Doumit Rehabbing Hamstring Injury with Curve

Pittsburgh Pirates’ catcher Ryan Doumit has joined the Curve on a major league injury rehab assignment and is expected to be in the lineup for nightcap of Sunday's make-shift 5.05pm doubleheader against the Harrisburg Senators at Blair County Ballpark

The 25-year old Doumit was placed on the Pirates’ fifteen day Disabled List on June 5th with a torn left hamstring

Earlier this week, the switch-hitter took the field for the first time since sustaining the injury and appeared in five games for the rookie-level Bradenton Pirates, going hitless in fourteen at-bats

In twenty-six games with the Pirates earlier this season, Doumit hit .214 (12-for-56) with two home runs and seven RBI

The length of Doumit's rehab assignment with the Curve is still unclear, though Pirates' General Manager Dave Littlefield indicated on his weekly Sunday radio show that the club will re-evaluate his status "within the next week or so"

A second round selection of the Pirates out of Moses Lake (WA) High School in 1999, Doumit first joined the Altoona Curve for an emergency call-up during the 2001 season before spending an injury-plagued 2004 campaign with the Curve
That season, he appeared in sixty-seven games with Altoona, hitting .262 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI
Doumit was limited to just twenty-five games behind the plate due to an early-season bout with mononucleosis and right elbow soreness

Doumit is the fourth injured Pirates' player to join the Curve for a rehab assignment this season
Sean Casey, Kip Wells and John Van Benschoten spent time with Altoona while rehabbing injuries

Interestingly, the Pirates did not send a single injured major league player to Altoona in the previous three seasons (2003-05)

Roneberg Recovering

All-Star outfielder Brett Roneberg, who has been out of action since last Saturday's game at New Britain with a sprained left ankle, underwent an MRI on Saturday and the results were negative

Roneberg participated in batting practice prior to Saturday's game against Harrisburg, his first on-field action since suffering the injury while taking a swing

"The big word he was looking for was if he went out on the field and did anything on it would he hurt it worse - the answer is no" said Curve manager Tim Leiper

Leiper anticipates having Roneberg available within the next few days, but the addition of Ryan Doumit prevents the need to rush the 27-year old Aussie back into the lineup
"He's got the luxury of a couple extra days with Doumit being here" said Leiper
"We have a good left-handed bat in the lineup with Doumit being a switch-hitter so that actually gives Roneberg a few extra days to heal"

The Young Guns

Pirates' top prospects Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker have wasted little time showing off their abilities since both were added to the Curve roster on Tuesday

The 19-year old McCutchen, who is the youngest player in Curve history at 19 years and 10 months old, went 5-for-14 with a home run and five RBI's in his first three games after being promoted from low Class-A Hickory
In his home debut on Friday night, the Pirates' 2005 first round selection went 3-for-6, including his first Double-A homer

Walker, 20, has hit two home runs in his first three games after connecting for just three longballs in 72 games at Class-A Lynchburg
The switch-hitting catcher, who was the eleventh overall selection in the 2004 June draft out of Pine-Richland High School in suburban Pittsburgh, hit the second of his homers in his first at-bat at Blair County Ballpark on Saturday night against Harrisburg

Oh, Oh, it's Magic!!

Entering Sunday's action, the Curve's magic number to clinch their fourth consecutive Eastern League playoff berth was thirteen
Any combination of Altoona wins and losses by third-place Reading equaling thirteen will guarantee the Curve spot in the post-season

The Result
Game #01 - Curve - 8 runs to 5
Game #02 - Senators - 7 runs to 4

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

Brett's Position and the Batting Order

Did Not Start
----------Recovering from injury
----------Refer to game on Saturday 12th August - click here
Playing
Batting - #

At the end of the Game
Pinch Hit in Game One
0 hit from 1 at-bats

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh innings - Game One - notes from the play-by-play report
----------Offensive Substitution - Pinch hitter Brett Roneberg replaces pitcher Blaine Neal
----------Brett Roneberg flies out to center fielder Frank Diaz
----------Nyjer Morgan singles on a ground ball to left fielder Kory Casto
----------With Brian Bixler batting, Nyjer Morgan caught stealing second base
--------------------Catcher Russ Cleveland to second baseman Melvin Dorta
----------Brian Bixler strikes out swinging

