The Result
Aeros - 5 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
75 won and 61 lost

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

At the end of the Game
0 hits from 4 at-bats

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - outside
Ball - outside
"There's a bouncing ball across the diamond and it's fielded by the second-baseman who throws on to first base for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Foul ball
Ball - inside
Ball
Ball - fast ball - 93mph
Foul ball - on the third base side
Foul ball - down the leftfield line
"Roneberg hits that in the air to centrefield and the fielder comes in a few steps and makes the catch for the first out of the innings"
Fly out to centrefield - F8
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - outside
"That ball is hit in the air into leftfield and the fielder gets across and makes the catch and the innings is over"
Fly out to leftfield - F7
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher - side-winder
Runner at second base - one down
Called strike
Ball - low
Ball - outside
"There's a chopping ball towards the Aeros' second-baseman who gathers the ball and throws on to first base for the out"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Runner advanced to third base

Heard during the Game

(#01) As Brett came in for his first at-bat, the commentator mentioned - "Brett comes in to tonight's game with a batting average of 0.308 which is third best in the Eastern League in that category ...... he is also third in the League in on-base-percentage with a mark of 0.382"

(#02) The commentator continued - "Brett will be sad to see August end!!! ...... what a month he has had!!! ...... over his last thirty-one games he is batting 41-from-104 for an average of 0.394"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Led by 2006 Eastern League Pitcher of the Year, Adam Miller, the Akron Aeros defeated the Altoona Curve, 5-2, on Thursday night at Blair County Ballpark

Miller held the Curve to just four hits in six innings and struck out seven to pick up his league-leading fifteenth win of the season

The Curve scored first, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an unearned run scored by Javier Guzman, but the lead lasted only half an inning
Guzman stole second base after a leadoff single, and went to third base when the catcher’s throw went into the outfield
Centerfielder Trevor Crowe tried to throw Guzman out at third, but his throw went into the Akron dugout and Guzman was awarded home plate

The Aeros would take the lead in their next at-bat, scoring three times on David Wallace’s sixth home run of the season
The home run came on Wallace’s first at-bat of the series and all six of his round trippers have come on the road in 2006

The Curve and Aeros would trade runs in the next two innings and Akron would tack on an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Pickney

Jason Roach started for the Curve and allowed five runs on nine hits over six innings to take the loss

Each team used three pitchers and Altoona got a great effort from left-hander Dave Davidson out of the bullpen
The 22-year old pitched two no-hit innings, striking out three

Jim Ed Warden came on in the ninth inning to salt the victory away, earning his eleventh save of the season

The victory by Akron tied the season series between the two clubs at twelve wins apiece

It is the last meeting between them before the first round of the Eastern League playoffs that begin next Wednesday at Canal Park

The Curve continue their homestand on Friday night, hosting the Bowie Baysox at 7.05pm for the first of four games at Blair County Ballpark
Josh Shortslef will start for the Curve against Radhames Liz for Bowie

Adam Miller tossed six strong innings to nab his Eastern League-leading fifteenth win as Akron defeated Altoona, 5-2, on Thursday at Blair County Ballpark

Miller (15-6) gave up two runs - one earned - on four hits and a walk while striking out seven
The 22-year-old right-hander, who passed Altoona's Landon Jacobsen for the EL wins lead, is second in the league with a 2.75 ERA and third with 157 strikeouts
After losing three straight decisions from May 14-25, Miller has won eleven of his last thirteen starts, including a 4-0 July that saw him post a 0.29 ERA and strike out thirty batters in 30-2/3 frames

Tony Sipp fanned four in two perfect innings before Jim Warden notched his eleventh save with a scoreless ninth

The Aeros (83-54) were trailing in the second, 1-0, when Brad Snyder led off with a single, Jared Sandberg walked and David Wallace drilled a one-out pitch from starter Jason Roach over the wall in left field for his sixth homer

Wallace also delivered an RBI groundout in the fourth

Juan Guzman scored the first run for the Curve (75-60) when he led off the first with a single, stole second, advanced on a throwing error by catcher Wallace and came home on another throwing error by center fielder Trevor Crowe

