The Result
Game One - Curve
- 2 runs to 0
Game Two - Curve - 11 runs to 2
The Curve - Year-to-Date
39 wins and 37
losses
Brett's Position and
the Batting Order
Did Not Play
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
Game One
Steven Pearce supplied the offense and Luis Munoz turned in the
first complete game shutout of the season as the Curve rolled
past the Thunder, 2-0, in game one of the doubleheader
Munoz (8-4) went the distance allowing just five hits to earn
his team best eighth win of the season
His complete game shutout was the first of the season for Altoona
and marked the first time a Curve hurler had accomplished the
feat since Landon Jacobsen shut out the Harrisburg Senators on
June 22nd, 2006
Jacobsen's performance came in a rain-shortened six-inning game
in Harrisburg
Vic Buttler returned to the Curve lineup for the first time since
April 25th, and got the Curve started against Thunder starter
Joba Chamberlain with an infield single in the first inning
Buttler then stole second base and scored the first run of the
game as Pearce rocketed a double off the wall in left field
Again it was Pearce who put the Curve on the board in the third
Chamberlain walked the bases loaded before facing Pearce with
one out
Pearce promptly ripped a ball into left field to score Dave Parrish
and give the Curve a 2-0 lead
It stood up as Munoz took it the rest of the way
Chamberlain (2-1) tied a career high with 10 strikeouts, but took
the loss for Trenton
The Thunder stretched a season-long losing streak to five games
with the defeat
The Curve pulled themselves back above .500 (38-37) with the win
Game Two
On the strength of a Neil Walker grand slam and a Steven Pearce
two-run home run, the Curve routed the Thunder, 11-2, in game
two to sweep the doubleheader
Thunder starter Brett Smith, who came into the game third in the
Eastern League in ERA, walked Jason Bowers to open the ballgame
That set the tone as both Walker and Pearce contributed sacrifice
flies in the inning to give the Curve a 2-0 lead
Bowers was on the other end of the rally as he singled in Jason
Delaney for a 3-0 lead in the second inning
Dewon Brazelton (1-1) earned his first win for the Curve after
turning in five strong innings
The only bump in the road for Brazelton came in the third as he
allowed three consecutive hits including an RBI single to Carlos
Mendoza
The Curve got the run back and then some in the bottom of the
inning
Walker drew a walk to start the frame and scored on a mammoth
blast to left field for Pearce that put the Curve ahead, 5-1
The inning continued as Adam Boeve reached on an error and scored
on a sacrifice fly for Brian Peterson
The Curve put the final nail in the Trenton coffin in the fifth
Zac Kroenke entered in relief and walked Andrew McCutchen to start
the inning
Two batters later, Brandon Chaves singled in McCutchen for a 7-1
lead
Kroenke walked the next two batters and ran the count full to
Walker with the bases loaded
Walker teed off on the payoff pitch and sent it over the wall
in left field for a grand slam
Walker's blast was the second grand slam of the year for the Curve
as they stretched the lead to 11-1
The Thunder capped the scoring with an inconsequential run off
of Romulo Sanchez in the sixth inning
Both Walker and Pearce had five RBI in the doubleheader
Smith (6-4) was saddled with the loss for Trenton
The Curve will have a chance to sweep the four-game series on
Friday night at 7.05pm
The Curve can also claim the seven-game season series as they
send RHP Yoslan Herrera (2-5, 5.43) against RHP Jeff Marquez (8-4,
3.07) for Trenton
Luis Munoz tossed his first career shutout
as Altoona blanked visiting Trenton, 2-0, in the opener of Thursday's
doubleheader
Munoz (8-4) allowed five hits and two walks with three strikeouts
as he outdueled previously unbeaten Thunder starter Joba Chamberlain
(2-1), who yielded two runs on five hits and four walks with a
season-high 10 strikeouts over five innings
The complete game was Munoz's first since Aug. 22, 2006, when
he also went seven innings against Winston-Salem for Class A Advanced
Lynchburg
Steve Pearce, who went 3-for-3, delivered a two-out RBI double
in the first inning and added a run-scoring single in the third
for the Curve (38-37)
Gabe Lopez went 2-for-2 with a double for Trenton (47-29)
Neil Walker homered and drove in a season-high
five runs as Altoona trounced visiting Trenton, 11-2, to sweep
Thursday's doubleheader
Walker lifted a sacrifice fly in the first inning and slugged
a two-out grand slam in the fifth
The 21-year-old third baseman is batting .381 (32-for-84) with
three homers, 12 doubles and 14 RBIs in June
Steven Pearce also had a sacrifice fly in the first and belted
a two-run homer in the third for the Curve (39-37)
Starter Dewon Brazelton (1-1) got the win after allowing a run
on three hits and two walks in five innings
Carlos Mendoza ripped an RBI single in the third and Noah Hall
added a sacrifice fly in the sixth for the Thunder (47-30), who
have lost six straight
Brett Smith (6-4) lost his second consecutive start after surrendering
six runs - five earned - on five hits and three walks over three
innings
