The Result
Curve - 4 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
5 wins and 5 losses

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

----------Moved to first base on a 'double-switch' at the start of the top of the eighth innings

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
Foul ball - skied on the lefthand side
Called strike
Ball - low and inside
"There's a tailor made hit for an easy double play ... Brett hit it hard but straight at the Senators' shortstop who collects and throws to second base and the relay throw to first base is in time for the second out"
Grounded into a double play - 6 to 4 to 3
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Called strike - fast ball
Ball - fast ball - low
Ball - fast ball - outside
Foul ball - fast ball - "That was an inside/outside swing and the pitch was right in on the hands"
"Brett swings and misses and the innings is over ... after the lead off single, all the Curve batters went down to that very good breaking ball from the Senators' Collin Balester"
Strike out
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball - breaking ball - in the dirt
Called strike - fast ball
Ball - breaking ball - at the shoe tops
Ball - up and out
Swing and a miss - breaking ball
Foul ball
Ball - breaking ball - down and in
Walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball
Ball - high
Ball - high
Ball - outside
Walk
Advanced to second base on a hit
Advanced to third base on a 'hit batter'
Scored on a walk

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 2 at-bats - 1 x run scored, 2 x walks, 1 x strike out, 1 x grounded into a double play

Heard during the game

(01) Following Brett's first plate appearance, the commentator said - "I was talking to Brett recently ... he is hitting the ball very hard but not getting the results ... that was another case where a hard hit ball went straight to a fielder and unfortunately Roneberg's frustrations at the plate continue"

(02) As Brett was coming in for his second plate appearance, the commentator continued - "Brett Roneberg now steps to the plate and he had a 'hot shot' in his last at bat but it resulted in a 6-4-3 twin killing"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

For the first six innings of Thursday night’s game at Blair County Ballpark, it was Harrisburg’s top prospect, 20-year-old starting pitcher Colin Balestar, getting the upperhand against the Curve

But in the seventh, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker showed why Baseball American ranked them the top two prospects in the Pirates’ organization

McCutchen’s two-strike bases-loaded double in the bottom of the seventh tied the score, 2-2, and Walker’s sacrifice fly gave the Curve a lead they wouldn’t give up

The Curve’s 4-2 win extended their winning streak to three

“I felt a little better” said McCutchen, who is now 5-for-31 this season, with all five hits coming at BCB
“I’ve kind of been sick the past couple days
I worked on a couple things before the game
It helped a little bit
I’m seeing some improvement”

Balestar held the Curve batters scoreless in his six-inning stint
The Nationals No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound Balestar struck out six, walked two and gave up four hits

“He did a nice job” Curve manager Tim Leiper said
“He threw strikes with his fastball, and he did a nice job controlling the running game
We were fortunate enough to have a couple hits, but when a guy throws strikes he gives his team a chance to have success”

For the record, McCutchen was 1-for-3 against Balestar with a fourth-inning single to left field
Walker was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and two ground ball outs to second base

“I faced him coming up from low A to high A” Walker said
“He’s progressed just like everybody else has
We knew he had good stuff, and when we got to two strikes, we knew we were going to see his outpitch, which was his curveball”

While some top-flight hitters might have pressed too much against another top prospect, neither McCutchen nor Walker said they were taking it as a personal star-facing-star challenge facing Balestar

“I think if you would have asked me that question two years ago, I would have told you yes” Walker said “but at this point, a lot of guys you see are prospects
But you do take pride against guys you came up against
He got the best of me tonight, but maybe next time”

“I really don’t look at the name or who he is or where he’s from” McCutchen said
“I just look at it as a pitcher who’s coming for me, and I’m going to come for him too
May the best man win”

Balestar was the big name pitcher coming into the game, but Curve starter Luis Munoz did some pitching of his own
Munoz retired the first 11 batters before Robin Jennings doubled to the right-center gap in the fourth

“He had seven great innings really” Leiper said
“He kept his composure after a couple things didn’t go his way in the seventh
When you go seven and only give up two runs, with this team that we have, you’re going to chances to win a lot of games”

The Senators’ short game produced runs in the sixth and seventh off of Munoz
In the sixth, Roger Bernadina laced a two-out single to center, stole second and scored on Frank Diaz’s Texas Leaguer - or Eastern Leaguer - into short right field
In the seventh, Tony Blanco reached on a leadoff infield hit, and Juan Melo reached on a throwing error by second baseman Taber Lee
John Suomi’s broken-bat single into right-center plated Blanco and knocked Munoz out of the game

The Curve had put runners on third twice against Balestar, but couldn’t reach home

Jim Magrane, who replaced Balestar in the seventh, hit Lee with one out to start the rally
Lee was hit twice - in the back by Balestar and on his leg by Magrane
Pinchhitter Alex Fernandez singled to right, and Vic Buttler walked to load the bases for McCutchen, who drove a 1-2 offering into the right-center gap
Walker followed with his sac fly

