The Result
Curve - 9 runs to 1

The Curve - Year-to-Date
8 wins and 8 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Designated hitter
Batting - #3

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - low
Called strike
Foul ball - down the left side
Foul ball - slicing down the left side
Called strike
Strike out
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - fast ball - high
Called strike - fast ball - "That pitch cut the middle of the plate"
Foul ball - back over the net
Foul ball - "Roneberg fought that one off ... the pitch was in on his hands"
"Here comes the 1-2 pitch ... and Roneberg swings and misses at breaking ball ... Brett chased a pitch that was down and in, and strikes out for the second time tonight"
Strike out
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Called strike - breaking ball
Swing and a miss
"Brett is ready for the 0-2 pitch ... and the runner is off!!! ... and Brett hits a little roller to the shortstop area which is vacant as the fielder went across to cover second base on the steal ... he now collects the ball but has no play and both runners are safe ... Brett has an infield single for his first hit of the night ... it seemed that knowing that the area was going to be vacant, he just guided the ball into the hole"
Single to shortstop
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fourth plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball
Ball
Foul ball - in to the backstop
Foul ball - back and over the screen
Ball - breaking ball - inside
Foul ball - "That was tipped in and out of the catcher's mitt and Roneberg stays alive"
"Now the full count pitch ... and Brett gets hold of that one and it's down into the rightfield corner and the fielder is across to make the catch ... Brett just missed that one ... he tried to hit his second home run into the same spot as when he got his first but this time he come up about ten feet short of the fence"
Fly out to rightfield - F8
Fifth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at second and third base - two down
Ball - fast ball - high
Called strike - breaking ball - dropped through the strike zone
Ball - fast ball - "That pitch forces Roneberg to back out of the box"
Ball - outside
Foul ball
"Brett lines the full count pitch to second base and the fielder leapt up to get it and the runners have to hold their bases"
Line out to second base - F4

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 5 at-bats - single, 2 x strike outs

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Luis Munoz carried a one-hit shutout into the ninth inning and finished allowing just three hits in 8-2/3 innings as the Altoona Curve routed the Bowie Baysox, 9-1, Wednesday night at Blair County Ballpark

Munoz (2-0), who was making just his third career Double-A start, entered the ninth inning with a chance to best Sean Burnett's two-hitter in June 2003 as the top nine-inning performance in Curve history, but Jeff Fiorentino singled with one out and scored on Oscar Salazar's double to break up Munoz's shutout bid

The 25-year old right-hander did not walk a batter in his 8-2/3 innings of work and matched a career high with seven strikeouts in earning his second win of the season

Munoz is the only member of the Curve's starting rotation who is in his first season at the Double-A level or above

Meanwhile, the Curve offense provided Munoz with plenty of cushion, scoring the first run of the game in the fourth and adding three in the sixth and five more in the eighth

Overall, Altoona batters tallied a season-high 16 hits, including three each from Brandon Chaves, whose two-run double in the sixth helped break the game open, and Chris Truby

Among the three Curve hitters with two hits was Randy Ruiz, who extended his team-high hitting and on-base streaks to eight and 16 games, respectively

Alex Fernandez also chipped in a pair of hits, including a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, which keyed a five-run outburst

Radhames Liz (1-1) took the loss for Bowie, allowing four runs - three earned - on eight hits over 5-1/3 innings

The win moves Altoona (9-9) back to the .500 mark and evens the season series against Bowie at 3-3

The victory also gives the Curve a 4-3 record on their current eight-game homestand, which concludes Thursday night at 6.35pm

Thursday's contest will feature right-hander Alay Soler (1-0, 1.80) against Bowie lefty Oscar Alvarez (2-1, 3.38)

The first 2,000 women in attendance for Thursday's game will receive a Curve Pink Hat courtesy of Charles Navasky & Co
Plus, the Curve will wear special Pink Jerseys during the game, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Navasky Foundation For Life
Gates open at 5.00pm for another Curve Happy Hour event on the Toyota Party Deck, featuring live entertainment and food specials

Luis Munoz tossed 8-1/3 one-hit innings and came within one out of the Eastern League's first complete-game shutout of the year Wednesday as Altoona cruised to a 9-1 victory over Bowie

Munoz (2-0) retired the first 11 batters he faced before surrendering a two-out double to Oscar Salazar in the fourth inning
He settled down thereafter, retiring 13 of 14 batters - Brandon Sing reached on an error in the fifth - heading to the ninth
With a chance to become just the second player in the Minors to toss a nine-inning shutout this season, Munoz retired Bryan Bass to start the ninth before allowing a single to Jeff Fiorentino
The 25-year-old right-hander got Luis Hernandez to fly out, but Salazar doubled to end the shutout - and Munoz's night

"He just ran out of pitches" Curve manager Tim Leiper said
"There aren't a lot of chances for a complete game, so we were trying to get him one"

Despite clinging to a 1-0 lead through five innings, Munoz was able to maintain his composure

"He wasn't feeling any extra pressure because of the lack of runs, he didn't get frazzled at all" Leiper explained
"He was still cool and calm heading into the ninth inning"

Munoz used all of his pitches to keep the Baysox off-balance
The native of the Dominican Republic stuck out seven and did not walk a batter

"He pounded the strike zone and had all of his pitches working" Leiper said
"It started with his fastball, which he established from the first pitch, and he mixed in a great slider and changeup
When you are throwing the quality of pitches he was tonight, he is going to be tough to beat"

Leiper said Munoz had to be on his game because the Curve were facing Radhames Liz, one of the Baltimore Orioles' top prospects
"Munoz rose to the occasion, and he had to be good because Liz was matching him" the manager added

