The Result
Game #01 - Baysox - 7 runs to 2
Game #02 - Curve - 7 runs to 6

The Curve - Year-to-Date
71 won and 56 lost

The Ankle Injury

(Sunday 20th August 2006)----------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"

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
GAME ONE
Playing - Designated hitter
Batting - #5

GAME TWO
Did Not Play

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - single, 1 x walk, 1 x strike out

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Called strike
Ball - outside
Ball - outside
"That ball is hit down the line past first base" --- see below in the "Heard during the Game" section for more details on this hit
Single to rightfield
The runner at first base advanced to third base
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball
Ball - outside
Ball - high and wide
Ball
Walk
Advanced to second base on a 'dropped-third-strike-error-wild-pitch'
Advanced to third base on a walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - outside
"Brett rolls that ball across the diamond and it's fielded by the second-baseman who throws to first base for the first out of the innings"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball
Called strike - "Roneberg checked his swing but the umpire had called it"
Foul ball - down the first base side
"Here comes the '1ball-2strike' pitch ...... and Brett swings and misses ...... and the bat comes flying out of his hands!!! ...... and Roneberg strikes out for the final out of this first game of the double header"
Strike out

Heard during the Game

(#01) As Brett came in for his first at-bat, the commentator said - "And now stepping into the box is Brett Roneberg ...... it is good to see him back in the starting lineup for the first time in nine days"

(#02) After Brett's hit in that at-bat, the commentator continued - "That ball was hit inside the first base bag and into foul territory down the rightfield line ...... you could see that Brett is still favouring that left ankle as he ran to first base ...... normally you would expect Brett to turn at first base and be heading to second base on that type of hit ...... but Tim Leiper has told him to take it easy and not to injure it again as the Curve head to the Playoffs in a couple of weeks ...... Brett had a very similar hit in last night's game, and he did the same thing and stopped at first base"

Email from Brett

I am not sure what the commentator says on the radio but I am a little sore still while I am playing
Running is really hard but hopefully there will be no close plays!!
I am getting by okay
It's sort of getting better but because I am playing not really
But that is how it goes!!
One more hit to go!!

Game Reports

Ray Sadler made sure that the Curve’s third straight early-inning lead wouldn’t go to waste, scoring Brandon Chaves for the game-winning run in the final inning to earn a doubleheader split with the Bowie Baysox, 7-6

The victory, coupled with a loss by Reading, shrunk the Curve’s magic number to eight to clinch a playoff spot

Altoona jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but watched the Baysox come back to tie the game with back-to-back three-run innings in the sixth and seventh

All three runs in the seventh for Bowie were unearned when Brandon Knight made a throwing error with two outs and then allowed a single and two-run homer that tied the game

Chaves walked in the bottom of the seventh and moved into scoring position on Javier Guzman’s groundout to first
Sadler, who entered the game in the sixth inning for Taber Lee ripped a 1-2 pitch to right field to score the game-winner

The late-inning rally by Bowie spoiled a great return to Altoona for Josh Shortslef who made his first start for Altoona since May 27
The left-hander was activated early Tuesday after a rehab stint in Bradenton and earned a no-decision after throwing 5-2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts

Jorge Vasquez earned the victory, striking out Raul Chavez in the seventh, the only batter he faced all night

Nick McCurdy got the loss to fall to 1-2 after allowing Chaves’ run in the seventh, the only run he gave up in 1-1/3 innings

One night after banging out nineteen hits in a four-run victory, the Bowie Baysox pounded out ten hits in taking Game One of a doubleheader against the Curve, 7-2

It was the second game in a row that the Curve took a early lead only to see the Baysox storm back to earn the victory

Altoona plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the first frame to go up 1-0, but Bowie scored seven times in their next five at-bats to take a commanding lead

Andrew McCutchen paced the Curve offense with two doubles and two runs scored
The 19-year old prospect now has twelve hits in his first eight games with Altoona

McCutchen’s first run came in the first inning after a Ryan Doumit two-out RBI single

The Baysox would answer with two runs in the second and another in both the third and fourth frames

Cory Keylor started off the second frame with a single and scored on a Ryan Hubele double
Hubele would come around to give the Baysox the lead when Duran singled to right field

Jason Roach started for the Curve and allowed four runs on eight hits in four innings to lose his sixth decision of the season
The right-hander got into trouble with three consecutive walks in the third inning before allowing an RBI double to Dustin Yount to make the score 4-2

Any hopes the Curve had of a late-inning comeback were dashed when Carlos Duran smashed his first home run as a member of the Baysox to right field to score three runs and put Bowie ahead by five runs

Anderson Garcia pitched three one-hit innings in relief of starter Radhames Liz to earn the victory

The Curve and Baysox will wrap up their four-game series on Wednesday night at Blair County Ballpark at 7.05pm
Landon Jacobsen starts for Altoona against Garrett Olson for Bowie

Carlos Duran homered and drove in a season-high five runs as visiting Bowie beat Altoona, 7-2, in the opener of Tuesday's doubleheader

Duran gave the Baysox (61-66) the lead in the second inning wwith a single to right, scoring Ryan Hubele
The 23-year-old left fielder added another RBI single in the fourth before smacking a three-run homer in the sixth

