Persistent rain forced the postponement of Wednesday's scheduled game between the Altoona Curve and the Portland Sea Dogs

The game will be made up Thursday as part of a doubleheader beginning at 10.35am
The doubleheader will consist of two seven-inning games

The Curve are expected to stay with Wednesday's scheduled starter, RHP Yoslan Herrera (0-3, 6.00) in game one and come back with RHP Kip Bouknight (4-0, 2.31) in game two
The Sea Dogs probable starters for the doubleheader are RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 1.85), who was scheduled to start Wednesday in game one and LHP Daniel Haigwood (0-0, 0.00) in game two

The Curve blew it Wednesday morning
But was it their fault?

Of course it was

Or maybe not

Many issues are never as cut and dried as they first appear, and the Curve endured a doozy Wednesday that led to a public relations disaster
The franchise has developed a bad reputation among some fans over the past few years for calling rain delays when there actually has been little or no rain
What transpired yesterday morning took the cake

A scheduled 10.35am game at Blair County Ballpark ended up getting postponed after a bizarre ‘‘dry delay’’ of 1 hour, 50 minutes
The Curve and Portland could have gotten under way on time and played six or seven innings - enough for an official game - before any heavy rain fell
Instead, the tarp remained on the field
It finally started raining at 12:25, and the game was postponed half an hour later

Many fans could be heard expressing their frustration during the delay, wondering why the game didn’t start
The field, after all, was dry enough, and only a light sprinkle was falling
It was a ridiculous situation

But was it unavoidable?
That’s where things get tricky

Shortly before 10.00am, the radar showed a patch of storms from Altoona to west of Pittsburgh
The forecast looked bad, but it was barely sprinkling at BCB at the time
Curve general manager Todd Parnell decided it was raining hard enough to call for a delay, meaning the 10.35am start time wouldn’t hold

Parnell’s decision was wrong
His reasoning behind the decision, however, was correct

If the radar looks bad enough that rain might delay a game in the second or third inning, it’s understandable to delay the start
The worst thing that can happen for the teams is to begin the game and burn a starting pitcher in only one or two innings

Curve manager Tim Leiper agreed with the decision to delay

Trouble is, it’s hard to ask fans to sit around and wait when it’s not raining
If it starts pouring in 20 or 30 minutes, it looks like a good decision
This time, it didn’t rain for close to two hours, which made the Curve look rather foolish

This isn’t the first time this has happened
On July 4, 2003, a crowd of 9,137 sat around for 78 minutes through a dry delay
The Mirror received letters from fans complaining the Curve were milking the delay so they could sell more concessions to the huge crowd

It’s sad some fans think of the Curve management that way because Parnell and managing partner Chuck Greenberg have gone out of their way to do everything right by the fans over the years
Still, perception is reality to most people, and fans just don’t like standing around waiting when it’s not raining

Another significant occurrence happened Sept. 14, 2004 during Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series
Scheduled for 7.05pm, the game didn’t get under way until 10.09pm because of a threat of heavy rains that never materialized
The fiasco of that game, which didn’t end until 12.59am, badly damaged the Curve’s reputation concerning 'dry delays'
The kicker, though, is that unlike regular-season games, the franchise had no control over the start of that playoff contest
The EL makes the call in the postseason, and the league did the Curve no favors that night

Curve staffers pay close attention to the radar before and during games
But if past missteps are any indication, they sometimes don’t seem to realize forecasting weather in Altoona is more complex because this is a valley surrounded by mountains
‘‘It’s more difficult, I won’t say extremely more difficult, but it’s more difficult’’ WTAJ chief meteorologist Joe Murgo said
‘‘When you have a line of precipitation like that coming from western Pennsylvania with a front, with these showers and storms, they tend to sometimes fall apart
While it looks like the rain is only a few minutes away, sometimes it delays a little bit
The reason why is the mountains just off to the left’’

The skies may have been dry, but the radar clearly showed pending problems for Altoona on Wednesday
What couldn’t be determined was just how long it would take for the heavy storms to arrive
The Curve made their best estimate, and it just turned out to be wrong
Still, even Murgo, who was in contact with team officials Wednesday, can’t fault them for the delay
‘‘As a meteorologist, I would say I would have had to do the same thing that they did’’ he said

No matter how upset fans were - the Curve were lucky the crowd was mostly kids instead of adults who could hold a grudge - they’re not more frustrated than franchise officials about Wednesday’s postponement
Parnell and Greenberg care deeply about the fans and were distraught over the possibility the situation could lead to ill will
It does them no good, they said, to have a lengthy delay that leads to public ridicule and a postponement that will end up costing the franchise $60,000 or more (typical for the size crowd on hand Wednesday)
‘‘Canceling this game was the worst thing we could do to ourselves financially’’ Parnell said
‘‘No financial good comes from giving away 6,000 tickets’’

