The Result
Defenders - 9 runs to 8

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

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Rightfield
Batting - #4
----------Replaced at the start of the top of the ninth innings
----------Defensive substitution
----------The Curve were leading eight runs to seven

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 4 at-bats - 2 x singles, 1 x walk

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - outside
Ball - "and the runner is off!!! ...... and he is into second base safely!!! ...... and the Curve now have a runner in scoring position here in the bottom of the first innings with two down"
Ball - outside
Foul ball - "Brett was given the green light by the Curve Manager Tim Leiper"
Ball - inside
Walk
Advanced to second base on a wild pitch
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at third base - two down
Ball - low
Called strike - on the outside corner
Foul ball - at the plate
Ball - outside
"There's a slow roller towards the shortstop ...... and it's going to be a tough play!!! ...... but he gathers the ball and makes the throw just in time to get Roneberg for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 3
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Foul ball - "and Brett rips that down the rightfield line but it goes foul"
Pitch sequence not broadcasted - the commentator was doing an interview
"That is lined into leftfield and Brett has his first hit of the game"
Single to leftfield
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - downstairs
Ball - low
Ball - outside
Called strike/Foul ball - ??? not broadcasted
"Brett lines that well into leftfield!!! ...... and the runner is rounding second base and he is into third base safely!!! ...... and Roneberg is standing at first base and he now has two hits in the game"
Single to left-centrefield
The next batter hit the ball hard but straight at the Defenders' second-baseman ...... he fielded it cleanly and threw to first base for the second out of the innings ...... this play cancelled the force out, and Brett (who had to hold up on the base path because of the direction/placement of the hit ball) was then caught in a run down and was tagged out, but not before the run from third base had come in to score ...... the commentator said - "That was very alert and smart base running by the veteran Roneberg, who stayed in the run down play long enough to allow the Curve to score another run"
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and third base - two down
Ball - downstairs
Ball - in the dirt
"Roneberg tags this pitch and hits it well out into leftfield but it is hanging up and the fielder gets under it and makes the catch for the final out here in the bottom of the eighth innings ...... we now go to the ninth with the Curve leading eight runs to seven!!!"
Fly out to left-centrefield - F8

Heard during the Game

(#01) During Brett's first at-bat, the commentator mentioned - "Brett Roneberg now steps to the plate ...... he has 'cooled off' in the last few games, but he is still batting 23-for-66 at the plate during his last nineteen games for an average of 0.348 over that span"
He continued with - "Brett has driven in fifteen runs during his last eleven games and has sixty-three runs-driven-in for the season"
He also mentioned - "Brett comes in to tonight's game with a batting average of 0.290, which is just out of the Eastern League Top Ten in that category"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Wardell Starling turned in an MVP performance on Wednesday night at Blair County Ballpark, but the Altoona Curve couldn’t hold off a late surge by Connecticut, falling to the Defenders 9-8

Starling pitched seven innings and allowed only two earned runs, and finished the game 3-for-3 with a triple and four RBI

The Curve leapt out to a four-run lead after the second inning, but squandered the advantage, losing for the first time in fifty-nine games when it’s led going into the final scheduled inning

Leading 8-7 after eight innings, the Curve allowed two runs by the Defenders in the top of the ninth and lost its second straight game to Connecticut

Jorge Vasquez picked up his third loss of the season, loading the bases with two outs in the ninth and then giving up a two-run single to Aaron Sisk to give up the lead
Sisk finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBI including a two-run homerun

The Curve would threaten in its final at-bat against Joe Bateman, using back-to-back hits by Rafael Alvarez and Dave Parrish to put the tying run at third base, but was unable to push a run across

Bateman, the fifth pitcher used by Connecticut, would earn his ninth save of the year

Oscar Montero pitched a scoreless eighth inning and racked up his second victory of the season

Starling finished his night on the mound with seven innings pitched, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and two strikeouts for a no decision