The Curve added an insurance run in the eighth when Lee walked with the bases loaded

The Sens (2-10) went 1-2-3 in the ninth as Matt Peterson earned his second save and the Curve evened their record at 5-5

“We had a little sit-down and decided to play more like a team” Walker said
“The early-season stats sometimes get into some guys’ heads
We’re working to get over that hill”

On Thursday night in Altoona the Senators received outstanding starting pitching from Collin Balester, but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead and the Sens fell 4-2

Balester went six shutout innings before turning things over with a 2-0 lead
Balester struck out five and walked two, while scattering four hits

Offensively the Senators didn't get their first hit until the fourth inning when Robin Jennings doubled with two outs

They finally broke through in the sixth when with two outs, Roger Bernadina singled, stole second base, and then scored on a single by Frank Diaz

The Senators took a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning when John Suomi singled in Tony Blanco
But the Sens missed out on a bigger inning when they failed in a sacrafice attempt and then a double play ended the inning

Altoona rallied in the seventh off of Jim Magrane, scoring three runs on a hit batter, pinch hit single, walk, double, and then a sacrifice fly

In the eighth off of Brett Campbell, they had a walk, single, hit batter, and then another walk to make the score 4-2

With the loss the Senators fall to 2-10 on the season while Altoona evens their record at 5-5

Game two of the series is Friday night at 6.35pm with LHP Mike Hinckley going for the Senators opposed by LHP Josh Shortslef for the Curve

For the fourth consecutive ballgame, the Curve were unable to score off the opposition's starting pitcher

However, a late offensive surge for the third straight night gave the Curve the win, as they overtook Harrisburg with three runs in the seventh inning and won the series opener 4-2

Trailing 2-0, the Curve finally got to the Senators bullpen, and finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning
The rally started when reliever Jim Magrane hit Taber Lee with a pitch with one out in the inning
Alex Fernandez, batting in the pitcher's spot, moved Lee to second with a sharp single to right
Magrane then loaded the bases by walking Vic Buttler
That set the stage for the Pirates' top-prospect, Andrew McCutchen, who promptly doubled home Lee and Fernandez to tie the game at two
Neil Walker followed by lifting a sacrifice fly to right field which scored Buttler and gave the Curve the lead for the first time

For six innings, the top-prospect in the Washington Nationals system, Collin Balester was the story
The 20-year-old righthander was superb, holding the Curve scoreless through those six innings while allowing just four hits

Luis Munoz was also solid for Altoona, allowing just one hit and holding the Senators scoreless through five innings

The Senators struck first in the sixth however, plating the game's first run on a flare off the bat of Frank Diaz that fell just behind Randy Ruiz and allowed Roger Bernadina to come around and give Harrisburg a 1-0 lead

The Senators added a run and chased Munoz from the game in the seventh

TIm Leiper called upon Chris Hernandez, who came on in relief and defused the threat to keep the Senators lead at 2-0

Despite their strong performances, neither starter factored in the decision

Magrane, who allowed the three runs for Altoona in the seventh took the loss, falling to (0-1) on the year

Hernandez who made quick work of a sticky situation inherited from Munoz was rewarded with his first victory of the year to improve to (1-0)

The second reliever of the night for Harrisburg, Brett Campbell, surrendered an insurance run to the Curve in the eighth inning
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Taber Lee was walked by Campbell to push Brett Roneberg to the plate and increase Altoona's lead to 4-2

Matt Peterson threw a scoreless pair of innings in the eighth and ninth to earn the save for Altoona
The save is the second of the season and career for Peterson who has been converted from a starting role in 2007

The Curve have now won three games in a row for the first time this season

Game two of the series is tomorrow night at 6.35pm
LHP Josh Shortslef (0-2, 6.00) will make the start for Altoona
LHP Mike Hinckley (1-1, 5.40) will oppose him for Harrisburg

Andrew McCutchen's two-RBI double highlighted a three-run seventh inning as Altoona beat Harrisburg, 4-2, on Thursday at Blair County Ballpark

The Curve (5-5) were trailing in the seventh, 2-0, until McCutchen's heroics
After reliever Jim Magrane walked Vic Buttler to load the bases, McCutchen laced a double to left field that tied the game
Neil Walker drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right

McCutchen, Pittsburgh's top prospect, finished 2-for-5, while Randy Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a double out of the cleanup spot

Altoona reliever Chris Hernandez (1-0) tossed a perfect seventh for the win, and Matt Peterson threw two hitless innings for his second save

The Senators (2-10) took the lead in the sixth when Frank Diaz hit an RBI single to right

John Suomi extended the lead with a run-scoring single in the seventh

Robin Jennings had Harrisburg's only extra-base hit, a double in the fourth

Magrane (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on two hits and one walk while retiring one batter

The Senators have lost all seven road games this season