Hopefully all those involved in the decision-making process learned a lesson Wednesday, a day everybody lost at Blair County Ballpark

The Result
Game One - Curve - 2 runs to 1
Game Two - Sea Dogs - 15 runs to 3

The Curve - Year-to-Date
19 wins and 17 losses

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

Brett's at-bats --- Game One
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Called strike
Ball - breaking ball - high
Swing and a miss
Ball - fast ball - below the knees
"There's a little roller across to the second-baseman who collects the ball and throws on to first base for the final out of the innings"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
"Roneberg was all over that pitch ... it's a hard hit line drive which goes passed the rightfielder and all the way to the warning track ... Brett is standing at second base with a two out double and that is just the second hit for the Curve tonight"
Double to rightfield
Left stranded at the end of the innings
NOTE - click here to see four photos of Brett running to and then standing at second base
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Called strike - curve ball
Swing and a miss
Ball - fast ball - high
Ball - fast ball - high
"Here comes the 2ball-2strike pitch ... and it's a change up ... and it's a beauty!!! ... Brett was way out ahead and swings through it ... you don't very often see Roneberg fooled by a pitch but he definately was there"
Strike out

Brett's at-bats --- Game Two
First plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Ball - low and outside
Called strike
Ball
Called strike
Foul ball
Foul ball - sprayed down the left hand side
"That is hit back up the middle but it's covered by the Sea Dogs shortstop who collects the ball and throws on to first base for the out"
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 3
NOTE - click here to see eighteen photos taken during the above at-bat
Second plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - breaking ball - up and in
Ball - fast ball
Ball - fast ball - up and away
Called strike - slider - "The pitcher was showing a bit of respect there for Roneberg ... with a 3ball-0strike count, he didn't want to throw a fat fast ball to the Curve's number three hitter in case he had the green light from Manager, Tim Leiper"
Ball - fast ball - down and away
Walk
Advanced to second base on a walk
Advanced to third base on a passed ball
Scored on a hit
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - fast ball - up and away
Ball - fast ball - down and in
Called strike - breaking ball
Foul ball - breaking ball - near the third base line
"Roneberg swings over a very nice slider that was down and in and strikes out for the first out of the innings"
Strike out
Fourth plate appearance
Unable to listen - below is the play-by-play report for the bottom of the sixth inning
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - two down
----------Pitcher Change - Jose Vaquedano replaces Lincoln Holdzkom
----------Brian Peterson singles on a fly ball to leftfielder Jeffrey Corsaletti
----------Taber Lee flies out to centerfielder Jay Johnson
----------Andrew McCutchen flies out to centerfielder Jay Johnson
----------Adam Boeve singles on a ground ball to pitcher Jose Vaquedano
--------------------Brian Peterson to second
----------Brett Roneberg strikes out swinging
Strike out

At the end of the Games
Game One
----------1 hit from 3 at-bats - double, 1 x strike out
Game Two
----------0 hit from 3 at-bats - 1 x walk, 1 x run scored, 2 x strike outs
TOTAL
----------1 hit from 6 at-bats - double, 1 x walk, 1 x run scored, 3 x strike outs

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Game One

The Curve were walk-off winners in game one as Adam Boeve's flare-single to right-field scored Steven Pearce in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 2-1 win

Altoona was put in a position to win by Yoslan Herrera, who turned in a solid 5-1/3 innings allowing just one earned run on six base hits
Herrera was matched most of the ballgame by highly regarded Clay Buchholz
Buchholz worked a strong five innings also allowing just one earned run on two hits

The run Buchholz allowed came in the second inning as Randy Ruiz singled to lead off the frame and advanced around to third on back-to-back walks issued by Buchholz to both Pearce and Alex Fernandez
Brandon Chaves brought Ruiz in for a 1-0 Curve lead with a sacrifice-fly to center-field

The game remained at 1-0 until the top of the sixth inning
Herrera started the inning for Altoona and struck out Zach Borowiak, but three consecutive hits followed for the Sea Dogs, allowing Iggy Suarez to come home to tie the ballgame at 1-1

Romulo Sanchez took over for Herrera to retire one batter and then it was up to Dave Davidson (2-0)

Davidson kept the Sea Dogs quiet through the seventh and gave the Curve a chance to win the ballgame in the bottom of the inning
The Curve did just that as they made a winner of Davidson with a run in the bottom of the inning
Reliever Beau Vaughan walked Pearce to lead off the inning and a batter later he advanced to third on a single for Chaves
Boeve pinch-hit and became the hero for Altoona, blooping a single into shallow right-field to score Pearce and give the Curve a 2-1 win