Munoz is in his seventh season in the Pirates organization and is off to one of the best starts of his career

"I think his stuff has always been there, but young players coming from the Dominican Republic need a couple of years to adapt to society and baseball in America" Leiper said
"He always had a live arm and he is now becoming a complete pitcher"

The Curve had a 1-0 lead when their bats came to life in the sixth
David Parish, who went 2-for-4, smacked an RBI single and Brandon Chaves, who had three hits, ripped a two-run double to make it 4-0

Altoona blew the game open with a five-run eighth, highlighted by Alex Fernandez's solo shot and Randy Ruiz's two-run single
Fernandez and Ruiz had two hits apiece to help the Curve (8-8) return to the .500 mark

Liz (1-2) allowed four runs - three earned - on eight hits over 5-1/3 innings
He struck out six and walked one

Luis Hernandez went 0-for-4 for Bowie (9-10), ending his 11-game hitting streak

The Baysox came into tonight's game hoping to continue a two-game winning streak at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona, Pennsylvania in front of a crowd of 2,504 fans
To the dismay of Baysox fans everywhere, Altoona starter Luis Munoz quickly became the star of the show
Munoz pitched 8.1 innings and came within one out of the Eastern League's first complete-game shutout of the year tonight as Altoona cruised to a 9-1 victory over Bowie

Munoz was able to retire the first 11 Baysox hitters he faced before surrendering a two-out double to Oscar Salazar in the fourth inning
He settled down thereafter, retiring 13 of 14 batters

The Curve had a 1-0 lead when their bats came to life in the sixth
David Parish, who went 2-for-4, hit an RBI single and Brandon Chaves, who had three hits, ripped a two-run double to make it 4-0

Altoona tore the game open with a five-run eighth, highlighted by Alex Fernandez's solo shot and Randy Ruiz's two-run single
Fernandez and Ruiz had two hits apiece

Luis Hernandez went 0-for-4, ending his 11-game hitting streak

The Baysox scored their only run of the game on an RBI double to left-center field by Oscar Salazar, which scored Jeff Fiorentino who reached base on a single to right-center field

Baysox starting pitcher Radhames Liz (1-2) took his second loss, allowing four runs - three earned - on eight hits over 5.1 innings, dropping the Baysox to 9-10 on the season

Curve starter Luis Munoz (2-0) earned his second win of the season improving the Curve to 8-8 on the season

The Baysox take on the Altoona Curve tomorrow night at Blair County Ballpark in the series finale
LHP Oscar Alvarez (2-1) will make the start for the Baysox against RHP Alay Soler (1-0) for the Curve

On a damp, cold and rainy Wednesday night, Curve pitcher Luis Munoz emerged as a shining star

Munoz flirted with a shutout until the ninth inning, then settled for a performance in which he allowed just three hits in 8-2/3 innings before tiring, as the Curve pounded Bowie, 9-1 at Blair County Ballpark

A total of 2,504 tickets were sold for the game, but only a small fraction of those ticket-holders were actually in their seats for a game that the baseball weather gods mercifully permitted to be played to completion

Munoz, a 25-year-old, 6-foot-2 right-hander who hails from the Dominican Republic, had his entire pitching repertoire working effectively in a game in which he faced only two batters over the minimum over the first eight innings
“I was throwing very good today’’ Munoz said in
“My slider, my two-seam fastball, and my change-up were all working good’’

Munoz, who was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization back in 2000, went 10-5 in combined Class A duty last season at Hickory and Lynchburg
He credited Curve pitching coach Ray Searage, a former major leaguer, with helping him get his rhythm together this year

Searage has been impressed with Munoz, who is 2-0 this year in three starts
“His last couple starts have been outstanding, he’s carried himself very well’’ Searage said
“His command of his pitches was way above average today
He was very aggressive, and he kept his poise, tempo, and controlled the game’’

Curve manager Tim Leiper went to his bullpen and righthander Mike Nannini to get the final out after Munoz surrendered Oscar Salazar’s run-scoring double in the ninth inning following Jeff Fiorentino’s single
Prior to the ninth, Salazar’s fourth-inning double was Bowie’s only hit

“Muny was outstanding’’ Leiper said
"He pounded the strike zone tonight
He threw 106 pitches, and 77 of them were strikes
Everything was working for him tonight
Starting pitching always sets the tone for a game, and he worked ahead in the count all night
He did a fabulous job’’

The Curve supported Munoz’s pitching effort with their bats, mashing out 16 hits

Left fielder Alex Fernandez - subbing for the injured Vic Buttler - hit his first homer of the season to highlight the Curve’s five-run eighth inning in which Altoona sent 10 men to the plate and rapped out seven hits

Fernandez, shortstop Brandon Chaves, and first baseman Randy Ruiz - who extended his hitting streak to eight games - knocked in two runs apiece

Chaves and ex-major leaguer Chris Truby collected three hits each as the Curve dealt highly-touted Bowie starting righthanded pitcher Radhames Liz the loss

Liz (1-2 this season) entered the 2007 campaign rated by Baseball America as the fifth-ranked prospect in the system of the Baltimore Orioles - Bowie’s parent club
Liz allowed four runs in 5-1/3 innings

The Curve jumped on top, 1-0 with an unearned run in the fourth
Fernandez’s RBI single scored Ruiz, who had singled and advanced to third on an error by second baseman Bryan Bass

Altoona added three more runs in the sixth, courtesy of Dave Parrish’s RBI single and Chaves’ two-run double to right-center field that made it a 4-0 game

“All season, we’ve been hitting the ball well, but we’ve been hitting it right at people’’ Leiper said
“Hopefully, a night like tonight will get things going the right way for us’’