Brian Bixler, who went 2-for-4, added an RBI double in the third

Roach (6-7) allowed five runs on nine hits and four walks over six innings

Even after splitting twenty-four regular season games, Curve manager Tim Leiper and Akron skipper Tim Bogar aren’t ready to tip their hands on pitching rotations for next week’s Eastern League Southern Division playoffs

The best-of-five series gets under way next Wednesday and Thursday nights in Akron
The clubs will come to Altoona for Game Three next Friday and Game Four, if necessary, would be played at Blair County Ballpark on Saturday
If the series goes the distance, the fifth game would go back to Ohio on Sunday

But, each team has one series remaining before the post-season - the Curve host Bowie and the Aeros visit Erie - and both managers say they’ll decide on their starting rotations over the weekend

Akron clinched the Southern Division crown with a win Tuesday night at BCB, and the Curve nailed down their fourth straight trip to the playoffs with a victory on Wednesday

They wrapped up their regular-season series Thursday with the Aeros scoring a 5-2 win before a crowd of 4,096 at BCB

‘‘We’re not there yet’’ Leiper responded, with a grin, when asked about his playoff rotation

Lefty Josh Shortslef (6-1) is slated to go against Bowie Friday, and fourteen game winner Landon Jacobsen is supposed to get the call Saturday

‘‘The expected rain could mess things up, so we’ll rearrange after that’’ Leiper said
‘‘We could be victims of the weather, so we’ll have to see how things play out’’

If Shortslef and Jacobsen go 1-2 (or would it be 2-1?) would Wardell Starling be next?
Or Mike Connolly or Jason Roach?

‘‘All five’’ Leiper said when asked who else might pitch
‘‘We’re going to know in plenty enough time, so it’s not really a game
They have an idea of what’s going on, and we have an idea
But, we want to keep all of our possibilities open because the weather could change things
There are a lot of variables involved’’

Eastern League pitcher of the year Adam Miller, who notched his fifteenth win Thursday night, would appear to be the logical choice for Akron in the opener, but Bogar refused to anoint his 21-year-old ace as the Game One starter

‘‘He’s a quality pitcher’’ Bogar said of Miller, who gave up only four hits and one earned run while striking out seven (no walks) in six innings last night
‘‘We’ll decide what’s best for the team when we’re going to throw him
We’re going to talk about it (rotation) in Erie’’ Bogar said

Altoona scored in the first inning when Javier Guzman singled, stole second and came around on a couple of throwing errors

Dave Wallace smacked a three-run homer in the second off of Roach to give the Aeros a 3-1 advantage, and that was pretty much the game

Bogar said he expects a good playoff series with the Curve
‘‘We match up pretty well’’ he said
‘‘When you play that many games (24) and you split, you’re evenly matched
They know us well, and we know them well’’ he noted

While Leiper would not give away any pitching secrets, the Altoona manager said catcher Dave Parrish (.292 in 72 games) probably won’t be ready for the playoffs
Parrish is on the disabled list with an injury to his right wrist
‘‘I think Parrish is a definite no’’ Leiper said
‘‘He’s not in great shape
We’re kind of holding out hope, but we’ll have to see how it goes’’

A right hamstring injury has speedy outfielder Nyjer Morgan (.306, 21 steals, 56 games) on the DL, too, but there’s a chance he could come back for the post-season
‘‘We’re going to test Morgan out Sunday or Monday to see where he’s at’’ Leiper said
‘‘He hasn’t run or done anything
Until he actually goes out and runs, we don’t know’’

Leiper said he plans to rest some of his regulars in the final series with Bowie
‘‘We’re going to play hard like we did tonight - the effort was great - but we’ve got to make sure everyone is rested and in the best possible shape going into next Wednesday’’ he said

Around the Curve
Outfielder Rafael Alvarez was reinstated to the Curve’s twenty-four man roster and pitcher Nerio Rodriguez was placed on the disabled list
Leiper said Neil Walker will be in the lineup this weekend
‘‘He needs to play - he needs to get his swings’’ Leiper said of the Pirates’ No. 1 pick in 2004