Game Two

Game two started with a home run for Portland's Jeff Corsaletti and actually got worse for Altoona as they suffered their most lop-sided defeat of the season, 15-3

Kip Bouknight (4-1) who has been tremendous thus far this season gave up the home run to Corsaletti to lead off the ballgame for a 1-0 Portland lead

The Curve responded as Andrew McCutchen led off the first with a triple and scored on an Adam Boeve ground-out to tie the score at 1-1

It was all Portland from there, as Bouknight gave up a three-run homer to Eric Crozier in the third inning to give the Sea Dogs a lead they would never relinquish at 4-1

The Curve did close to 4-3 in the bottom of the inning, using four walks and an RBI single by Neil Walker to score two runs against Portland starter Daniel Haigwood

The game didn't remain close for long however as the Sea Dogs scored two more times on Bouknight in the fourth inning and then broke the game open with a five-run frame in the sixth

In the top of the seventh, Portland threatened the Curve's all-time franchise record for runs allowed as they scored four more runs to bring their total to 15
In the Curve's history, which dates back to 1999, the most runs they had ever allowed was 16

Altoona did win the series on the basis of winning the first game of the series on Tuesday 6-2, and game one of the doubleheader 2-1
The Curve have gone undefeated in their past six series, a string that dates back to their series against Binghamton (April 27-29)

Bowie will arrive at Blair County Ballpark on Friday for a three-game series
Game one will feature RHP Luis Munoz (5-0, 2.03) for the Curve v LHP Oscar Alvarez (4-1, 4.28) for Bowie

Adam Boeve's pinch-hit RBI single gave Altoona a 2-1 walk-off victory over Portland in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon

Steven Pearce walked to lead off the decisive seventh inning and advanced to third on Brandon Chaves' single to right field
Boeve, hitting in place of the struggling Milver Reyes, followed with a game-winning single to right

The Curve got on the board in the second inning, as Randy Ruiz singled to lead off the frame and eventually scored on Chaves' sacrifice fly

Portland tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth, as Iggy Suarez hit a one-out double and scored when right fielder Alex Fernandez made a fielding error on Jeffrey Corsaletti's single

Dave Davidson (2-0) tossed 1-1/3 scoreless innings and earned the win

Starter Yoslan Herrera pitched well but remains winless over seven starts this season
The 25-year-old right-hander surrendered a run on six hits over 5-1/3 innings

Beau Vaughan (1-2) took the loss, yielding a run on two hits while retiring two batters

Starter Clay Buchholz allowed a run on three hits over 5-2/3 innings
The Texas native whiffed seven batters and now leads the Eastern League with 53 strikeouts on the season

Eric Crozier and Dusty Brown drove in four runs apiece as Portland pounded Altoona, 15-3, to split Thursday's doubleheader at Blair County Ballpark

Crozier, batting cleanup, clubbed a three-run homer in the third inning and ripped an RBI single in the sixth

Brown was 3-for-5 with a bases-loaded triple in a five-run sixth and an RBI single in the seventh
It was his first triple since 2003, when he had six for Augusta of the South Atlantic League

Reliever Lincoln Holdzkom (2-0) got the win after giving up a hit and two walks with four strikeouts in two scoreless frames for the Sea Dogs (16-17), who snapped a six-game losing streak

Jeffery Corsaletti led off the game with his first homer and was 2-for-2 with three runs scored for the Sea Dogs, while Jed Lowrie went 3-for-3 and scored three times

Curve starter Kip Bouknight (4-1) suffered his first loss after giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks in 3-2/3 innings

Andrew McCutchen tripled and scored for the Curve (19-17)

Adam Boeve and Neil Walker each plated a run

-

Eric Crozier and Dusty Brown each knocked in four runs as the Portland Sea Dogs ended a six-game losing streak with a 15-3 win over the Altoona Curve in game two of a Thursday doubleheader at Blair County Ballpark

The Curve won the opener, 2-1 on Adam Boeve's walkoff RBI single in the seventh inning

The 15 runs scored by Portland were the most scored in a game by the Sea Dogs since an 18-4 win at Harrisburg on June 16, 2005
The 15 runs and 12-run margin of victory were the most against the Curve in Sea Dogs franchise history

Crozier snapped a 1-1 tie in the third inning with a three-run home run, his fourth of the season, off Kip Bouknight (4-1)
He added an RBI single in a five-run sixth inning, which was capped by Brown's three-run triple
Brown also singled in a run during a four-run seventh frame

Jeff Corsaletti led off the game with his first Double-A home run
He finished with two hits, three walks, two RBI and three runs scored

Jed Lowrie also reached base five times with a triple, two singles, two walks, an RBI and three runs scored

