The Result
SeaWolves - 5 runs to 1

The Curve - Year-to-Date
15 wins and 14 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
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Game Reports

Behind a strong seven-inning outing from starter Eulogio De La Cruz (4-2), the Erie SeaWolves salvaged a win in the finale of a three-game series, winning 5-1

De La Cruz, a hard-throwing right-hander, was cruising from the outset, retiring the first nine men he faced
Included in that stretch was the third inning, in which De La Cruz struck out the side
De La Cruz had eight strikeouts in all, working seven innings and allowing just one earned run on two base hits

Erie struck first for the first time in the series in the fourth inning
Mike Holliman led off the inning with his second homer of the year off of Wardell Starling to put the SeaWolves ahead 1-0

The Curve tied the game in similar fashion in the bottom of the inning when Andrew McCutchen led off with his third home run of the Curve's six-game homestand
McCutchen's round-tripper, like his previous two, was belted to left-field

Erie took control of the ballgame with three runs in the sixth
Clete Thomas started the inning with a triple over the head of Adam Boeve in right-field and quickly scored as Andres Torres singled him home for a 2-1 Erie lead
Torres was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double, but Holliman followed with a double to ignite the rally again
The Curve walked Jeff Larish intentionally to put runners at first and second
An odd double-steal followed resulting in Holliman being thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning, but Kody Kirkland hit a two-run home run to left-field to give Erie a 4-1 advantage
The home run for Kirkland was nearly kept in the park by Curve left-fielder Alex Fernandez, but the ball trickled out of his glove and over the wall

The Curve mustered only one more hit against De La Cruz and none against a pair of Erie relievers
Right-hander Anthony Tomey worked an uneventful eighth inning and left-hander Danny Zell turned in a 1-2-3 ninth to close it out for the SeaWolves

Erie added an insurance in the top of the ninth inning, as Kirkland singled off of Alay Soler and stole second base
He scored from there on a single by Matt Joyce to cap the scoring at 5-1

The Curve (15-14) finished their six-game homestand (4-2) and won both series two-games-to-one

They will travel to Harrisburg on Thursday morning and begin a four-game series with the Harrisburg Senators at 6.05pm
RHP Yoslan Herrera (0-3, 7.13) will make the game one start for Altoona against RHP Collin Balester (1-2, 2.51) for the Senators

Eulogio De La Cruz allowed just two hits over seven strong innings as visiting Erie defeated Altoona, 5-1, on Wednesday afternoon

De La Cruz (4-2) struck out eight batters and now ranks second in the Eastern League with 38 whiffs on the season
The 23-year-old right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced before yielding Andrew McCutcheon's homer to lead off the fourth
After that setback, he did not allow a runner past first base

Anthony Tomey and Danny Zell each worked a hitless relief inning

The SeaWolves collected 11 hits, at least one by every player in the starting lineup

Michael Holliman ripped a solo homer in the fourth inning, his second of the season

Clete Thomas tripled to lead off the sixth and scored on Andres Thomas' single, while Kody Kirkland blasted a two-run dinger later in the frame

Matthew Joyce's RBI single in the ninth capped the game's scoring

Wardell Starling (1-3) took the loss, surrendering four runs on nine hits over seven innings

Alay Soler hurled a scoreless eighth before getting touched for a run in the ninth

Strong pitching was the story on Wednesday morning as the SeaWolves avoided a sweep by downing the Altoona Curve 5-1 at Blair County Ballpark

SeaWolves starting pitcher Eulogio De La Cruz was brilliant for the third straight start
He allowed just one run on two hits; striking out eight while walking two in facing two batters over the minimum in seven innings of work
De La Cruz improved to 4-2 on the season and has won two straight starts
He has struck out a total of 27 batters while walking just three in his last 24 innings of work

The SeaWolves struck first in the top of the fourth inning when Mike Hollimon led off with his second home run of the season
The solo home run put the ‘Wovles ahead 1-0

Altoona struck back in the bottom of the fourth when Andrew McCutchen led off and slammed his third home run of the season tying the game at 1-1