Heard during the Game

Email from Brett

The ankle does hurt a little bit just walking around
But I am writing now to say that today I ran, threw and hit!!
The first two I did without any discomfort at all and I did twenty soft toss swings with a little pain
I am going to try and take 'BP' tomorrow depending on how I pull up

Game Reports

Neil Walker homered in his very first Blair County Ballpark at-bat on Saturday as part of an wild first four innings that saw eight runs and five errors between Harrisburg and Altoona

The game was suspended in the top of the fifth inning due to heavy rain with the Senators leading 5-3

The game will be made up as part of a make-shift doubleheader on Sunday at 5.05pm
Saturday night’s suspended game will be completed as a nine-inning game in the first half of the double-dip, with Harrisburg batting in the top of the fifth
The second game will be a seven-inning contest following the conclusion of Game One

Ballpark gates open at 3.20pm for season ticket holders and at 3.30pm for all fans
The Curve players will be available for a pre-game autograph session 3.30pm - 3.55pm on the main concourse prior to Sunday's doubleheader

Walker’s home run led off the second inning with the Curve already behind 3-0, and was his second homer in three games with Altoona

Mike Connolly started for the Curve and allowed five runs - two earned - on six hits and two walks while striking out two

Before the game was postponed, Nyjer Morgan extended his team-high hitting streak to six games and Simon Pond knocked in his seventy-fifth run of the year to tie him with Kory Casto for the league lead

Harrisburg starter Beltran Perez surrendered three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and had an RBI-single in the fourth inning to help his own cause

Rain and lightning suspended last night's Eastern League game between the Harrisburg Senators and Altoona Curve in the fifth inning

With the Senators leading 5-3 and nobody out in the top of the fifth, lightning forced both teams off the field at 8.17pm
Shortly after 9.00pm it was announced the game will be continued at 5.05pm today at Blair County Ballpark

Today's regularly scheduled game will be shortened to seven innings with the first pitch scheduled for thirty minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game

The Senators (57-67), trying to snap a nine-game losing streak, scored three times in the first inning on an RBI single by Frank Diaz, an error by the shortstop and a sacrifice fly by Rich Lane

Neil Walker homered for Altoona in the second, but Cristian Guerrero tripled and scored on an error in the top of the third as Harrisburg built a 4-1 lead

After three errors in the third led to two unearned runs for the Curve, Senators pitcher Beltran Perez smacked an RBI single in the top of the fourth for a 5-3 lead

Perez allowed four hits and a walk in four innings

Altoona lefty Mike Connolly, who had just plunked Kory Casto to begin the fifth, allowed five runs - two earned - in his four innings

A day of rest did wonders for the Curve

Trailing Harrisburg 5-3 when Saturday night’s game was suspended because of rain in the fifth inning, Altoona belted four homeruns when action resumed on Sunday to hand the Senators their tenth straight loss, 8-5

Ray Sadler hit two of the Curve’s five home runs in the game

Brandon Knight pitched the ninth inning to nail down his league-leading twenty-third save of the year
The save also set a new franchise record for most saves in a single-season and made Knight the all-time saves leader for the Altoona Curve in just one season with the club

The Curve started their offensive resurgence when Andrew McCutchen laced his second two-run home run of the series in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game 5-5
McCutchen is now 7-for-16 with seven RBI in four games with the Curve

Altoona took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth frame with Sadler’s solo home run to left field, his twelfth of the season and first of two in the game

The Curve would add two more runs on two other solo homers, one by Sadler and one by Simon Pond

The Curve sent Blaine Neal to the mound to start the sixth inning and the right-hander responded with two no-hit innings, allowing just one walk to earn his second victory of the season

Dan Kolb took the loss for the Senators
The right-hander started Sunday's action and allowed three runs on three hits in three innings pitched

Mike Connolly started for the Curve and allowed five runs - two earned - on six hits and two walks while striking out two

Harrisburg starter Beltran Perez surrendered three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and had an RBI-single in the fourth inning to help his own cause

Pittsburgh’s top prospect, Neil Walker, homered in his very first Blair County Ballpark at-bat, his second since joining the Curve on Tuesday

