The Result
Curve - 8 runs to 7

The Curve - Year-to-Date
7 wins and 6 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Leftfield
Batting - #3------(first game batting at number three)

----------Changed to first base at the top of the eighth innings - on a double switch

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Swing and a miss - change up
Ball
Ball - downstairs
Called strike - on the outside corner
Ball - slider - downstairs
Foul ball - back
Ball - slider - low and inside
Walk
Advanced to second base on a hit
Out at third base on a force out fielder's choice play
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - two down
Ball - outside
"There's a ball driven into centrefield for a base hit ... and the runner is rounding third base and heading home ... and here comes the throw ... and the runner is safe at home, sliding in and knocking the ball out of the catcher's glove!!! ... a close play but Brett has his second run batted in for the year ... the runner from first base has advanced to third base and Brett has taken second base on the throw home"
Single to centrefield - 1 x RBI
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher - Jim Magrane
Runner at second base - none down
Ball - fast ball - down and away
Ball - fast ball - inside and low
"The 2-0 pitch is swung on and destroyed!!!"
"It is easily out of here ... the only question is will it stay fair???"
"And it does!!! ... it twists around the rightfield foul pole"
"Distance wise that was a definate no doubter!!!"
"Brett now has his first home run of the year and he would be enjoying that trot around the bases!!!"
HOME RUN - 2 X RBI's------(click here for more details)
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Foul ball - "That came off his foot ... and Brett goes around home plate to walk that one off"
Foul ball - "Another agressive swing ... and it was fouled straight back and in to the umpire's mask and he'll also have to take a minute to recover"
Ball - breaking ball - outside
Ball - fast ball - "That pitch bounced at fifty-six feet in the dirt in front of the plate"
Ball - breaking ball - low
Foul ball
Foul ball - "Brett flies that down the leftfield line but it drops just one foot into foul territory ... Brett almost had another extra base hit as that ball was just one bounce into the fence"
Foul ball - dribbled foul near the on-deck batter's box
"That is a three hopper across the diamond and it's scooped up by the Senator's second-baseman who throws on to first base for the final out of the innings"
Grounded out to second base - 4 to 3
Fifth plate appearance
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - fast ball - high and outside
Ball - fast ball - up and away
Ball - fast ball - low
Ball - fast ball - up and away
Walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Sixth plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
It's the bottom of the ninth innings
The scores are tied at seven all!!!
The Curve have runners at first and third base!!!
The runner at third base is the potential winning run!!!
There is one down!!!
The first pitch - swing and a miss!!! - "That was a good curve ball"
The second pitch - another swing and a miss!!! - "The pitcher got one past Brett ... it was up in the zone"
......and here comes the 0-2 pitch......
"Roneberg slaps it back to the mound!!! ... the runner is heading home!!! ... the pitcher tries to bare hand it back to the catcher!!! ... but the runner is there and scores!!! ... the Curve win!!! ... Roneberg wins the game with a fourty-five foot roller!!!
Ground out to the pitcher - safe at first base on a fielder's choice play - 1 x RBI

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 4 at-bats - HOME RUN, single, 4 x runs batted in, 1 x run scored, 2 x walks

Heard during the game

(01) During Brett's first plate appearance, the commentator said - "Brett is off to a very slow start this year ... at the start of tonight's game he has a batting average of 0.194 with just one run batted in ... this is nothing like his start last season where, after joining up with the Curve on the 25th April following an injury at Spring Training, he hit safely in his first thirteen games straight out the gate"
......and click here for those details

(02) He also mentioned - "I saw Brett out at batting practise and he was working with the Curve Hitting Coach, Brandon Moore ... even though he is off to a slow start, I am sure Brett will bounce back and be a very important part of the Curve lineup as the season progresses"

(03) During the Post-game Show, the commentator announced - "Brett Roneberg has been awarded The Player of the Game for his two hit and four RBI night"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

In a thrilling ballgame, too many mistakes finally caught up with the Harrisburg Senators as Brett Roneberg's slow-roller in front of the mound scored Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the ninth to give Altoona a walk-off 8-7 win

The game was back and forth all day long, but ten walks issued by Harrisburg pitchers and two extremely untimely errors were too much for the Senators to overcome

The Senators started the scoring in the top of the second inning, when Wardell Starling walked Dan Dement with one out
The pitcher, Anastacio Martinez bunted Dement to second
A batter later, Wade Robinson singled him home for a 1-0 lead

The Curve responded with some help from the Senators in the bottom of the inning
Dave Parrish singled to start the frame
The Senators seemed to have him hung up between first and second as he tried to advance on a pitch that had rolled a few feet away from catcher John Suomi
Suomi's throw to second was wild however, and Parrish reached safely on what was technically ruled a passed ball
Brandon Chaves followed with a ground ball that was thrown over the head of Josh Whitesell at first and into the stands by shortstop Wade Robinson
The over-throw brought in Parrish to tie the game at one
Taber Lee was walked by Martinez, and both he and Chaves scored on RBI singles by McCutchen and Roneberg

