Van Benschoten to join Curve

Pirates’ pitcher John Van Benschoten has joined the Curve and will travel with the club to Connecticut to begin an injury rehab assignment
The right-hander, who missed the entire 2005 season and most of this season after undergoing surgeries on both his right and left shoulders, is expected to start one of the Curve’s doubleheader games on Monday at Connecticut

Van Benschoten, the eighth overall selection in the 2003 June draft, made his first appearance in a game since September 2004 on Tuesday, pitching six innings for the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Pirates

The native of San Diego, CA pitched for Altoona in 2003 before debuting in Pittsburgh the following season
In seventeen starts for the Curve, Van Benschoten was 7-6 with a 3.69 ERA
Following his Double-A campaign, he was listed as the tenth best prospect in the Eastern League by Baseball America and was named to the 2003 Baseball Olympic Team

The 26-year old is the third major leaguer to undergo a injury rehab assignment with the Curve in 2006, joining former Pirates Kip Wells and Sean Casey who both appeared in a Curve uniform this season
Wells made one start for Altoona, earning the victory over the Harrisburg Senators on June 15 at Blair County Ballpark
Casey joined the club for three games on the road against the Erie SeaWolves in May, going 3-for-11 with a home run

Racing Reading

The Reading Phillies have won nine of its last twelve games to crawl back into playoff contention in the Southern Division
The R-Phils are a game above .500 and currently sit just 7-1/2 games behind the Curve for the final playoff spot
The two teams are not scheduled to play again for the rest of the year, with Altoona winning the season series 9-7
However, the Phillies do have a much more difficult schedule over the final four weeks of the season
Reading’s remaining six opponents have a combined winning percentage of .600 compared to the Curve’s scheduled opponents who have a winning percentage of just .490

The Road Ahead

The Curve have only two road trips remaining on its schedule, and will play fourteen of its final twenty games at Blair County Ballpark
The Curve has lost eight of its last thirteen games away from home, and is 1-4-1 in its last six series on the road
Altoona is a league-best 38-18 (.679) at home, and 27-31 (.466) on the road

Oops!!

The Altoona Curve have the third-worst fielding percentage in the Eastern League after committing a host of errors during its last homestand
Following a season-high four games in a row without committing a miscue, the Curve made twelve errors in five games against the New Britain Rock Cats and Connecticut Defenders beginning on Saturday, August 5
The errors led to a total of four unearned runs as the Curve went 2-3 during the five-game stretch, being outscored 21-19

The Result
Rock Cats - 9 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
65 won and 50 lost

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

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - double, 1 x run-driven-in, 1 x walk

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - curve ball - downstairs
Called strike
Ball - "and the runner is off!!! - and he is into second base safely!!! - and Roneberg now has the chance to drive in the first Curve run of the game"
Ball - "that pitch is in the dirt and the runner gets into third base before the throw from the Rock Cats' catcher"
"Brett drives that pitch right over the shortstops head!!! - it is well hit and gets all the way to the wall in left-centrefield!!! - the runner is in to score and Roneberg is at second base after an RBI double!!!"
Double to left-centrefield - 1 x RBI
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Called strike
"There's a two-hop ground ball to third base and it's fielded and the throw is in time to get Roneberg for the second out of the innings"
Ground out to third base - 5 to 3
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball
"That's a slow roller towards shortstop ...... it is not hit hard enough to turn the double play but the fielder is able to get Roneberg at first base for the second out of the innings and the runner from first base is now in scoring position"
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 3
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
Ball
Called strike
Ball - outside
Swing and a miss - "Roneberg offers at a pitch that is low and away"
Ball - outside
Ball - low and away
Walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings

Heard during the Game

(#01) During Brett's first at-bat, the commentator mentioned - "Brett Roneberg now steps to the plate ...... he is batting 25-for-70 at the plate during his last twenty games for an average of 0.357 over that span"
He continued with - "Brett has driven in fifteen runs during his last twelve 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 0.292, and is tied for ninth position in the Eastern League Top Ten in that category"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

New Britain third baseman Matt Moses homered and knocked in six runs as the Rock Cats handed the Altoona Curve a 9-2 loss in the opening game of the Curve’s six-day, seven-game road trip to Connecticut

