The Result
Curve - 3 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
12 wins and 12 losses

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

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - outside
Ball - low and wide
Called strike - on the outside corner
"Here comes the 1ball-2strike pitch ... and Brett tags it into left-centrefield!!! ... Brett is cruising into second base with a two out double here in the bottom of the first innings"------(see the note below in the "Heard during the Game" section)
Double to left-centrefield
The next batter got a hit into leftfield, and the commentator said - "Ruiz sends that ball into leftfield for a hit ... and Roneberg is rounding third base and is heading for home!!! ... and here comes the throw!!! ... and it's a beauty and on one hop into the catcher!!! ... and Brett is nailed at the plate for the final out of the innings!!! ... that was a great play and a very strong throw from the Aeros' leftfielder"
NOTE - click here to see two photos of Brett rounding third base and heading home ... but out!!!
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Ball - outside
Called strike - breaking ball
Ball - "And that pitch 'scares' Roneberg back"
Called strike - breaking ball
"Roneberg waves at that breaking ball and misses for the second out of the innings"
Strike out
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - low and wide
"The runner is off!!! ... this is a hit and run play ... and Brett absolutely tags that into rightfield!!! ... he is safe at first base and the Curve now have runners on the corners with just one down"------(see the note below in the "Heard during the Game" section)
Single to rightfield
Advanced to third base on a hit
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fourth plate appearance
Bottom of the seventh innings
Curve leading the game 3 runs to 1
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at second and third base - two down
"Here comes the Aeros' Manager out to the mound for a talk with his pitcher ... and they are going to intentionally walk Roneberg ... this seems a strange move as they are now going to face a hitter who is batting 0.407 against righthanders ... but I can see their reasoning as Roneberg already has two hits tonight and they will now avoid the 'righty-lefty' situation - and Tim Bogar, the Manager of the Aeros, knows Brett quite well from over his time in the Eastern League and is aware of what he can do in these situations"
Walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings
NOTE - the bases were loaded after Brett's walk - and with two down, the next batter grounded out to third base to end the innings - so the Aeros' plan worked!!

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 3 at-bats - single, double, 1 x walk, 1 x strike out

Heard during the game

(01) After Brett's double in his first at-bat, the commentator said - "When Brett is firing, that pitch belongs to him!!! ... anything in that area on the outside half of the plate ... he normally gets onto them and drives it with power into the leftfield gap, just like he did there!!!"

(02) Following Brett's single in his third at-bat, the commentator said - "That was great coaching by the Curve Manager, Tim Leiper ... Brett is one of the best players to put the hit and run on ... he has great command of both sides of the plate ... it this case Brett was given a ball on the inside half of the plate and he smoked it into rightfield to execute the play perfectly"

Email from Brett

Game Reports

A season-high crowd of 6,734 watched Brandon Chaves turn in the defensive play of the year for the Curve, diving to his right to rob a hit from Rodney Choy Foo, stranding the tying run at third base in the ninth inning, as Altoona held off Akron 3-2 in the opener of a three-game series

Wardell Starling (1-2) put it all together in his fifth start of the season, holding the Aeros to a lone run on three hits

The run Akron pushed across against Starling was the first of the ballgame, as the Aeros took a 1-0 lead in third inning
Argenis Reyes singled off of Starling to start the inning and promptly stole second base
Trevor Crowe bounced out to second, advancing Reyes to third
He scored on a sacrifice fly to center-field off the bat of Asdrubal Cabrera

The Curve finally got to Aeros' starter J.D. Martin in the fifth, using three consecutive hits to fuel a two-run rally
Neil Walker led-off the inning with a single, which was followed by a double for Adam Boeve that left runners at second and third base
Steven Pearce continued his torrid offensive streak with a single that scored both runners to give the Curve the lead at 2-1

Altoona added a run in the sixth and led 3-1 as Randy Ruiz doubled home Jason Bowers who had walked to lead off the inning

Dave Davidson entered in relief and pitched a scoreless eighth inning

Davidson returned to begin the ninth, but walked Asdrubal Cabrera prompting Tim Leiper to bring in closer Matt Peterson
Peterson promptly gave up a broken-bat single to Brian Barton which pushed Cabrera to third
With runners on the corners, Peterson picked off Barton from first base
Altoona allowed Cabrera to score on the play to make it a one-run game at 3-2
Jordan Brown followed with a triple on one hop off the wall in center-field and the tying run was represented at third with one out
The Curve drew the infield in and Peterson induced a ground ball to Chaves for the second out of the inning
The next batter, Rodney Choy Foo, sent a liner that appeared to be heading into left-field to tie the ballgame, but at the last instant Chaves snared it with a head-long dive to end the game

Peterson earned his fourth save of the season

The win pulls the Curve back to the .500 mark at (12-12) and also to within a game of the Southern Division lead

