rally
The shortstop committed an error in the first inning that contributed to a rough start for Curve starter Mike Connolly
The left-hander surrendered a leadoff double on his first pitch of the game, and two pitches later, Bixler allowed a Nate Schierholtz grounder to bounce off his glove
Connolly then gave up a sacrifice fly for an early 1-0 deficit
Bixler has committed an error in the first inning in each of the last two games

“I just took my eye off it for a second” Bixler said
“Mistakes happen
You’ve just got to concentrate more next time
You’ve just got to shrug it off”

Altoona seized a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the first but surrendered it again in a third inning that featured two more errors from the home team
Connolly gave up a double and a triple to open the frame, leveling the score at 2-2
Third baseman Simon Pond then committed fielding errors on back-to-back plays, the first of which allowed the go-ahead run to score
Pond was making just his eighth start at the hot corner this season

“He made a couple of errors; big deal” Leiper said
“He did it and we won a game
That’s a tough deal to go over there, especially when you haven’t been over there
Your rhythm gets messed up”

Connolly settled down after that, escaping the two-on, no-outs jam with a couple of strikeouts to end the inning

“That’s one thing about Michael - he does not let anything faze him,” Curve pitching coach Ray Searage said
“He knows things are going to happen
He also knows he makes mistakes, they make mistakes, but we’re all in this together”

The veteran lefty retired his final fifteen batters and watched as Altoona rallied to tie the game on Bixler’s RBI single in the fifth, before finishing the job with its seventh-inning rally

Connolly (7-5) finished with a line of three earned runs on four hits and no walks in seven innings
The lefty struck out five

“He really mashed them after he saw them swing the first couple of times around the order” Leiper said

Reliever Jason Waddell (1-2) suffered the loss for Connecticut when he allowed an unearned run in three innings

Brian Rogers picked up his second save with two one-hit innings of relief to end the game

Michael Connolly set a franchise record with his seventy-ninth start, and pitched Altoona to a 4-3 victory over visiting Connecticut on Monday

Connolly (7-5), who has spent parts of four seasons with the Curve, allowed three runs on four hits over seven innings
The 24-year-old left-hander struck out five and did not walk a batter

Brian Rogers struck out four over the final two frames for his second save

Taber Lee led off the seventh with a single, moved to third on Nyjer Morgan's sacrifice and scored on shortstop Jake Wald's error, snapping a 3-3 tie

Morgan went 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored for the Curve (65-47)

Derin McMains went 2-for-4 with two doubles and scored twice and Brian Horwitz singled and drove in two runs for the Defenders (52-63)

Reliever Jason Wadell (1-2) took the loss after allowing an unearned run on a hit and two walks over three innings