Harrisburg tied it quickly in the very next inning
With Tony Blanco on at first, Josh Whitesell clubbed his third home run of the year, an opposite field shot off of Starling that made it a 3-3 game

The Curve went back in front with a four-run eruption in the fourth
Martinez hit McCutchen with a pitch to lead off the inning
McCutchen stole second and scored when Adam Boeve doubled off the wall in center for a 4-3 Curve lead
Martinez was removed from the game in favor of Jim Magrane who promptly gave up a two-run homer Roneberg to give the Curve a 6-3 advantage
Magrane then walked Randy Ruiz, who later scored on a Taber Lee single to make it 7-3

The Senators stormed back in the sixth
Justin Vaclavik came on for Starling and got the first out
It was the only Senator he retired as the next five recorded base hits that amounted to four runs and a tie ballgame

The game stayed even at seven until the bottom of the ninth

The fifth pitcher of the night for Harrisburg, Jeremy Plexico, yielded a one-out double to McCutchen who advanced to third when Seth Bynum misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Adam Boeve
That left runners at the corners for Brett Roneberg
Roneberg trickled a ball in front of the mound and when Plexico's valiant attempt to cut down McCutchen at the plate was too late, the Curve were victorious 8-7

Matt Peterson, who kept the Senators scoreless in the eighth and ninth, claimed the win for Altoona and improved to (1-0) on the year

Plexico took the loss for Harrisburg and fell to (0-2) on the season

Despite the win and the eight runs they scored, Altoona did tie a franchise record for runners left on base with 15

The win gave the Curve the series win three-games-to-one, their second series win of the year

Altoona welcomes in the Bowie Baysox for the first of the four-game series tomorrow night at 6.35pm
RHP Yoslan Herrera will make the start for the Curve
LHP Craig Anderson will oppose him for Bowie

In a wild game on Sunday afternoon the Senators early season woes continued as Altoona won in walk-off fashion 8-7

Even with the loss, the bright spot on Sunday was that the Senators twice rallied from deficits to tie the game

The Sens took an early 1-0 lead in the second, but Altoona scored three runs in the bottom of the second off of Senators starter Anastacio Martinez

Martinez struggled, as did Altoona starter Wardell Starling, so neither pitcher figured in the decision

The 3-1 lead for Altoona didn't last long as Tony Blanco singled to start the third for the Sens and Josh Whitesell followed with his third home run of the season to tie the game

Altoona then took the lead again, 7-3, when they scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and looked to be on their way when five straight Senator batters were retired bridging the fourth to sixth innings

But then the bats came to life
With one out, Dan Dement singled followed by pinch hitter Cristian Guerrero, who also singled
Roger Bernadina drove in Dement with a single, then Wade Robinson doubled in Guerrero to make the score 7-5 Altoona
But on the very first pitch to Juan Melo, he singled driving in both Bernadina and Robinson to tie the game at 7-7

The Senators put a two runners on in the ninth but couldn't capitalize on a balk that moved them into scoring position

In the last of the ninth, Andrew McCutcheon doubled with one out for Altoona
He went to third on an error and then scored on a swinging bunt off the bat of Brett Roneberg

Jeremy Plexico was the tough luck loser for the Senators, who fall to 3-12 on the season

The Senators pitching and defense, which has both been fairly solid, betrayed the Senators on Sunday
The pitching allowed ten walks, and hit two more batters, and the defense made two errors that lead to three runs being scored including the game winner

Brett Roneberg's ground ball in the ninth inning plated the winning run as host Altoona defeated Harrisburg, 8-7, on Sunday

Roneberg went 2-for-4 and slugged a two-run homer in the fourth, but it was his fielder's choice slow roller in front of the pitcher's mound that scored Andrew McCutchen with the winning run for the Curve (7-6)

Altoona used a four-run fourth to snap a 3-3 tie and seemingly break the game open
Adam Boeve hit an RBI double to score McCutchen before Roneberg connected for his first homer of the year
Taber Lee added an RBI single to cap the inning

The Senators (3-12) fought back with their own four-run rally in the sixth
Dan DeMent began a string of five straight hits with a single through the middle and pinch-hitter Cristian Guerrero hit a single to right
Rogearvin Bernadina and Wade Robinson followed with run-scoring singles before Juan Melo capped the rally with a two-RBI single to left

Matt Peterson (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the win, allowing three hits while fanning two without a walk

Gerald Plexico took the loss, giving up McCutchen's hit in one-third of an inning