Nyjer Morgan extended his team-high hitting streak to six games and Pond leap-frogged Korty Casto for the league-lead in RBI with his 75th and 76th

The two teams will play a seven-inning contest to complete the make-shift doubleheader
Wardell Starling will start for Altoona against Matt Chico for Harrisburg

The Altoona Curve split its make-shift doubleheader against the Harrisburg Senators on Sunday, winning the first contest 8-5 before falling in the nightcap 7-4

The two teams resumed their game from Saturday night that was suspended because of rain before playing a seven-inning contest to conclude their series

Ray Sadler had three home runs between the two games, coming on three consecutive at-bats

Over 8,000 fans packed the park for Sunday’s game, bringing the total attendance for the weekend series to 24,513, the largest attendance for a three-game series in franchise history

After producing just six home runs in its last twenty-five games, the Altoona Curve hit a combined eight home runs in the final two games of its three-game set with Harrisburg, including seven in Sunday’s modified twinbill

Trailing Harrisburg 5-3 when Saturday night’s game was suspended because of rain in the fifth inning, Altoona belted four homers when action resumed on Sunday to hand the Senators their tenth straight loss, 8-5 in the first game of the doubleheader

Andrew McCutchen laced his second two-run home run of the series in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game 5-5, and Sadler put the Curve in front for good with a solo shot in the sixth inning

Curve pitcher Blaine Neal earned his second victory of the season, pitching two hitless innings of relief

Brandon Knight pitched the ninth inning to nail down his league-leading twenty-third save of the year
The save also set a new franchise record for most saves in a single-season and made Knight the all-time saves leader for the Altoona Curve in just one season with the club

Dan Kolb took the loss for the Senators
The right-hander started Sunday's action and allowed three runs on three hits in three innings pitched

In the second game, Curve starter Wardell Starling surrendered five unearned runs to the Senators in the second inning, which proved to be all the scoring Harrisburg would need to avoid the sweep

Starling pitched five innings and allowed six runs - one earned - on six hits and struck out three

Sadler got the Curve on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second with a solo home run in his first at-bat of the game
The homer was his third in as many at-bats, as he also hit round-trippers in his final two plate appearances of the first game

Senators’ starter Matt Chico earned his first win in a Harrisburg uniform, scattering seven hits over six innings and allowing three solo home runs to go with his eight strikeouts

Pirates' catcher, Ryan Doumit, began a major league rehab assignment with the Curve, starting behind the plate and finishing the game 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch in the second game

Curve fans got a good first look at Pittsburgh’s top prospect, Neil Walker when the 20-year old homered in his very first Blair County Ballpark at-bat in Saturday’s game

The Curve welcome in the Bowie Baysox on Monday at 7.05pm for the first of four games in three days
Nerio Rodriguez will start for Altoona against Bowie’s James Johnson

Ray Sadler hit two of Altoona's five homers as the Curve defeated visiting Harrisburg, 8-5, on Sunday in the completion of a suspended game

Sadler went deep in the sixth to snap a 5-5 tie and added a solo blast in the eighth, following Simon Pond's homer earlier in the frame

Neil Walker had the first homer, a solo shot in the second and Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run dinger in the fifth

Only four of nine hits stayed in the ballpark for the Curve (70-53)

Altoona starter Michael Connolly allowed five runs - two earned - on six hits in four innings

Blaine Neal (2-0) picked up the win, tossing two scoreless innings after the game resumed, and Brandon Knight struck out the side in the ninth to notch his twenty-third save

Frank Diaz slapped an RBI single in the Senators' three-run first

Starting pitcher Beltran Perez's run-scoring single in the fourth gave the Senators a 5-3 lead before the game was suspended in the top of the fifth

Cristian Guerrero went 2-for-5 with a run scored for the Senators (57-68), who have lost ten in a row

Reliever Dan Kolb (4-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits over three innings

Perez yielded three runs - one earned - on four hits and a walk in four innings

Melvin Dorta homered and drove in four runs as visiting Harrisburg snapped a ten game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over Altoona on Sunday

Starter Matt Chico (1-0) delivered an RBI single in the second before Dorta belted a three-run shot as the Senators (58-68) opened an early 5-0 lead

Frank Diaz homered in the third and Dorta added a run-scoring single in the sixth as Harrisburg won for the first time since a 4-3 victory over Portland on Aug. 8

