The Result
Phillies - 8 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
2 wins and 4 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Leftfield
Batting - #5

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - two down
Ball and strikes - ???
"There's a roller slowly hit across to the Aeros' second-baseman and it's an easy play over to first base for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Ball - fast ball - low
Called strike
Ball - change up - up and out
Ball - fast ball - down and in
"That's a hot shot line drive but it's speared by the first-baseman for the second out of the inning"
Line out to first base - F3
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - one down
Foul ball - straight back over the net
"There's a line shot but it's straight at the second-baseman who makes the catch and flips to the shortstop covering second base to try to double up the runner but the umpire says he beat the throw back to the base"
Line out to second base - F4
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Called strike - catches the outside corner
Foul ball
Foul ball - back
Ball - fast ball - high
"That is a medium depth fly ball into leftfield and the fielder comes in and makes the catch for the second out of the innings"
Fly out to leftfield - F7

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

Heard during the game

(01) After Brett's second plate appearance, the commentator said - "That is how things are going for Brett at the moment ... last night he hit the ball well, including a shot that was almost his first home run for the year ... but he ended up going 0-for-4 in that game ... that shot tonight was another hard hit ball but again he was not able to get the result he wanted"

(02) Again, after Brett's third plate appearance, the commentator said - "Once more Brett hit the ball hard but it was straight at the fielder ... Brett is making good contact and every player will tell you that this type of slump will happen and the only thing you can do is to just keep hitting the ball and hoping that the hits start to fall in place ... it must be getting frustrating"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Juan Tejeda went 3-for-5 with two RBIs as visiting Reading cruised past Altoona, 8-2, on Saturday

Tejeda put the Phillies (5-3) in front for good with a two-run double in the first inning before scoring on Michael Costanzo's single

Greg Jacobs belted a two-run homer in the sixth as the Phillies opened a 7-0 cushion

Reading starter Heath Totten (1-1) allowed two runs on eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts over 6-1/3 innings

Altoona's Josh Shortslef (0-2) took the loss after surrendering five runs - four earned - on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts in five frames

Javier Guzman delivered a two-run double in the seventh for the Curve (2-3)

The R-Phils came flying out of the starting blocks on Saturday and never looked back, posting an 8-2 win over the Curve on another cold and soggy night at Blair County Ballpark

The game started ominously for Curve starter Josh Shortslef as Reading leadoff man Javon Moran reached base with an infield single
While keeping a close eye on the speedy Moran, Shortslef walked Joey Hammond
After Greg Jacobs flew out for the first out of the inning, the hero of game one of the series Juan Tejeda drove both runners in with a double into the left field corner to give the lead to the Phillies 2-0
A batter later, Mike Costanzo made it 3-0 with an RBI single that scored Tejeda

The Phillies got right back after Shortslef in the second inning
Jesus Merchan led off with a double to the alley in left field and was sacrificed to third by the pitcher Heath Totten
Javon Moran continued a red-hot series with a single to score Merchan
Moran then stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by David Parrish
Joey Hammond brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center field and suddenly the Curve found themselves in a 5-0 hole

Things got worse in the sixth
Chris Hernandez came on in relief of Shortslef and conceded a one-out single to Joey Hammond
With Hammond at first, Greg Jacobs clubbed a two-run home run over the wall in right field for a 7-0 Reading lead

Meanwhile, Phillies' starter and eventual winner Heath Totten (1-1) was cruising
Totten kept the Curve scoreless through six innings before Altoona finally got on the board with a two-run double by Javier Guzman that scored Alex Fernandez and Brandon Chaves who had both singled

With the score 7-2, Reading went to the bullpen for Bubba Nelson
Nelson finished the seventh inning and Anderson Garcia took care of the rest, keeping the Curve at bay in the eighth and ninth innings

The R-Phils added an insurance run off of Matt Peterson in the ninth for the final score of 8-2

Josh Shortslef (0-2) endured his second loss of the season after allowing five runs on eight hits over five innings of work
One of the runs charged to Shortslef's line was unearned