Moses, a former first round selection of the Minnesota Twins, ended the Curve’s short-lived 1-0 lead when he drilled a three-run homer off Curve starter Jason Roach in the bottom of the first inning

Moses then helped the Rock Cats’ break the game open in the bottom of the third, when he delivered a bases-clearing double to increase his club’s lead to 7-1

Roach (6-4) surrendered two more runs in the fifth and was forced out of the game after just 4-2/3 innings of work, allowing nine runs on ten hits

The nine runs allowed by Roach matched the most allowed by a Curve starter this season
Matt Peterson also gave up nine runs in a start at Akron on May 31

New Britain starter Adam Harben (3-7), who entered the contest with just two wins over his first eighteen starts, cruised to his third victory of the season after going seven strong innings and allowing just two runs on five hits

Brett Roneberg gave the Curve an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the top of the first inning, which scored Vic Buttler

Roneberg has now plated sixteen runs over his last thirteen contests

Brandon Chaves knocked in the other Curve tally with an RBI groundout in the top of the seventh

Among the Curve’s seven hits included a sixth-inning single by shortstop Brian Bixler, who extended his current team-high hitting streak to nine games

With their third straight loss, the Curve (65-50) are now 6-1/2 games ahead of third-place Reading in the race for the second and final playoff spot in the E.L. South
The R-Phils claimed a 1-0 victory over Harrisburg Friday night and have now trimmed 3-1/2 games off the Curve’s wild-card lead over the past four days

The two clubs will play the middle game of their three-game series Saturday night at New Britain Stadium as Curve right-hander Landon Jacobsen (12-7, 3.03) takes the mound against Rock Cats’ righty Nick Blackburn (5-7, 5.06)

First pitch is set for 7.05pm

Matt Moses homered and matched a career high with six RBIs, leading New Britain to a 9-2 triumph over visiting Altoona on Friday

Moses belted a three-run homer, his fourteenth, in the first inning and added a three-run double in the third
After collecting three hits and two RBIs in his previous thirty-one at-bats, he has six hits and nine RBIs in his last fifteen at-bats
The 21-year-old third baseman also drove in six runs for the Rock Cats on Aug. 12, 2005, at Harrisburg

Doug Deeds added two hits, an RBI and three runs scored, while Garrett Guzman drove in two runs for New Britain (51-64)

Rock Cats starter Adam Harben (3-7) yielded two runs on five hits and four walks while fanning six over seven innings
It was his first win in five starts since July 16

Curve starter Jason Roach (6-4) was touched for nine runs on ten hits and a walk with two strikeouts over 4-2/3 innings
He has lost three straight starts and is winless since July 24

Brett Roneberg doubled home Vic Buttler in the first to give Altoona (65-50) its only lead

The Rock Cats relied on a strong outing from starter Adam Harben and an offensive breakout from Matt Moses on its way to a 9-2 downing of Altoona before a sellout crowd of 7,218

Harben (3-7) fired seven impressive innings, allowing just two runs and five hits
He struck out six

Jay Sawatski added two scoreless innings in relief

Meanwhile, Moses (2-for-4) broke out for six RBI, including a three-run homer in the first inning

Doug Deeds added an RBI single in the third inning before Moses came to the plate with the bases loaded and laced a double into right field to clear the bases and give the Cats a 7-1 lead

Deeds finished 2-for-3 with a double and three runs

Garrrett Guzman (1-for-4) added a two-run single in the fifth

The Curve's Jason Roach (6-4) lasted just 4-2/3 innings and allowed nine earned runs on ten hits

Jason Roach is probably glad he won’t have to face Matt Moses and his New Britain teammates again this year

Moses drove in six of the Rock Cats’ nine unanswered runs against Roach as the Curve suffered a 9-2 beating at New Britain Stadium on Friday night

Roach tied Matt Peterson for the most runs allowed by an Altoona starter this season
Peterson surrendered nine runs in four-plus innings against Akron on May 31