Chico allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in six innings, helping the Senators bounce back from an 8-5 loss earlier Sunday in the completion of a suspended game

Ray Sadler, Brandon Chaves and Taber Lee homered for the Curve (70-54)
Sadler hit two homers in the opener

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit went 0-for-3 for Altoona, leaving him in an 0-for-17 slide during his rehab assignment
He went hitless in five games with the Gulf Coast League Pirates
The 25-year-old backstop has been on the Major League fifteen day disabled list since June 5 with a torn left hamstring

Altoona starter Wardell Starling (4-4) surrendered six runs - one earned - on six hits and two walks in five innings

The Senators split two with Altoona on Sunday in Altoona, losing game one 8-5 and winning game two 7-4

Game One of the make shift doubleheader was the completion of the game suspended by rain on Saturday night with the Senators up 5-3

On Sunday, the Senators were shut out in their final five at bats while Altoona hit four home runs, scoring five runs to win the ballgame 8-5 sending the Senators to their tenth straight loss

The Senators led in the game 3-0 after the first inning in the game

Beltran Perez started the game on Saturday night and was solid in the first four innings, allowing just a single earned run

In the second game of the doubleheader Matt Chico started and pitched six strong innings en route to the Senators 7-4 win
Chico picked up his first win as a Senator and is now 1-0 in three starts
He also had a big run scoring single in the five run second inning for the Senators

The highlight of the big inning was a three-run home run off the bat of Melvin Dorta

The five runs the Sens scored made it their biggest inning since scoring eight runs in the fourth inning back on June 18th at Erie

Frank Diaz added a home run in the third inning and Zechry Zinicola pitched the final inning in relief, allowing a run, but getting the important final three outs to finish off the Senators first win since they started their last road trip in Portland

Blair County Ballpark looked like Colorado’s Coors Field on Sunday, with balls rocketing out all evening

The Curve hit seven home runs in twelve innings, three by Ray Sadler, as they finished off Saturday night’s rain-suspended game and played Sunday’s regularly scheduled contest

“That’s about a month’s worth of home runs for us right there” Altoona manager Tim Leiper said
He wasn’t kidding
The Curve had hit only six homers in their previous twenty-five games before crunching the seven in one day

The power display helped Altoona rally for an 8-5 win in the suspended game, but the home team wasted three homers in the second contest and lost, 7-4

The victory in the nightcap snapped Harrisburg’s ten game losing streak

The Saturday game drew 7,375 fans, Sunday’s 8,121
Combine those with Friday’s season-high crowd of 9,017, and it gave the franchise a three-game attendance record of 24,513

Big Curve boppers from years past like Adam Hyzdu, Josh Bonifay and Jose Bautista never played at BCB on a day like Sunday
The flag in center field showed the wind blowing straight out, giving every flyball a little boost

None of the Curve’s home runs were cheapies, though, particularly the ones by Sadler

“It makes me feel good, man” he said of his three homers

Andrew McCutchen’s two-run blast in the fifth inning tied the suspended game at 5-5

Sadler then put the Curve ahead to stay with a solo shot in the sixth

Simon Pond launched one for an insurance run with one out in the eighth, and Sadler came up two batters later and drilled his second of the game

Neil Walker homered in the second inning on Saturday, so for the first time ever the Curve hit five home runs in a game at BCB
The club had done that one other time on the road, at Portland on July 12, 2004

“We put good at-bats together, and we hit ‘em and there wasn’t a cheap one in the bunch” Leiper said

The Curve had gone eleven straight games without homering until Walker hit one Tuesday at Connecticut
The team hit a lot of home runs earlier in the season, but recently it has maintained a high level of play without the long ball

“I think the record shows it” Leiper said
“You look at the best teams in baseball, and it’s not always the team that leads the league in home runs
The big thing is you get guys on, you move guys over, you get guys in from third base
The home run is a bonus”

The three Sunday were a big bonus for Sadler, who now leads the team with fourteen
He has shown signs of coming out of a lengthy funk the past week, raising his average from .212 to .238
“It’s been a struggle all year” Sadler said
“To me, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything different lately, but apparently the results are coming”

