The Result
Baysox - 8 runs to 7

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

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

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball
Called strike
Called strike
"Here comes the 1-2 pitch ... and Roneberg is wrung up on a called strike three!!! ... Brett will take up an arguement with the home plate umpire but he has been struck out and the side is retired"
Strike out
Second plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - breaking ball - outside
Ball
"Brett hits that very well but he has given it a bit too much altitude and the centrefielder is able to get under it and make the catch"
Fly out to centrefield - F8
Third plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball
Ball
Ball - fast ball - low
Called strike - "That pitch was at the belt but Roneberg was taking all the way"
Foul ball - "Brett swung at that pitch agressively but it's foul up the first base line"
Foul ball - "That is driven down the leftfield line ... but's it's foul into the corner and bounces into the wall ... Roneberg was running between first and second base and is now retuning to have another shot at the payoff pitch"
"That ball is driven identically to the last one ... and will this one stay fair??? ... and it does!!! ... the ball takes one hop into the wall and Brett is at second base with a stand up two out double!!!"
Double into the leftfield corner
The next Curve batter drove the ball into the outfield ... apparently Brett took off from second base but then there was a late stop sign from the third base Coach because the ball was cut off by the leftfielder ... meantime the batter/runner was caught up in a run down play between first and second base ... Brett must have been waved around and was trying to score ... lots of "comments and talking" by the commentators!!! ... it all ended up with Brett being tagged out on a head first slide at home plate for the final out of the innings
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
Called strike - fast ball - on the outside corner
Called strike - fast ball - on the outside corner - "Brett is not happy with those calls ... he was struck out on similar pitches earlier tonight and he voiced his disapproval then as well"
Foul ball - "Brett reached out and fouled that one on to the plate ... good hitters will do that ... they realise that the pitch is going to be called and they foul them off while waiting for a better pitch to hit"
"That ball is hit well ... but it's going to be caught by the Baysox centrefielder ... off the bat that looked like it would travel much further but it seemed to die in the air ... that is the second time tonight that Brett is out on well hit fly balls to centrefield"
Fly out to centrefield - F8
Fifth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bottom of the ninth innings!!!
The Curve are trailing seven runs to eight!!!
But the tying run is standing on second base!!!
And there are none down!!!
Ball - mid 90's fast ball - low
Called strike - fast ball
Called strike - 94mph fast ball - "For the last three hours Brett has not been happy with the 'strike' calls on those outside pitches ... he is rung up on this pitch which the umpire says clipped the outside corner and Brett is not happy"
Ball - 96mph fast ball - downstairs
Ball - just missed
"And here comes the full count pitch ... Brett sends it back up the middle and the shortstop is over to cover it and throws Roneberg out at first base ... the job was done though, as on the play the runner advanced to third base and the Curve now have the tying run just ninety feet away with only one out in the innings"
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 3
NOTE - the next two Curve batters struck out and the Curve lost the game, eight runs to seven!!!

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 5 at-bats - double, 1 x strike out

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Curve almost came all the way back, but in the end seven runs for Bowie in the first two innings created too large of a deficit as the Baysox took game one of a four-game series, 8-7

The on-slaught started immediately from the Baysox as they came out swinging against Curve starter Yoslan Herrera
With two outs in the first inning, three consecutive singles along with a pair of balks by Herrera amounted to two runs and a 2-0 Bowie lead

Curve manager Tim Leiper argued the first balk call, which was made by third base umpire Robert Price
Leiper wasn't ejected at the time, but was tossed in the bottom of the first inning for continuing the argument from the third base coaches box
The ejection, the first of the year for Leiper, came ironically as the Curve held Umpire's Night at Blair County Ballpark

Leiper probably wouldn't have wanted to watch what transpired over the next 30 minutes anyway
Although the Curve got a run back in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1, the Baysox broke it open with a five-run second inning
With one out in the inning, Brandon Sing started the rally with a double
Herrera then hit Brian Bock to put two runners aboard
Paco Figueroa singled home Sing to make it 3-1, then Luis Hernandez singled in Bock for a 4-1 lead
Val Majewski continued the hit parade with a single to score Figueroa and it was 5-1
Oscar Salazar collected the fourth straight hit for Bowie with a single to load the bases for the Baysox
Nolan Reimold then brought in the sixth run for the Baysox with a ground out to short
The final run of the inning scored on a Matt Cepicky single and Bowie led 7-1
The Baysox sent ten to the plate in the frame with Jeff Fiorentino making both the first and third outs of the inning

