The Result
Aeros - 6 runs
to 4
The Curve - Year-to-Date
21 wins and 27
losses
Brett's Position and
the Batting Order
Did Not Play - currently
on the 'Disabled List'
Playing
Batting - #
Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Second plate appearance
Third plate appearance
Fourth plate appearance
At the end of the Game
0 hit from 0 at-bats
Heard during the game
Email from Brett
Game Reports
In the first game of a six-game Curve homestand,
the Akron Aeros scored two runs in the first inning and won by
that margin, taking the series-opener from the Curve, 6-4, on
Tuesday at Blair County Ballpark
Altoona starter Josh Shortslef (0-6) encountered early trouble
and was saddled with the loss for the Curve
In the first inning, Argenis Reyes led off with a single and scored
as the next batter, Brandon Pinckney, tripled into the left field
corner for a 1-0 Akron lead
Making matters worse for Altoona was an apparant shoulder injury
sustained by left fielder Matt Meath on the play
Meath was forced from the game and was replaced by Randy Ruiz
Brian Barton added a second run by singling home Pinckney, and
the Aeros led 2-0 before the Curve had come to bat
Altoona drew even in the second off of Aeros' starter Joe Ness
With one out, Adam Boeve started a string of four-consecutive
singles for the Curve
Boeve's single was followed by a single for Brandon Chaves
Brian Peterson drove in Boeve with the third single and Chaves
came home on an ensuing single for Ruiz to tie the game, 2-2
The Aeros grabbed the lead back in the fourth inning as Wyatt
Toregas doubled home Trevor Crowe for a 4-3 lead
The Curve grabbed the lead for the first time in the game with
a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning
Boeve walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on
a throwing error charged to Ness on an attempted pick-off move
Boeve then took third on a wild pitch and scored on an errant
throw by Toregas attempting to throw him out at third
Peterson later walked and scored to give the Curve a 4-3 lead
on a double by Jason Bowers
Shortslef found trouble again in the sixth, allowing back-to-back
doubles and the fourth Akron run before being lifted in favor
of Dave Davidson
Davidson couldn't escape the inning, conceding an RBI triple to
Argenis Reyes that put Akron in front, 5-4
The Aeros added an insurance in the eighth inning off of Davidson
to cap the scoring at 6-4
Jeff Stevens (1-0), making his Double-A debut, threw two scoreless
innings of relief in the fifth and sixth to claim his first win
of the season
Randy Newsom allowed an Alex Fernandez double in the ninth, but
kept the Curve at bay, striking out Andrew McCutchen to end the
ballgame and collect his third save of the season
With the win, the Aeros improved to 8-3 against the Curve this
season and also dropped Altoona eight games back in the Southern
Division
The series will continue on Wednesday night at 6.35pm
RHP Luis Munoz (5-2, 3.97) will make the start for Altoona against
LHP Reid Santos (2-0, 1.46) for the Aeros
Wyatt Toregas and Argenis Reyes drove in two
runs apiece to lead visiting Akron past Altoona, 6-4, on Tuesday
Toregas, who was 3-for-3 with a walk, hit RBI doubles in the fourth
and sixth innings
Reyes also collected three hits, including an RBI triple in the
sixth and a run-scoring single in the eighth
Trevor Crowe went 2-for-3 with three runs and Brandon Pinckney
chipped in an RBI and scored a run for the Aeros (30-20)
Reliever Jeffrey Stevens (1-0) yielded two hits and a walk, fanning
one over two scoreless innings for the win
Randy Newsom allowed one hit and a walk in a scoreless ninth to
earn his third save
Randy Ruiz went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Adam Boeve was 2-for-3
and scored twice for the Curve (21-27)
Altoona starter Josh Shortslef (0-6) remained winless after surrendering
five runs and 10 hits over 5-1/3 innings
He struck out two and walked three
Neil Walker placed both hands on the back of
his helmet and looked to the skies after narrowly missing a go-ahead
homer in the seventh inning
‘‘It’s a shame I decided to hit it to the deepest
part of the park’’ he said after Akron topped the Curve,
6-4, on Tuesday before 3,840 fans at Blair County Ballpark
Walker’s long flyball was caught at the wall near the 375
feet marker in right-center field and would have given Altoona
a 6-5 lead
Instead, it merely went down as another out
‘‘He smoked it’’ manager Tim Leiper said
‘‘He got every bit of it’’
‘‘That’s the tell-tale story of the games we’ve
been losing’’ Walker said
‘‘We’re inches away from everything’’
The Curve didn’t help their cause by stranding eight runners
in scoring position
Akron wasn’t much better - the Aeros left nine on base -
but did score the go-ahead and insurance runs with two outs
Akron erased a 4-3 deficit with two runs in the sixth off Curve
starter Josh Shortslef
He departed after Wyatt Toregas’ RBI double tied it, and
Argenis Reyes tripled in the go-ahead run later in the inning
off reliever Dave Davidson
Reyes later came through with a single in the eighth to give the
Aeros a 6-4 lead
‘‘They capitalized with runners in scoring position
and two outs, and we didn’t’’ Walker said
‘‘That’s not to blame anybody at all, but that’s
the way it happened’’
Akron starter Joe Ness entered the game with a 5.79 ERA and gave
up four runs in as many innings, but he escaped further damage
He induced Steven Pearce’s 4-6-3 double play with runners
on the corners to end the Curve’s first prime scoring chance
in the first inning, then stranded Brian Peterson and Jason Bowers
