The Result
Curve - 5 runs to 4

The Curve - Year-to-Date
23 wins and 27 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
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Playing
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Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance

Second plate appearance

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At the end of the Game
0 hit from 0 at-bats

Heard during the game

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Game Reports

Brian Peterson's bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning snapped a tie ballgame as the Altoona Curve edged first-place Akron, 5-4, on a sunny and warm afternoon in front of 6,862 fans on School Kids Day at Blair County Ballpark

Altoona (23-27) has now won four of five games after ending a 10-game losing streak last weekend at Bowie

The win also gave the Curve a series victory over the Aeros (30-22), who entered Thursday's series finale with a 2-1/2 game lead over Erie for the top spot in the E.L. South

The Curve's sixth-inning run came without the benefit of a base hit
T.J. Burton entered the game in relief of starter Scott Lewis and retired Randy Ruiz for the inning's first out
Neil Walker then reached base safely after swinging and missing at a third strike that got away from Akron catcher Javi Herrera
Steven Pearce walked and Alex Fernandez reached on a fielding error to load the bases, setting up Peterson's eventual game-winning base on balls

Jason Bowers' three-run homer in the third inning put Altoona on the board, while Pearce blasted a solo dinger in the fourth

The Aeros (30-22) manufactured their first run in the third
Trevor Crowe walked to lead off the frame and stole second
With Herrera at the plate, the designated hitter swiped third and come home on catcher Peterson's throwing error

Jason Roach (2-1) pitched three scoreless innings to earn the win
The 31-year-old veteran entered the game in the sixth inning with runners on first and second and no outs, but managed to escape unscathed

Matt Peterson tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning and notched his eighth save, while starter Wardell Starling lasted five-plus innings, yielding four runs - three earned - on eight hits

Burton (0-2) took the loss, allowing an unearned run on a hit and two walks over three innings

Lewis surrendered four runs on six hits over six frames

The Curve will remain at Blair County Ballpark for a weekend series against the Reading Phillies
The two clubs will play four games over three days beginning Friday night at 7.05pm
Right-hander Yoslan Herrera (0-4, 5.91) will take the mound in search of his first win of the season, while Reading will counter with righty Tim McClaskey (4-4, 3.64)

Fans attending Friday's 7.05pm game against Reading will be eligible to become the Curve's 3 millionth fan in franchise history
The milestone fan will be selected randomly and will be awarded season tickets for life, a complimentary VIP parking spot at Blair County Ballpark and other prizes

In addition, the first 2,000 women in attendance will receive a Curve Tote Bag courtesy of the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association

Ballpark gates will open at 6.00pm

Brian Peterson's bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning snapped a tie ballgame as Altoona edged Akron, 5-4, on Thursday afternoon

The Curve's sixth-inning run came without the benefit of a base hit
T.J. Burton entered the game in relief of starter Scott Lewis and retired Randy Ruiz for the inning's first out
Neil Walker then reached base safely after swinging and missing at a third strike that got away from Akron catcher Javi Herrera
Steven Pearce walked and Alex Fernandez reached on a fielding error to load the bases, setting up Peterson's eventual game-winning base on balls

Jason Bower's three-run homer in the third inning put Altoona (23-27) on the board, while Pearce blasted a solo dinger in the fourth

The Aeros (30-22) manufactured their first run in the third
Trevor Crowe walked to lead off the frame and stole second
With Herrera at the plate, the designated hitter swiped third and come home on catcher Peterson's throwing error

Brian Barton and Jonathan Van Every each drove in a run in the fourth before Akron tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth
Asdrubal Cabrera doubled, advanced to third on Jordan Brown's single and came home on Barton's infield single

Jason Roach (2-1) pitched three scoreless innings to earn the win
The 31-year-old veteran entered the game in the sixth inning with runners on first and second and no outs, but managed to escape unscathed

Matt Peterson tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning and notched his eighth save, while starter Wardell Starling lasted five-plus innings, yielding four runs - three earned - on eight hits

Burton (0-2) took the loss, allowing an unearned run on a hit and two walks over three innings

Lewis surrendered four runs on six hits over six frames

Jason Bowers came up with the biggest hit of the game Thursday morning, but it had everybody fooled
Even Bowers himself

The Curve second baseman lofted a three-run homer into the left field bleachers against highly-touted Akron lefthanded pitcher Scott Lewis in the third inning, highlighting Altoona’s 5-4 victory before 6,862 fans in the Curve’s final School Kid’s Day promotion of the season at Blair County Ballpark

What wound up as the game’s decisive blow initially appeared to be a lazy fly ball that Akron left fielder Ryan Goleski had drawn a bead on
But much to Bowers’ delight, it kept carrying and carrying, clearing the fence to give the Curve a 3-1 lead

“I had failed to get a bunt down before that, so I was kind of upset with myself’’ Bowers said
“Lewis threw a fast ball inside, and I knew that I hit it well
But coming out of the box, I was fooled a little bit, because the left fielder Goleski appeared to be camped under the ball
I was happy it went out’’

Bowers’ second homer of the season came after catcher Brian Peterson and shortstop Taber Lee had reached on singles for the Curve, who won two out of three from Southern Division-leading Akron in the just-completed series

“He’s our leadoff hitter, and you don’t expect that kind of power from your leadoff hitter, but he always seems to come up big at the right time for us’’ Curve manager Tim Leiper said of Bowers
“A three-run homer is always a manager’s best friend, and that was awesome
He’s been really setting the tone for us in the leadoff spot’’

After Akron tied the game, 3-3 in the top of the fourth, the Curve regained the lead on first baseman Steven Pearce’s third homer in an Altoona uniform in the bottom of the fourth
Pearce drove a fast ball by Lewis - who was drafted third out of Ohio State in the 2004 draft by the Cleveland Indians organization - to left to give Altoona a 4-3 lead

“I fouled off the pitch before that’’ Pearce said
“Hopefully, this winning two of three from Akron will be the start of a trend for us, and we can get back to our winning ways’’

The Curve manufactured the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, after Akron had forged a 4-4 tie in the top of the sixth on Asdrubal Cabrera’s leadoff double, a single by Jordan Brown, and Brian Barton’s infield hit
Altoona got to Akron reliever and losing pitcher T.J. Burton for the decisive run
Neil Walker struck out with one out, but reached first after Burton’s strikeout pitch sailed into the dirt past catcher Javier Herrera
After Pearce walked, Alex Fernandez reached when Akron first baseman Brown mishandled Alex Fernandez’s grounder, loading the bases
Walker scored from third base when Brian Peterson drew a bases-loaded walk, forcing in the go-ahead run

“When you see a pitch go in the dirt like that on a third strike, you’ve got to to take off for first’’ Walker said
“That ended up being a big play in the inning’’

It was one of several misplays in the game that left Akron manager Tim Bogar in a funk afterward
“I thought we played horribly’’ he said
“We didn’t play aggressively, we didn’t pitch well, we made mistakes on the bases
We basically gave Altoona the game today’’

Akron took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning on Barton’s run-scoring single to left field and Jon Van Avery’s RBI double down the right field line off Curve starting pitcher Wardell Starling

Starling worked five innings, while Jason Roach pitched a scoreless next three, allowing just one hit, to gain credit for the victory

Matt Peterson pitched a perfect ninth inning for his eighth save of the season

“It’s nice to win two out of three games in this series against the first-place team’’ Leiper said
“That’s what we set out to do today
We battled back from adversity, and we kept plugging’’