The Curve had many offensive stars as they collected seventeen hits in the game, one off of its season-high total
Starling, Vic Buttler and Javier Guzman all had three-hit games for Altoona, who outhit their opponents for the fifty-seventh time this year

The Curve scored four times in the second inning, beginning with Starling’s RBI single that came with runners at first and second base
Nyjer Morgan and Brian Bixler would follow with run-scoring singles, and Buttler used an RBI groundout to stake the Curve to the early advantage

The Defenders would respond in the third with two runs only to have the Curve answer right back with a two-run triple by Starling in the bottom of the frame

The two teams would trade a pair of runs over the next three innings and Connecticut would plate five runs in its final two at-bats, to take its first lead of the game

The eighth inning proved to be crippling for the Curve
Chris Hernandez came out of the bullpen to start the frame, but allowed the first three men to reach base and had to turn the ball over to Vasquez who permitted all three runners to score before getting out of the inning

Altoona is off on Thursday before opening up a three-game series against the New Britain Rock Cats on Friday
Jason Roach will start for the Curve against the Rock Cats’ Glen Perkins

Aaron Sisk homered and racked up five RBIs to help visiting Connecticut come back to stun Altoona, 9-8, on Wednesday

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Curve leading, 8-7, Sisk ripped a two-run single

His tenth homer of the year was a two-run shot in the fourth, and he plated another run in the eighth with a groundout

Sisk's performance overshadowed a stellar game by opposing starting pitcher Wardell Starling, who went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and seven solid innings of work for Altoona
Starling singled in a run during the second, belted a two-run triple in the third and knocked in another with a base hit in the fifth
The 23-year-old right-hander allowed two earned runs on seven hits, struck out two and walked a batter, lowering his ERA to 3.07
He left the game with an 8-4 lead and six outs from his third straight win

"Losing the game is very disappointing, but I did feel it coming" Starling said
"We weren't playing very well tonight, and the Defenders are not the type of team that's going to lay down for anybody
I kept thinking to myself that we needed to pick it up and keep adding runs, but we didn't and they came back
I actually feel like we kind of laid down for them"

Reliever Oscar Montero (2-1) worked around a hit and a walk in the eighth for Connecticut (54-63)

Joe Bateman struck out Altoona's Tabor Lee with runners at first and third to close out the game and earn his ninth save

Reliever Chris Hernandez allowed three runs on one hit and two walks without producing an out in the eighth for the Curve (65-49)

Jorge Vazquez (2-3) gave up the decisive two runs later in the frame while recording two outs

Jake Wald smacked a two-RBI double for the Defenders, his sixteenth of the year, and Dan Ortmeier, Travis Ishikawa and Brian Horwitz scored a pair of runs apiece

The Defenders fell behind in the second inning and stayed behind until a ninth inning rally with hero Aaron Sisk contributing two of his five RBI in a 9-8 victory over Altoona

After a scoreless first inning, Jesse Floyd ran into problems with the bottom of the order
Starting with the number seven hitter Javier Guzman, who had three hits on the game, the Curve ripped five straight hits, including an RBI single by pitcher Wardell Starling who had three hits and four RBIs to help his own cause
The five hits led to four runs, and an early 4-0 Altoona lead

The Defenders would cut the lead in half with two unearned runs in the top of the third inning
Brian Horwitz had an RBI single in the inning

In the bottom half of the third, the Curve got the two runs back thanks to the pitcher Starling, who ripped a two run triple

The Defenders would continue to fight, as Aaron Sisk answered with a two run home run in top of the fourth inning, his tenth of the year, making it a 6-4 Altoona lead

That score would remain until Starling stepped to the plate again
In the sixth, the pitcher knocked in another run with a single, giving himself a 7-4 lead
The Curve would add another run, and it would be a big one

The Defenders were not through fighting

In the top of the eighth, the Defenders would rally with three runs, with two scoring on a Jake Wald RBI double
With one out, Wald, who was representing the tying run stole second base, but the Defenders could not bring him in