The Curve handed Roach (6-4) a 1-0 lead before he threw his first pitch, but the Rock Cats tagged Roach for three runs of their own in the bottom of the first
Moses walked to the plate with two runners in scoring position and two out and blasted a shot over the right-field wall to give New Britain a 3-1 lead

The Rock Cats piled on four more runs in the third inning, with Moses leading the way yet again
Roach loaded the bases with two singles and a hit batsman to open the frame, before Doug Deeds roped a liner into center field to score a run
Moses then cleared the bases with a double to right, extending the New Britain lead to 7-1

The Rock Cats finally knocked Roach out of the game in the fifth inning
The right-hander allowed a leadoff walk and a two-out double to put runners on second and third
Garrett Guzman then singled home both runners to end Roach’s night

Roach finished with a line of nine earned runs allowed on ten hits and a walk in 4-2/3 innings
He struck out two and hit two

Altoona (Double-A, 65-50) lost, 9-2, at New Britain (Twins)

Designated hitter Brett Roneberg went 1-for-3 with the Curve's only extra-base hit - a double

Right-hander Jason Roach (6-4) gave up ten hits and nine runs in 4-2/3 innings

The season has been a bumpy ride for Matt Moses
Injuries, prolonged slumps and defensive problems have slowed the New Britain Rock Cats' third baseman's ascent toward The Promised Land

Through it all, accolades have continued to filter in from within the Twins organization and beyond
Everybody likes that smooth left-handed swing, but Altoona Curve veteran Jason Roach can do without it

Moses raked Roach for six RBIs in the first three innings Friday to set the tone for the Rock Cats' 9-2 win over Altoona before a fireworks night sellout of 7,218 at New Britain Stadium

With Altoona leading 1-0, Moses came up in the first inning with two out and two aboard and slammed his fourteenth homer of the season to give New Britain a 3-1 edge

"That's what he has to do" Rock Cats manager Riccardo Ingram said
"He attacks the fastball well and stays short with his swing
He's got quick hands, but the thing about Matt Moses is he's a young hitter
He gets out of sorts by chasing pitches out of the zone"

Roach (6-4), who pitched five innings and notched the win in the only no-hitter in stadium history (for Binghamton on June 27, 2001), teetered on the brink in the third when Moses jacked a two-base gap shot to right-center that cleared the sacks and produced a 7-1 lead

"When he hits strikes, the ball's going to jump off his bat" Ingram said
"He's just got to learn how to control the strike zone"

Rock Cats starter Adam Harben, nicked for a run in the first inning, settled down to turn in his third strong outing in a row

"That's the stuff we're looking for from Adam" Ingram said
"He has it in there but it's a matter of getting him to pitch deep in games"

In seven innings, Harben (3-7) yielded two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out six
Over his last three starts, the native of Little Rock, Ark., has allowed thirteen hits and struck out fourteen in nineteen innings while compiling a 2.36 ERA
Only the walks (10) continue to haunt him

"I was able to make adjustments" Harben said
"In the fifth I gave up a hit and walk and I threw my curveball for strikes
That seemed to get me back on track where I could locate my fastball"

The Rock Cats (51-64) added two more runs to Harben's cushion in the fifth when Garrett Guzman laced a two-out single with runners on second and third

New Britain scored five runs on two-out hits, an asset that was sorely missed through most of the season
They were hitting .217 with runners in scoring position and two out coming into the game

Jay Sawatski picked up Harben with two scoreless innings
The southpaw has allowed just one run in his last 14-2/3 innings over nine outings

Altoona (65-50) scored first when All-Star left fielder Vic Buttler walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and waltzed home on a double by Eastern League veteran Brett Roneberg

The Curve added a run in the seventh when David Parrish singled, took third on a single by Ray Sadler and scored on Brandon Chaves' grounder

Cats Tales
Saturday's pitching matchup - Altoona RHP Landon Jacobsen (12-7, 3.03) v New Britain RHP Nick Blackburn (5-7, 5.06)
The crowd was the third largest of the season, the sixth in excess of 7,000 and a franchise-record fifteenth sellout of the year
Harben's win was his first since July 16
Moses fell one short of the franchise RBI record of seven, which is held by three - Jeff Smith (2000), Steve Hacker (1999) and Jamie Ogden (1995)