First pitch for game two tomorrow night is scheduled for 5.05pm
RHP Yoslan Herrera (0-2, 8.05) will make the start for Altoona against LHP Aaron Laffey for Akron

Curve Notes
Tomorrow night the Curve celebrate Cinco de Mayo with "Cinco de Estrada" at the ballpark
Erik Estrada, who played 'Ponch' on the popular television show CHiPS will visit Blair County Ballpark to sign autographs and mingle with fans throughout the game
Estrada's appearance will kick-off the Curve's Retro-Celebrity Series for 2007

The Curve have what manager Tim Leiper called the deepest lineup he’s ever had with the addition of 1B Steven Pearce, who was promoted from Single-A Lynchburg on Tuesday
Evidence of that came Friday night, when Pearce hit seventh and drove in two runs in the seventh inning

The Aeros intentionally walked Brett Roneberg to face DH Randy Ruiz with the bases loaded
“That doesn’t happen in Double-A very often” Leiper said

Wardell Starling and two relievers combined on a five-hitter as Altoona beat visiting Akron, 3-2, on Friday

Starling (1-2) yielded a run on three singles and a walk with three strikeouts over a season-high seven innings for his first win of the year
The 24-year-old right-hander rebounded from his start against the Aeros on April 10, when he surrendered six runs in two frames

Dave Davidson gave up a run on three hits in the eighth before Matt Peterson got the final three outs for his fourth save

Steven Pearce drove in two runs and Randy Ruiz went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Curve (12-12)

Jordan Brown went 2-for-4 with a double and Asdrubal Cabrera lifted a sacrifice fly for the Aeros (13-11)

Akron starter J.D. Martin (2-3) gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings

Shortstop Brandon Chaves saw the line drive off Rodney Choy Foo’s bat, but ...
“At first” Chaves said “I didn’t think I was gonna get there. Then it just went in my glove, I guess”

Chaves’ spectacular catch ended the game and removed all doubt whether the Curve’s recently shaky bullpen would blow its second lead in as many days
The grab saved a 3-2 win over Akron on Friday before 6,734 fans at Blair County Ballpark

The Aeros’ Brian Barton took his lead off third base with the tying run when Chaves lunged to his right to catch Choy Foo’s slicing liner inches off the ground

Curve pitcher Wardell Starling, who turned in his best start of the year to earn the victory, enjoyed the view from the dugout
“That was wonderful” he said

Altoona’s bullpen, which let a 5-3 edge in the 10th inning slip away Thursday at Connecticut, was on the brink of losing Starling’s 3-1 lead Friday

Dave Davidson relieved Starling in the eighth inning and walked three of the five batters he faced, including Trevor Crowe to start the ninth
Curve manager Tim Leiper called on closer Matt Peterson, who allowed Crowe to score on a fielder’s choice and gave up Barton’s triple before settling down to earn his fourth save
Thanks to Chaves

“This was by far our most intense game of the year, and that elevated our play a little bit” Leiper said

The Curve pulled the infield in with one out and Barton at third
Ryan Goleski grounded out to Chaves, who seconds later ended the game with Altoona’s best defensive play this season

The Curve held a 2-1 lead in the sixth before Randy Ruiz provided a key insurance run with an RBI double off Akron starter J.D. Martin (2-3) that scored Jason Bowers

An inning earlier, Steven Pearce, playing his first game at BCB, gave Altoona a 2-1 lead with a two-run single

Starling (1-2) pitched seven innings, allowed only three hits and a walk and struck out three on an efficient 92 pitches
The right-hander, who entered with a 7.79 ERA, put in extra work with pitching coach Ray Searage since his last start
Searage and Starling reverted back to last year’s routine, when Starling’s only day off was the day he pitched
Starling also worked on his tendency to change his release point

“He listened very well” Searage said
“He wasn’t the sharpest person pitching-wise, but he was able to execute when he needed to”

Starling finished the game strong, retiring the side in his final four innings
“When you get some early outs, that’s key” Starling said

Chaves’ defensive gem was one of three turned in by the Curve over the final three innings
Starling tagged Jordan Brown out at home in the seventh inning after his breaking ball bounced away from catcher Dave Parrish
“It was a good play by Dave and me at the same time” Starling said
“Dave gave me a nice toss, and I was able to get the glove down”
Neil Walker finished the eighth inning when he took two steps to his right to tag third, then whipped the ball to Pearce at first to complete a double play

“Those are the kinds of things you need to do to play winning baseball” Leiper said
“We did a lot to help ourselves”

Chaves and Starling both noted the significance of winning the series opener against Akron, the Southern Division frontrunner and longtime nemesis
The Aeros have eliminated Altoona from the playoffs three of the past four seasons
“To come up with a play like the game-ender is nice” Chaves said “especially against Akron”

Leiper took a more cautions approach
“Momentum carries you until you fall asleep at night” he said
“Then you have to wake up the next day and do it all again”