That’s good news for the Curve, who will need Sadler to be a weapon in the playoffs
“It’s huge just for him as a guy and for his confidence” Leiper said of Sadler’s resurgence
“We need him
He’s a guy that can break open a game for you at any given moment”

Lost in all the home runs was Brandon Knight setting a franchise record with his twenty-third save
He gave up a leadoff double in the ninth inning before striking out the next three batters to move past Justin Kaye’s previous mark of twenty-two, set last season

Blaine Neal (2-0) won in relief for Altoona, while Dan Kolb (4-2) lost for Harrisburg

The Senators, who struggled mightily scoring runs during their losing streak, put up five runs in the second inning off Wardell Starling to take control of the second game

Melvin Dorta’s three-run homer capped the big inning and made it 5-0

Starling cost himself earlier in the frame when he failed to catch a flip from Pond covering first base
The error made all five runs unearned, but Starling (4-4) said it didn’t hurt him mentally in the inning
“I totally forgot about that” he said
“I know you’ve got to just totally bounce back when things like that happen
I just left some pitches up and didn’t really mix up my fastball in there well enough”

Sadler hit his third homer of the day in the second inning, and Brandon Chaves made it back-to-back blasts with a shot to left

Chaves also had a huge day defensively, snaring numerous tough chances at third base
“He’s played a good shortstop when he’s gone over there, he’s played left field, he’s gotten big hit after big hit” Leiper said of Chaves
“He’s one of the reasons why we’ve had so much success”

Frank Diaz homered for Harrisburg in the third

Taber Lee hit Altoona’s seventh and final long ball in the fifth off Senators starter Matt Chico (1-0), who went six innings for the win

Around the Curve
LHP Josh Shortslef, on the disabled list since May 29 with a forearm strain, has rejoined the team and may pitch in Tuesday night’s doubleheader
Shortslef was 5-1 with a 4.69 ERA prior to the injury and went 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three rehab starts for the rookie GCL Pirates
OF Brett Roneberg pinch hit in the first game, his first appearance in eight days as he’s battling an injured left ankle
Roneberg flew out to center
Pond left the second game with a slight back injury after an earlier collision at first base

Finally, mercifully, the Harrisburg Senators' losing streak is over

Last night's 7-4 triumph over the Altoona Curve at Blair County Ballpark halted Harrisburg's season-long skid at ten games
The tenth loss came earlier in the day when the Curve (70-54) rallied past the Senators (58-68) for an 8-5 win in a rain-suspended game from Saturday night

Harrisburg's nightcap win, which featured a five-run explosion in the second inning, quality pitching from left-hander Matt Chico, and home runs from Melvin Dorta and Frank Diaz, also snapped the team's road losing streak at seven games

The second inning featured a two-out RBI single by Chico (1-0) and a three-run bomb by Dorta off Curve starter Wardell Starling (4-4)

Diaz went yard in the third to give the Sens a 6-2 lead, while Dorta added an RBI single in the sixth

Chico struck out eight in six innings
He scattered eight hits, but three of those were solo home runs

Altoona's love of the long ball also paved the way for the comeback in the opener
Harrisburg led 5-3 in the fifth inning when rain and lightning suspended Saturday night's game

When play resumed yesterday, the Curve used a two-run homer by Andrew McCutchen to tie in the fifth and a sixth-inning solo homer by Ray Sadler to take the lead

Both blasts were surrendered by reliever Dan Kolb (4-2)

Simon Pond and Sadler continued the home run parade with solo shots in the eighth

Former major leaguer Blaine Neal (2-0) worked two scoreless innings of relief for the win, with Brandon Knight picking up his twenty-third save

Notes
Sadler homered in three straight at-bats over the end of the first game and beginning of the second - all three were solo shots
Washington Nationals catcher Robert Fick, who's already played twelve games with the Senators, will rejoin the team today on another rehab assignment - he was placed on the disabled list Aug. 1 with left rib cartilage separation
Senators catcher Salomon Manriquez was recalled from the disabled list yesterday, taking the roster spot of RHP Justin Echols (back), who was placed on the DL
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit (hamstring) joined the Curve for a rehab stint yesterday and started the second game - he was 0-for-3
Dorta homered for the first time since June 18
Diaz homered for the first time since July 23