The Phillies will try to claim the series tomorrow when the two teams meet in the series finale at 3.05pm
It will be a duel of righties, as Tim McClaskey makes the start for Reading and Wardell Starling opposes him for Altoona

Heath Totten pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and seven Reading Phillies had multi-hit games in an 8-2 win over the Altoona Curve Saturday night at Blair County Ballpark

Totten (1-1) picked up his first win as a member of the Philadelphia organization
He allowed two runs in the seventh before being lifted

Bubba Nelson and Anderson Garcia combined to retire the last eight Curve hitters in order

Juan Tejeda led the offense with a single, double and triple
He scored a run and knocked in two

Javon Moran, Joey Hammond, Greg Jacobs, Mike Costanzo, Branden Florence and Jesus Merchan each had two hits
Moran extended his hitting streak to nine games and scored two runs
Jacobs slammed a two-run homer to right in the sixth inning, his first of the season

The Phillies (6-3) have won three of their last four

They pounded out a season-high 15 hits, five for extra bases

Reading led 5-0 after two innings

Altoona (2-4) was led by Javier Guzman
He had two hits and knocked in both runs

Starter Josh Shortslef (0-2) took the loss
He allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings

This one was over quickly
The Reading Phillies jumped on Curve starter Josh Shortslef for five runs in the first two innings and cruised to an 8-2 win over Altoona in Eastern League action before an announced crowd of 4,024 on a cold, dreary Saturday night at Blair County Ballpark

‘‘I didn’t notice the cold or the rain, did you?’’ Reading manager P.J. Forbes jokingly asked his coaches after watching the R-Phils improve their EL Southern Division record to 6-3

Reading starter Heath Totten and two relievers combined to space eight Altoona hits
Totten worked the first six and one-third innings to gain the win and even his record at 1-1

Bubba Nelson got the last two outs of the seventh and Anderson Garcia retired six straight Curve batters over the last two frames

‘‘I credit him (Totten) for going right after guys after we got him some early runs’’ Forbes said
‘‘That’s what you have to do
When you get a lead, you’ve got to challenge guys, and I thought he pitched great’’

‘‘Weather conditions have been rough for all of our games’’ Forbes noted ‘‘but our starting pitchers have done an outstanding job, and tonight was just another example of a guy going out there and battling through it’’

Meanwhile, Reading banged out 15 hits off of four Altoona pitchers, roughing up Shortslef for eight hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings

Juan Tejeda, who collected three hits, smacked a two-run double and scored on Mike Constanzo’s single in Reading’s three-run first inning
‘‘Tejeda had the big hit, and Constanzo tacking on that two-out run was demoralizing to Altoona’’ Forbes said
‘‘Anytime you can jump on a team early changes the whole ballgame
It shuts down what the other team can do offensively, and opens it up for us’’

Reading tacked on two more runs in the second on an RBI single by Javon Moran and sacrifice fly by Joey Hammond

Greg Jacobs socked a two-run homer over the right field fence in the sixth to make it 7-0

Altoona, which has lost two of three on its first homestand, fell to 2-4 overall

‘‘That was a bad game; we did not play very good’’ Curve manager Tim Leiper said
‘‘It started early, and it was a total team effort, and we know it
To a point, it’s understandable, but it’s time to start picking it up, and start playing the game well’’

The Curve fell behind 7-0 before Javier Guzman, following singles by Alex Fernandez and Brandon Chaves, delivered a two-run double with one out in the seventh inning

Leiper said he thought Shortslef had good stuff to start the game, but felt his pitcher became too worried about the base runner Moran following a game-opening infield hit
‘‘He altered his delivery, and that’s something that shouldn’t happen’’ Leiper said of Shortslef
‘‘It probably won’t happen again, but it’s something that happens early in the season
He fell out of rhythm and the results weren’t very good’’

The manager also said Curve batters need to become more consistent
‘‘We’re focusing more on individual stuff right now, which is OK, but we need to become more focused on team baseball’’ Leiper said
‘‘We saw a glimpse of that last night (Friday), and we’ve got to get back to more of that’’