McCutchen went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base

The Senators' Josh Whitesell was 2-for-4 and clubbed his third home run, a two-run shot to center in the third

With Andrew McCutchen on third base in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, Brett Roneberg hit a little dribbler between home plate and the pitcher’s mound
The speedy McCutchen broke for home as Harrisburg pitcher Jeremy Plexico broke on the ball, gloved it and tossed it to catcher John Suomi, whose tag-swipe missed McCutchen as he scored the winning run in an 8-7 victory before a season-most 5,425 sun-basking fans Sunday at Blair County Ballpark

“It was a great read by McCutchen” said Curve manager Tim Lieper “because if there’s any hesitation whatsoever he doesn’t score
We have a lot of guys in that situation that could do it, but it was nice that it was him
That was a great baserunning play”

“All I was trying to do was put the ball in play” Roneberg said
“That run was all McCutchen
He won the game for us”

The Curve (7-6) took three out of four games from the Senators (3-12)

The game took 3:17 to play because there a combined 14 walks - 10 by Harrisburg pitchers - 22 hits and 22 runners left on base
The 15 runners left on by the Curve is a new franchise record for a nine-inning game

Roneberg led the Curve’s nine-hit attack, going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and four RBIs batting in the No. 3 spot
His ninth-inning dribbler was ruled a fielder’s choice, but it was just as big as a hit

“We’re a better team with him in the lineup” Lieper said “because this guy never gives away an at-bat
When he’s not in there, we’re missing something
He’s the one guy that really stabilizes us
He did the same thing last year
The guys kind of feed off of him”

Roneberg and McCutchen both had RBI singles up the middle in a three-run bottom of the second inning to give the Curve a 3-1 lead

The Sens tied the score when Josh Whitsell pounded a Wardell Starling 0-1 offering over the left-center fence

The Curve hadn’t scored for Starling in his first two starts, but they scored seven this time for him
Still, he was having control problems early on, often going deep into the count against batters
But after the home run, he retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced

“It’s a shame he didn’t get the win” Lieper said “but having him for three years and knowing what he did today, to see how far he’s come from a maturity standpoint, I’m proud of the guy for the way he handled himself”

Altoona broke it open in the fourth by scoring four runs
McCutchen, who went 2-for-6 from the leadoff spot, was hit by an Anastacio Martinez pitch, stole second and scored when Adam Boeve, batting second, pounded a 405-foot double off of the center field wall
Roneberg then teed off on Martinez, hitting his two-run shot just inside the right field foul pole
Randy Ruiz, who walked three times to go with a first-inning single to extend his on-base streak to 13 games, scored from second on a single to right by Taber Lee, who went 2-for-4, to make the score 7-3

“The fact that we scored three in the second and four in the fourth was a result of our first inning” Lieper said
“We did not get any runs in that first inning, but we saw a lot of pitches
We made him throw close to 30 pitches in that first inning”

That four-run lead wouldn’t last long after Starling left after the fifth inning
Justin Vaclavik followed with a relief he’d probably like to forget
After Vaclavik got the first out of the sixth, the Sens pounded five straight hits and scored four runs - the last two coming on a single by Juan Melo to tie the score, 7-7

Lieper lifted him for Jason Roach, who wiggled out of the jam by inducing a double play

The Curve threatened to score in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with one out, but first baseman Josh Whitesell made a great diving catch of a Lee screamer, and Whitesell threw to second to double up Dave Parrish, who had roamed too far off the base

McCutchen started the bottom of the ninth by lacing a double to right-center, went to third as new shortstop Seth Bynum misplayed Boeve’s ground ball and scored the game-winner

“It feels pretty good to get some wins, expecially at home” McCutchen said
“We want to get as many wins as we can before we go on the road”

It was Giveaway Day at Altoona's Blair County Ballpark today
The visiting Harrisburg Senators provided the hosts with an abundance of freebies, helping the Curve secure an 8-7 victory by issuing 10 walks, hitting two batters and committing two vital errors

Harrisburg (3-12) lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell to 1-9 on the road, with four more games in Reading this week to finish the eight-game road trip

Altoona (7-6) won three of four in this series

The Curve pushed an unearned run across to win in the bottom of the ninth off hard-luck losing pitcher Jeremy Plexico (0-2), the only one of five Harrisburg pitchers not to dispense a walk
Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out, moved to third when Adam Boeve reached on a fielding error by shortstop Seth Bynum, and scored on a swinging-bunt grounder to the mound by former Senator Brett Roneberg

Roneberg also homered for Altoona and finished with four RBIs

Senators pitchers threw nearly 200 pitches, with starter Anastacio Martinez walking three in three-plus innings and reliever Brett Campbell walking four in 2-2/3 innings
Campbell, though, didn't allow a run