at second base in the second and fourth, respectively
‘‘We didn’t come up with a timely hit when we needed
it’’ Adam Boeve said
‘‘It’s frustrating, and as soon as we come up with
timely hits, we’ll be right back in there’’
Andrew McCutchen’s strikeout in the sixth inning against
reliever Jeff Stevens left the bases full
Stevens (1-0) reacted by punching his glove
Fittingly, Alex Fernandez watched the rest of the ninth inning
from second base after he doubled with one out off Randy Newsom,
who saved his third game of the season
‘‘It was a winnable game because we had the other pitchers
on the ropes’’ Leiper said
‘‘We had a couple at-bats where we could’ve done
a little more’’
Shortslef, whose run support had been 2.6 per game, had multiple
runs to work with for the second consecutive outing
The Curve scored six runs in his last start - also against the
Aeros - and Shortslef came away with a no-decision in that one
despite allowing one run in 5-1/3 innings
This time, Akron touched up Shortslef (0-6) for five runs in 5-1/3
innings
He was in position to get a win before struggling in the sixth
‘‘This guy’s a starting pitcher and he’s on
the major league 40-man roster’’ Leiper said
‘‘He needs to go out and get the win
He needs to pitch in those situations
I can’t keep running the bullpen out there
That’s not going to work’’
Shortslef’s command was off most of the night as he left
several pitches over the plate in allowing 10 hits and three walks
‘‘He needs to pitch down in the zone, and that’s
one thing we’re not doing’’ Leiper said
‘‘The bottom line is to keep the ball down’’
Altoona dropped to 8-17 against Akron and Bowie, two of the three
teams ahead of the Curve in the Southern Division
‘‘We’re not coming up with the base hit when we
need it’’ Boeve, 2-for-3 with two walks, said
‘‘It’s hurting us right now’’
Josh Shortslef stood in front of his locker,
gazed straight ahead and, without hesitation, owned up to the
situation
‘‘This stuff’s got to stop right now’’
the Curve pitcher said quietly but with unmistakable emphasis
Tuesday night
Altoona’s opening-day starter and member of the Pirates’
40-man roster, Shortslef was mad at himself after a rough outing
in a 6-4 loss to Akron
‘‘He should be mad’’ Curve manager Tim Leiper
said
‘‘He had a winnable ballgame today
We got him a lead, and he had a winnable ballgame and he didn’t
make his pitches
Good competitors get mad, and he should be mad’’
Shortslef has plenty to be mad about two months into the season
His 0-6 record is the second-worst start ever for a Curve pitcher
- surpassed by only Sam McConnell’s 0-7 mark in 1999 - and
this has been far from the breakthrough year the 25-year-old lefty
had hoped for
‘‘Right now, I’m pretty much horse-(expletive)’’
Shortslef said
His self description may be a bit harsh
Shortslef entered Tuesday’s start with a solid 3.33 ERA but
has fallen victim to little run support, a major culprit in his
winless mark
The Curve offense put up some runs for the pitcher Tuesday, though,
and he let the team down by failing to keep Akron at bay
Even Leiper, who rarely says anything negative about one of his
players, didn’t hold back when analyzing Shortslef’s
performance
‘‘The ball was up in the zone, his ability to put hitters
away was not there, way too many pitches over the middle part
of the plate, way too many pitches belt or above’’ Leiper
said
‘‘Even on a bad night, even when he’s not pitching
well, if he can pitch the ball down in the zone he’s going
to get wins’’
The manager seemed particularly perturbed about Shortslef’s
mindset in the first inning, when Akron scored two runs thanks
to what Leiper called ‘‘a lot of easy pitches’’
‘‘There’s got to be killer instinct when he comes
in from the bullpen to start the game’’ Leiper said
‘‘He can’t feel his way through the first inning;
he has to know exactly what he wants to do in that first inning
That’s the bottom line’’
Altoona’s offense battled back to give Shortslef a 4-3 lead
in the fourth, but he gave it right back by allowing two runs
in the sixth
It would have been worse in that inning if not for a phenomenal
diving play down the line by third baseman Neil Walker
‘‘The guys are behind me making good plays, and the
offense is there for me’’ Shortslef said
‘‘These guys are working their butts off for me, and
I’ve just got to execute my pitches better
I’m not giving up a lot of runs, but certain situations in
a game where I need to get my stuff down and execute pitches,
I’m just not doing it’’
Shortslef allowed five runs on 10 hits and three walks over 5-1/3
innings, not the kind of outing the Curve needed as they looked
to win three in a row after dropping 10 straight
This has been a disappointing season in a lot of ways for Altoona,
which fell to six games below .500, and Shortslef’s 0-6 record
ranks near the top of the most disappointing category
Almost as bad, the team is only 1-9 in his 10 starts, a far cry
from last year, when Shortslef became the first Curve pitcher
ever to open a season 5-0
‘‘I’m very disappointed the way things have gone’’
he said
Then Shortslef switched gears and said something that holds true
for the entire team
‘‘It’s a long season’’ he said ‘‘and
I’ve got a long couple months ahead of me to work on my stuff’’
If the Curve are to have any chance of turning their season around,
they’ll need Shortslef to do the same
Curve Notes
LF Matt Meath suffered a shoulder injury diving for a ball in
the first inning Tuesday night
Meath tried snaring Brandon Pinckney’s sinking liner and
suffered the injury when he landed