Hubele and Dustin Yount had RBI doubles in the second and third, respectively

Reliever Anderson Garcia (3-2) pitched three scoreless innings to pick up the win, giving up a hit with two strikeouts

Andrew McCutchen went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and scored both Altoona runs
McCutchen, Pittsburgh's first-round pick in last year's draft, is hitting .393 for the Curve (70-56) with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs
He has hit safely in six of his first seven games since his August 15 call-up

Altoona starter Jason Roach (6-6) surrendered four runs on eight hits and four walks in four innings

Ray Sadler's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Altoona to a 7-6 victory over Bowie on Tuesday as the teams split a doubleheader

Brandon Chaves drew a one-out walk and moved to second on Javier Guzman's groundout
Sadler followed with a line drive into right field as the Curve (71-56) rebounded from a 7-2 loss in the opener

Javier Guzman smacked a two-run single during a four-run third inning and Nyjer Morgan went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for Altoona

Jorge Vasquez (3-3) picked up the win in relief after striking out the only batter he faced in the seventh

The Baysox (61-67) rallied for six runs over the final two frames, capped by Jeff Fiorentino's two-run homer in the seventh
Fiorentino went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, extending his hitting streak to ten games

Nick McCurdy (1-2) took the loss after surrendering a run on two hits and a walk in 1-1/3 frames

Ray Sadler said he was just looking to get wood on the ball as he faced a 1-2 count and two outs with Brandon Chaves on second base in the bottom of the seventh of a tied game

“I wasn’t trying to do anything special” said Sadler, a late-game replacement for Taber Lee
“Hopefully, it was going through”

It turned out to be very good for the Curve as Sadler slapped a Nick McCurdy offering into right to plate Chaves and give Altoona a 7-6 win and salvage a doubleheader split at Blair County Ballpark

The Baysox won the first game, 7-2

With the win and a Reading loss, the Curve’s magic number to clinch an Eastern League South wildcard spot is now eight

“What I really like after last night and the first game today, they were a couple difficult losses” Curve manager Tim Leiper said
“But just look at the way we came back in the nightcap
No matter how bad it gets for us, we’re going to keep battling and somehow find a way to get it done
One thing you wanted to see was Sadler protect the outside part of the plate on the stuff breaking away from him
He hit three home runs the other day in a doubleheader, but I’ll tell you what, that was a great hit
That’s such a pleasure to see
I like him so much
He’s battled a hand injury and he plays the game the right way”

Nyjer Morgan got the Curve (71-56) going in the third inning of the second game with a bunt single
Andrew McCutchen reached on a one-out infield hit off of Eric DuBose
Ryan Doumit then smacked one off the third base bag to chase Morgan home
After Dave Parrish walked to load the bases and Simond Pond struck out, Brandon Chaves walked to force home McCutchen
Javier Guzman made it 4-0 when he stroked a single to left to plate Doumit and Parrish

Josh Shortslef, in his first outing since returning from a rehab stint in Bradenton, kept the Baysox hitless through the first three innings until Leo Daigle’s one-out single in the fourth
But he was erased on a 4-6-3 double play

Shortslef took a one-hitter into the sixth, but Gera Alvarez led off with a double to right
Shortslef left after Jeff Fiorentino’s two-out run-scoring single to center

“What a big boost for us” Leiper said
“He threw the ball really well today”

Curve reliever Dave Davidson faced three batters, but he gave up a walk and two hits, including Raul Chavez’s two-run double to left to make the score 4-3
Brandon Knight came in and struck out Dustin Yount for the third out

The Curve responded in the bottom of the frame with two runs
After DuBose intentionally walked Sadler, Morgan chased Chaves home with a double down the right field line
Brian Bixler followed by singling to right to plate Sadler

Knight got the first two outs of the seventh, but his throwing error on a Carlos Duran grounder opened the floodgates
Pete Shier followed with an RBI single, and Fiorentino tied the game with a two-run homer just inside the right field foul pole

“That’s baseball” Sadler said
“Sometimes that stuff is going to happen
We battled and came out on top”

In the opener, neither starting pitcher was at the top of his game
Curve starter Jason Roach (6-6) gave up eight hits, four walks and four runs in four innings
Bowie’s Radhames Liz yielded five hits, four walks and two runs while striking out four and throwing ninety-one pitches in four innings

Duran was a one-man wrecking crew for the Baysox, going 3-for-4 with five runs batted in, including the knockout punch in the sixth inning - a three-run home run over the right field fence

“They hit the pitches that we made mistakes on” Leiper said
“We left some balls over the plate, and they made us pay”

The Curve scored first when McCutchen pounded the first of his two doubles and Doumit singled to center

But the Baysox took the lead for good with a two-run second, getting RBI singles by Ryan Hubele and Duran

They scored another run in the third on a Yount double

Bowie could have scored more early had it not been as aggressive as it was on the bases
Daigle drew a one-out walk with the bases empty and Doumit threw him out trying to steal
Roach walked the next two hitters before Hubele was gunned down at home trying to score from first on Yount’s double

Sadler drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to plate McCutchen, but the Curve left the bases loaded en route to stranding eight in the first four innings

Bowie reliever Anderson Garcia gave up only one hit in three scoreless innings to earn the win

Notes
Neil Walker, the Pirates’ top prospect, missed both games because he was sick
Morgan’s eight-game hitting streak came to and end in the first game
The Curve have blown leads in three straight games