Herrera settled down to hold the Baysox off the scoreboard for the next three innings, and the Curve began their comeback

In the third, Andrew McCutchen led off with a triple off of Bowie starter Craig Anderson and scored on a Vic Buttler ground out to third

Two more Curve runs scored in the fifth
McCutchen worked leadoff walk and scored on a Buttler triple to make it 7-3
Buttler scored on a Randy Ruiz ground out a batter later and the Curve were within three at 7-4

Bowie plated what amounted to the game-winner in the sixth
Chris Hernandez entered for the Curve and promptly gave up a leadoff single to Brian Bock
The next two batters, Paco Figueroa and Luis Hernandez, each laid down bunt singles up the third base run to load the bases
Hernandez struck out the next three Baysox to end the inning, but a wild pitch during Val Majewski's at-bat allowed Bock to score to make it 8-4

The Curve drew to within two in the bottom of the seventh inning when Vic Buttler was walked to begin the inning and Neil Walker doubled him home
Randy Ruiz followed with a single to score Walker and the game stood at 8-6 Bowie

Altoona scored again to make it 8-7 in the eighth
McCutchen started the inning with his third extra-base hit of the night, a double to the left field corner
Vic Buttler plated McCutchen, who scored four times in the ballgame, to bring the Curve within a run at 8-7

In the ninth, the Curve had a golden opportunity to tie it when Ruiz led off with a double off of flame-throwing Baysox closer James Hoey
Ruiz moved to third on a Brett Roneberg ground out, but then Hoey struck out Adam Boeve and Chris Truby to end the ballgame and give Bowie the win

Hoey remained perfect for the season, recording his fifth save in five chances
Two of those have come against the Curve

Herrera was nearly lifted off the hook by the Curve comeback, but ultimately took the loss to fall to (0-1)
Anderson claimed the win, and improved to (2-0) on the year

Game two of the series is tomorrow night at 6.35pm
RHP Kip Bouknight (1-0, 2.77) will make the start for Altoona
LHP Chris Waters (0-2, 8.76) will oppose him

Nolan Reimold drove in two runs as visiting Bowie edged Altoona, 8-7, on Monday

Reimold smacked an RBI single in the first inning and added a run-scoring groundout during a five-run second as the Baysox built a 7-1 lead

Paco Figueroa, Luis Hernandez, Val Majewski, Oscar Salazar and Matt Cepicky each had two hits and an RBI as Bowie pounded out 14 hits

Baysox starter Craig Anderson (2-0) got the win, despite yielding four runs on ten hits and a walk with one strikeout over five innings

Jim Hoey struck out two and worked around a leadoff double in the ninth to earn his fifth save for the Baysox (8-9)

Vic Buttler and Randy Ruiz drove in three runs apiece and Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 with four runs scored for the Curve (7-7)

Altoona starter Yoslan Herrera surrendered seven runs on ten hits with three strikeouts in five innings

Six Baysox players had multiple hits in a high scoring slugfest, leading them to an 8-7 victory over the Altoona Curve

Baysox starting pitcher Craig Anderson earned his second win of the season, allowing four runs over five innings pitched

The Baysox jumped out to an early lead, largely due to Altoona starting pitcher Yoslan Herrera balking twice in the first inning
Val Majewski got the offense started for the Baysox with a two-out single to right-centerfield and advanced to second on Herrera’s first balk of the inning
Oscar Salazar then hit a line drive single up the middle, scoring Majewski
With Nolan Reimold batting, Salazar advanced to second on another balk by Herrera
Reimold then singled to left field, scoring Salazar and pushing the Baysox to a 2-0 lead

The Curve cut the lead to one in the bottom of the first on an RBI single up the middle by Neil Walker

The Baysox exploded in the top of the second inning, scoring five runs ignited by a double by Brandon Sing, Brian Bock being hit by a pitch from Herrera, and singles from Paco Figueroa, Luis Hernandez, Val Majewski, Oscar Salazar and Matt Cepicky
The second inning hit parade ended with the Baysox leading 7-1

The Curve scored a run sparked by an Andrew McCutchen leadoff triple in the third inning

The offense stayed quiet for both teams until the bottom of the fifth when the Curve added an additional two runs