The score would remain tied until the top of the sixth inning

Clete Thomas led off the inning with a triple, his second of the season
Thomas scored on a base knock by Andres Torres putting the ‘Wolves ahead 2-1
On the play, Torres attempted to turn a single into a double, he beat the throw to second but slid through the bag and was called out
Mike Hollimon followed with double down the right field line and Jeff Larish was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second for Kody Kirkland
The SeaWolves attempted to execute a double steal but on the play, Larish got hung up between first and second
Hollimon attempted to score after reaching third but was thrown out on a bang-bang play at home for the second out of the inning
On the very next pitch, Kirkland sent a deep drive to left field - on the play, left fielder Alex Fernandez got to the ball but as he crashed into the wall, the ball slid out of his glove and over the wall for Kirkland’s second home run of the season
The long ball gave Erie a 4-1 win

The Curve would get no closer the remainder of the game

Erie added a run in the top of the ninth inning
Kirkland singled for his second hit of the game and stole second
Matt Joyce followed with an RBI-single to right field, giving the ‘Wolves a 5-1 advantage

Two relievers, Anthony Tomey in the eighth and Danny Zell in the ninth, shut the door to preserve the 5-1 win

The three SeaWolves pitchers in the game allowed just one run on two hits facing three over the minimum

The SeaWolves improved to 16-13 on the season

Thousands of kids got to skip school, soak in the sun on a perfect morning for baseball, scream the SpongeBob SquarePants song and hear Brett Roneberg tell a whopper of a tale Wednesday
Talk about a pretty good day

The team those kids came to root for, however, had nowhere near as much fun on the field
The Curve managed just two hits against some dominant Erie pitching and lost, 5-1, before the kid-heavy crowd of 5,014 at Blair County Ballpark

The morning started with a pregame Q&A session where some of the school kids quizzed Roneberg
The outfielder showed off his quick wit after one kid asked, ‘‘Have you ever hit a ball out of the park?’’
Roneberg said yes, then joked, ‘‘I actually hit it over that roller coaster once’’
Uhhhh, yeah
That would be about 700 feet over the Skyliner in right field

Ironically, home runs ended up playing a key role in the game
Even more ironic was that one of the long balls came down to a matter of inches
‘‘I thought I had it’’ Curve left fielder Alex Fernandez said
Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, Fernandez raced down a flyball from Kody Kirkland at the left field wall and stuck his glove out at the top of the fence
The ball hit in his glove as he was running, then bounced out and over the wall for a two-run homer
‘‘One inch kept us from giving up two runs’’ Curve pitcher Wardell Starling said

Erie had pulled ahead, 2-1, on Andres Torres’ RBI single off Starling earlier in the sixth
Kirkland’s homer gave the SeaWolves plenty of cushion at 4-1

‘‘It wasn’t like Fernandez misplayed it or anything like that’’ Curve manager Tim Leiper said
‘‘It’s just unfortunate the ball went off his glove and went into the stands’’

It was especially unfortunate for the Curve given their offense was doing little against Erie starter Eulogio De La Cruz
The right-hander turned in his second straight brilliant outing, giving up a run on two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks
De La Cruz had tossed a masterpiece his previous start, a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts against Harrisburg
The Tigers’ No. 6 prospect fired in the mid-90s consistently and also showed off his offspeed stuff and command Wednesday

‘‘He was real good’’ said Andrew McCutchen, whose third homer in five games accounted for the Curve’s lone run
‘‘He caught some of us off guard
You could see he had a lot of guys guessing, not knowing what he was going to do next’’

De La Cruz (4-2) got hammered his first three starts, giving up 11 earned runs in 15 innings (6.60 ERA)
He began turning things around April 27 against Bowie, striking out 10 and allowing three runs over eight innings, and has been lights out his past two starts

‘‘He’s been pitching more than throwing, using all of his pitches, and he has command of all of his pitches’’ Erie manager Matt Walbeck said
‘‘It was just a matter of time for him to figure out what he needed to accomplish’’

Adam Boeve’s single to start the seventh was Altoona’s only other hit off De La Cruz, who was used primarily in relief by the SeaWolves in 2006 and went 5-6 with a 3.43 ERA

‘‘Night and day’’ Leiper said of the difference in the pitcher
‘‘He came out of the pen last year and threw hard, always had the good fastball
But once he hit a little adversity, he didn’t continue to pitch, he kind of backed off a little bit
Today he did everything’’

Anthony Tomey and Danny Zell each worked an inning of relief to finish off Erie’s two-hitter

Starling (1-3) allowed four runs on nine hits over seven innings for the loss, though he was just inches away from a more impressive outing
‘‘The goal is to get better every start, and I feel like I’m getting better each time I go out there’’ Starling said