Harrisburg, which trailed 7-3 after four innings, used five straight hits in the sixth to tie the score against reliever Justin Vaclavik
After singles by Dan DeMent and Cristian Guerrero with one out, Roger Bernadina laced an RBI single, Wade Robinson an RBI double and Juan Melo a two-run single to tie the score at 7-7

While both teams threatened over the next couple innings, neither mustered a run until Roneberg's walk-off RBI in the ninth

The Senators stranded eight runners, with Altoona leaving 15 men on the bases

Harrisburg took a 1-0 lead on Robinson's RBI single in the second, but Altoona plated three in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error and RBI singles by McCutchen and Roneberg

Josh Whitesell's two-run homer in the third tied it for Harrisburg before the Curve peppered Martinez and reliever Jim Magrane for four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by Roneberg's two-run homer

Matt Peterson (1-0) worked two scoreless innings for the win

Altoona (Double-A, 7-6) won, 8-7, at home against Harrisburg (Nationals)

Leftfielder Brett Roneberg had a two-run home run and a game-winning fielder's choice in the ninth inning

Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen had two hits and scored two runs, including the game winner

Neil Walker did not play

We always try to take you as inside the game as we possibly can at Baseball America, but this time we’re going to try something a little different - you know, with the blog and all

We’d like to take you inside Pirates centerfielder Andrew McCutchen’s head as he led Double-A Altoona to a walk-off, 8-7 win against Harrisburg on Sunday

With the score tied 7-7, McCutchen led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to right center
And he takes us through that at-bat, with the extra-base hit coming on a 1-0 count against Senators’ 27-year-old lefthanded Gerald Plexico
“I pretty much knew the pitcher was going to stay away on me
So I had to get that mindset to go to right field exclusively and make the adjustment if I had to on the inside pitch
So on the first one, the ball was a little up, but I still had the mindset to go to right field
After that one I heard hitting coach Brandon Moore say to pick a side, meaning either go to left field or right, so I picked right field just because of the way I’ve been pitched this year so far
So that’s where I stayed at and that’s where he stayed at also, so I just stayed there and hen pitched outside and I just went with it”

After Adam Boeve reached on an error by Harrisburg shortstop Seth Bynum and McCutchen moved up to third base, Brett Roneberg hit a slow roller about 12 feet to the right side of home plate
Plexico fielded his position well, but McCutchen, however, took off and didn’t stop until he was being high-fived by his teammates after scoring the winning run

“When I got to third base, my coach Tim Lieper said ‘Anything on the ground, you go’” McCutchen said
“We wanted to avoid the double play and Roneberg had two strikes, so when he swung I saw it hit the ground and I just took off
I just put my head down and just slid into home
I didn’t know where the play was or where it ended up but I just put my head down and ran as hard as I could”

A quirky situation occurred Sunday at Blair County Ballpark, hurting the Curve, and may happen again from time to time with the enforcement of a rule regarding a hitter stepping out of the batter’s box

‘‘It’s ridiculous’’ said Curve manager Tim Leiper, venting some frustration over the situation

Altoona’s Wardell Starling was up to bat in the second inning with a 2-2 count when, all of a sudden and without a pitch being thrown, he was called out
Starling argued and eventually slammed his bat to the ground going back to the dugout, while Leiper continued to argue with home plate umpire Robert Price

So what exactly happened?

Baseball rule 6.02(b) states - The batter shall not leave his position in the batter’s box after the pitcher comes to set position or starts his windup

The hitter can, of course, call timeout, which must be granted by the umpire
If he doesn’t call timeout and just steps out of the batter’s box, umpires have the prerogative to automatically call a strike

Describing the penalty for such a sequence, baseball’s rule book states - The batter is not at liberty to step in and out of the batter’s box at will

The rule, designed to help speed up the game, has been on the books for at least a few years, though it seems this is the first season it has been widely enforced

What upset Leiper so much Sunday was the timing of the call, which occurred with two runners on base and ended up being a third strike
‘‘That’s not the spirit of the rule’’ Leiper said during an impassioned rant about umpires taking the game out of the players’ hands

The rule impacted the Curve earlier in the week when Vic Buttler received an automatic strike when he stepped out before a 3-1 pitch

The worst-case scenario of the rule occurred against Harrisburg on April 10
The Senators were tied with Trenton in the 10th inning and had runners at second and third with two outs
Harrisburg’s Tony Blanco was robbed of a chance for an RBI when he received an automatic third strike, resulting in the third out
Trenton eventually won in the 12th inning

Given the umpires’ propensity to enforce the rule under any circumstance, hitters will have to make sure they call timeout or else face what could be a costly strike

Adding a bit of irony to the whole situation, the Curve’s promotion tomorrow night at the game is ‘‘Umpires’ Night’’