The score was 8-7 Altoona heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the Defenders had another big ninth inning come back
Aaron Sisk stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, and he delivered a two run single, his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game, giving the Defenders a 9-8 lead, their first lead of the ball game, and Joe Bateman would make it stick, picking up his ninth save

Wednesday night’s loss might have been the most disappointing of the season for the Curve

The enormous Blair County Ballpark scoreboard read - Curve 8, Connecticut 7, entering the ninth inning
The first fifty-eight times an Altoona reliever stepped onto the mound with a lead in the final scheduled inning, he walked off with the lead intact

The streak is now over

“Look at the clubhouse - it’s quiet” Curve manager Tim Leiper said after the game
“We’re not used to losing leads late”

The Altoona bullpen suffered its worst meltdown of the season, squandering an 8-4 lead in a 9-8 loss before 5,732 fans

The Curve entered the game with a league-leading ERA of 3.33, while facing statistically the most anemic offense in the circuit, a Defenders squad with a .230 batting average

“It’s a pretty tough one to swallow” outfielder Vic Buttler said
“You go out there and battle and battle and don’t come out on top, it’s definitely tough to swallow”

Jorge Vasquez survived a shaky eighth inning and, with EL saves leader Brandon Knight unavailable to pitch, was asked to return to the mound for the ninth
Vasquez (2-3) induced routine flyouts from his first two batters and seemed to have everything under control
The right-hander then faltered, issuing a walk, a sharp single to right and another free pass to load the bases
Aaron Sisk, who entered the game hitting just .199, stung a line drive down the left field line, scoring two runners for Connecticut’s only lead of the game

Sisk finished with five RBIs

“Give the Defenders all the credit” Leiper said
“They kept battling, kept getting hits and got it done
Just one of those nights, really”

The Curve bullpen, so reliable all season, needed only six outs when Chris Hernandez trotted onto the field in the eighth with his team leading, 8-4
Hernandez immediately loaded the bases, allowing a leadoff double to left-center and then walking his next two batters
Vasquez relieved Hernandez but was unable to prevent any of the inherited runs from scoring
Sisk got things started with an RBI groundout before Jake Wald delivered the big blow in the inning, a two-run double to left-center

“These guys are reliable” Leiper said of his relievers
“If they have one bad outing out of their season, they’re still good pitchers”

Reliever Oscar Montero (2-1) blanked the Curve in the eighth inning to pick up the win

Joe Bateman nailed down his ninth save with a scoreless ninth

The late meltdown ruined a spectacular night for Curve starting pitcher Wardell Starling at the plate
Starling batted 3-for-3 with four RBIs to raise his season average to .462 (6-for-13)
The affable Texas native was a two-way star at Elkins High School and batted .420 with twelve home runs and eighty-one RBIs in his only season at Odessa Junior College
Since then, though, Starling hasn’t had many opportunities to swing the bat because minor league pitchers don’t hit until they reach Double-A

“I’ve been looking forward to hitting since I first signed” Starling said
"The Pirates asked me if I want to hit or pitch - it was either way what I wanted to do - but they definitely wanted me to pitch first”

Starling sparked a four-run Altoona rally in the second inning with an RBI single
He then drew cheers from the crowd in the third with a two-run triple, a towering shot to the warning track in right-center

“I see it and hit it” Starling said
“I hit in the offseason all the time
I throw to a friend, he throws to me, and I work at a batting cage, so I get to swing it a lot”

Starling roped another RBI single the opposite way to right-center in the seventh
That was his sixth RBI of the season, a new franchise record for a pitcher

“You saw tonight, he’s pretty good” Leiper said
“It’s like a DH game, really, when he’s in there because he’s a weapon”

Around the Curve
RHP Jason Roach will be added to the Curve roster and will start Friday’s game against New Britain
Buttler became only the third player in franchise history to record twenty steals and fifty RBIs in a season, joining Nate McLouth and Tony Alvarez
The Curve lost despite roping seventeen hits