Moving into top of the sixth inning with the Baysox leading 7-4, Chris Hernandez relieved Altoona starting pitcher Yoslan Herrera
Brian Bock then singled to right field and advanced to second on a bunt single by Paco Figueroa
Luis Hernandez followed with another bunt single, loading the bases
With Val Majewski batting, Bock was able to score on a wild pitch
Hernandez was able to strike out the next three Baysox batters, ending the scoring threat

Right-hander Jim Miller relieved Craig Anderson in the sixth inning for the Baysox

The Curve were able to cut the lead to two runs in the bottom of the seventh when Miller issued a walk to Vic Buttler followed by a Neil Walker RBI double to right center field

Rommie Lewis relieved Jim Miller for the Baysox in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing one run after giving up a double to Andrew McCutchen and a single to Vic Buttler

James Hoey would come on in the bottom of the ninth to earn his fifth save of the season as the Baysox beat the Curve 8-7 in an intense offensive battle

Craig Anderson earns his second win of the season, moving the Baysox to 8-9 on the season, while Yoslan Herrera takes his second loss, dropping the Curve drop to 7-7

The Baysox take on the Curve again tomorrow night in Altoona in game two of three at Blair County Ballpark

Some games are just stinkers, like the one the Curve appeared to be in down 7-1 in the second inning Monday night
Their manager already had been ejected in the first inning, and their starting pitcher had just surrendered five runs on six hits in the second
Altoona’s offense still had a say in things, however, and it’s an offense that can’t be counted out, even in stinkers

“They’re confident they can come back from anything” manager Tim Leiper said
“They know our lineup’s good”

It was good enough to make things interesting Monday but came up one hit shy of a sensational rally
The Curve stranded the tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth and dropped an 8-7 decision to Bowie before 2,719 fans at Blair County Ballpark

The Baysox scored twice in the first, with the help of two balks by Curve starter Yoslan Herrera
Leiper then was tossed in the bottom of the inning - no doubt ironic given that the promotion Monday was “Umpires’ Night” - and he wouldn’t say what that argument entailed
The manager watched the rest of the game on TV in the clubhouse

He had a visitor in the third inning, after the Baysox had unloaded on Herrera for the five-spot and a 7-1 lead
“I came in here” Curve outfielder Andrew McCutchen said “and Leip was in here watching the game
He said, ‘Cutch, we’re going to make it a close game’ and I said ‘I believe that’”

McCutchen did his part to make things close with a big night, going 3-for-4 with four runs to boost his batting average from .163 to .213
He doubled and scored in the first and eighth and scored after a triple in the third

The Curve inched closer, getting two hits and two RBIs from Neil Walker and an RBI triple by Vic Buttler that made it 7-4 in the fifth

Randy Ruiz made it 8-6 when he singled home Walker in the seventh, and Buttler’s RBI single scored McCutchen in the eighth to trim the deficit to one

“I think we grew a little bit tonight” Walker said
“Nobody ever threw in the towel after being down 7-1, so I think that showed some character”

Ruiz, who went 3-for-5, opened the ninth with a double to right-center off Bowie closer James Hoey, and pinch-runner Brandon Chaves took third on Brett Roneberg’s groundout
The Curve seemed to be in great shape to tie, but Hoey put on an impressive display to finish it off and earn his fifth save

The Baysox reliever said his teammates “make fun of me because I always make things interesting” in save situations
But with a power arm like his - he’s hit 100mph three times in his career - Hoey is tough no matter what the situation
He fired a 95mph heater to strike out Adam Boeve, then ended the game by getting Chris Truby on a 97mph offering

The Curve finished with 15 hits, getting at least two from six players, and the offense continues to click with 22 runs over the past three games

“We lost the game tonight, but in terms of building what we want to accomplish here and things we want to carry on later in the season, tonight was important” Leiper said of the comeback

Bowie starter Craig Anderson (2-0) allowed four runs on 10 hits in five innings for the victory

The Baysox had 14 hits and also had six players with a multi-hit game

Herrera (0-1), a Cuban making his first start at BCB and third in the U.S., gave up hit after hit in the second inning as Bowie broke it open
But he also showed some poise in bouncing back and shut down the Baysox from the third through fifth to save the Curve bullpen

“That was unbelievable that he was able to go through five” Leiper said
“Yeah, it’s not a victory in the books, but what that did for his development was tremendous”