Crozier, Jay Johnson, Iggy Suarez and Zach Borowiak all reached base twice and scored two runs

Lincoln Holdzkom (2-0) tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win

Jose Vaquedano and Mike James each fired scoreless innings to round out the win

In the opener, Clay Buchholz fanned seven in 5.2 innings in a no-decision as Portland's season-long losing streak was extended to six games

In the seventh inning off reliever Beau Vaughan (1-2), Steven Pearce drew a leadoff walk
One batter later, Brandon Chaves delivered a single, moving Pierce to third
Boeve pinch hit for Milver Reyes and blooped a single to right field between three Sea Dogs for the win

Buchholz tossed 5.2 innings of three-hit, one-run ball, walking three and fanning seven while throwing 81 pitches (49 for strikes)
Buchholz joins current Red Sox ace Josh Beckett as the only Sea Dogs in franchise history to fan at least seven batters in six straight starts
Beckett struck out at least seven batters in his final seven starts with Portland in 2001

Notes
Cory Keylor singled in the fifth inning of game one to extend his on-base streak to 17 straight games, the longest current streak in the Eastern League - he did not play in the finale
Jeff Corsaletti and Jed Lowrie each reached base in their final six plate appearances of the twinbill - Lowrie has reached base in his last 15 games, raising his batting average 70 points to .230 and his on-base percentage 90 points to .361

Yoslan Herrera took another step forward in his development to start Thursday’s doubleheader, but things got so bad later that Curve manager Tim Leiper summoned catcher Milver Reyes to pitch and finish the hemorrhaging in the second game

Herrera had his second consecutive solid performance in leading the Curve to a 2-1 win to start the morning

Portland then battered Altoona, 15-3, to salvage a split before 6,421 fans at Blair County Ballpark

Herrera breezed through the first four innings, allowing only one hit and facing the minimum

Portland singled twice in the fifth, but Herrera pumped his fists after he forced John Otness to bounce into a double play to escape unscathed

Portland finally got to Herrera in the sixth, tying the game 1-1 when Jeff Corsaletti singled to right and Iggy Suarez scored on Alex Fernandez’s error

Herrera, who came in with a 6.00 ERA, allowed just the one run on six hits with three strikeouts over 5-1/3 innings

‘‘He got outs with strikes’’ Pirates farm director Brian Graham said after watching Herrera’s performance
‘‘He didn’t get outs with balls out of the strike zone
That’s more concerning to me’’

Adam Boeve’s pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the seventh and final inning scored Steven Pearce from third to give the Curve the victory

Dave Davidson (2-0) earned the win in relief, and Beau Vaughan (1-2) took the loss

Herrera had not pitched since April of 2005 after defecting from Cuba and struggled early in the season, giving up 18 runs over his first four starts before working on his mechanics with pitching coach Ray Searage

‘‘Before, I didn’t have that much confidence because I didn’t pitch in a while’’ Herrera said through translator Randy Ruiz
‘‘Now I’m getting better and better’’

Searage has noticed the difference
‘‘I can sense it, I can feel it and I can see it in the way his body language is on the mound’’ he said
Herrera responded to the changes in his delivery by giving up one run in six innings against Harrisburg on May 11
‘‘His consistency with his command is a lot better’’ Searage said

Graham, who called Herrera’s mechanics ‘‘excellent,’’ saw the pitcher at Akron in his minor league debut
Graham said Double-A baseball is at a level comparable to what the right-hander faced in Cuba
‘‘He’s much more mature, much more composed and has a much better feel for what he’s doing’’ Graham said
‘‘For him to step in here and just be competitive is good’’

The Curve missed an opportunity to sweep when Portland jumped on starter Kip Bouknight early

Corsaletti’s homer on the first pitch he saw led off the second game, an indication of how the Sea Dogs would batter the Curve pitching staff

Eric Crozier, bringing a .194 average into his at-bat in the third inning, ripped Bouknight’s offering to the opposite field, clanging the ball off empty bleachers for a three-run homer with two outs
Crozier’s hit put Portland up, 4-1, but the Curve scored twice in their half of the third to stay close

The Sea Dogs kept pounding the ball, though, and started pulling away with a pair of two-out runs in the fourth

Bouknight (4-1), eighth in the Eastern League with a 2.31 ERA coming in, gave up six runs in 3-2/3 innings to see his ERA rise to 3.38

Lincoln Holdzkom (2-0) earned the win in relief for Portland

The Sea Dogs poured it on in the final two innings, scoring nine runs off Justin Vaclavik and Jason Roach before Leiper saw enough and called on Reyes to record the final out of the game

Portland’s 15 runs fell one shy of the most ever allowed by the Curve