Altoona 1B Steven Pearce and 3B Neil Walker
collected five RBI apiece in Thursday's doubleheader to lead the
Altoona Curve to a sweep of the Thunder, 2-0 and 11-2
The two losses runs Trenton's losing streak to six games, matching
their season-high
In the opener, Curve starter Luis Munoz (8-4) scattered five hits
over seven shutout innings in the win
He walked two and struckout three
Trenton (47-29) had their "leadoff" batter on in three
of their six innings, but the Thunder were 0-for-5 with men in
scoring position
The Curve (38-37) took the lead in the 1st Inning on a two-out
RBI double by Pearce
Pearce added an RBI single in the 3rd inning for the second Curve
run
Thunder starter Joba Chamberlain (2-1) took the loss allowing
two runs over five innings
He had four walks and tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts
In Game #2, the Curve tagged Trenton's Brett Smith for two runs
in the 1st Inning on sacrifice flies from Walker and Pearce
An RBI single by 2B Jason Bowers made it a 3-0 lead in the 2nd
Inning
After Trenton got an RBI single by SS Carlos Mendoza in the 3rd
Inning, Pearce added a two-run homer as part of three-run inning
for a 6-1 lead
Smith (6-4) took the loss charged with six runs (five earned)
in three innings
Altoona then added five more runs off reliever Zach Kroenke in
the 5th Inning, including a grand slam homer by Walker
Curve starter Dewon Brazelton (1-1) allowed one run over five
innings for the victory
Trenton will send Jeff Marquez (8-4, 3.07) to the mound on Friday
in the series finale looking to snap the losing streak
Altoona will counter with Yoslan Herrera (2-5, 5.43)
Steven Pearce may not have been good enough
to make the Eastern League Baseball Writers Association midseason
all-star team
He was plenty good enough to help the Curve sweep Trenton, the
best team in the Eastern League, on Thursday night
Pearce had two RBIs in the first game, then had three more in
the nightcap as Altoona swept the Thunder, 2-0 and 11-2, before
5,083 fans at Blair County Ballpark
‘‘It’s no knock on him’’ Altoona manager
Tim Leiper said of the omission
‘‘It’s an inexact science
He’s playing great, that’s the important thing’’
The Curve also received two strong performances from starters
Luis Munoz and Dewon Brazelton, then got five RBIs - including
a grand slam - from Neil Walker in game two
‘‘The grand slam is definitely a confidence booster’’
Walker said
‘‘I put a pretty good swing on the ball’’
Munoz pitched seven shutout innings, and Brazelton worked five
innings for the win
Reeling Trenton has now lost five in a row, eight of 10 on a 12-game
road trip and 16 of 18 at BCB since becoming a New York Yankees
affiliate in 2003
The Curve’s pitching staff entered this series with the second-worst
ERA in the league, but has made Trenton look bad through the series’
first three games
The Thunder have scored four runs in 23 innings
‘‘I think our guys found out in this series how good
we can be when we stick to the game plan and don’t give away
at-bats’’ Leiper said, before adding later that ‘‘I
think we’re a better team than maybe we give ourselves credit
for
We’ve shown we can play with anybody’’
Altoona built an early 2-0 first inning lead in game two on Walker
and Pearce sacrifice flies off starter Brett Smith, who has a
7.73 ERA in his past three starts after giving up five earned
runs in three innings Thursday
Smith entered with a 2.30 ERA
Eleven of the 27 runs Smith (6-4) have allowed this season have
been in the first inning, but the damage didn’t end there
Thursday
Pearce ripped his 10th homer of the season to put the Curve up
5-1 in the fourth inning, and Brian Peterson’s sacrifice
fly added the third run of the inning
‘‘They’re a really good team’’ Pearce
said
‘‘We showed up ready to play’’
Five more crossed in the fifth, highlighted by Walker’s grand
slam, as the Curve cruised to the win in the second game
Brazelton (1-1) held Trenton to three hits and one run in five
innings
Pearce, who went 3-for-3 in the first game, smoked the ball his
first two at-bats against Thunder starter Joba Chamberlain
He lined a double off the left-field wall for a 1-0 first inning
lead, then hit a frozen-rope single in the third as Altoona took
a 2-0 advantage
Munoz (8-4) limited a scuffling Thunder offense to five hits
Trenton placed only two runners in scoring position and no runner
reached third
He also struck out three and allowed only two walks in holding
Trenton to no more than one runner in any of his seven innings
Only two of Munoz’s 99 offerings were hit with any kind of
authority
Cody Ehlers doubled to left-center to lead off the fourth, and
P.J. Pilittere flew out to the wall in left
‘‘I think he learned the value tonight of really going
after the opponent and following the game plan’’ Leiper
said
‘‘He pitched great
To throw a complete game against the best team in the Northern
Division, that’s saying something’’
The Thunder have scored just 13 in their past six games without
Shawn Garrett, who was the team’s leading hitter before his
release last Friday
With the additions of Jason Delaney and Vic Buttler, the Curve
had little trouble scoring
Buttler combined to go 3-for-5 in two games, scored three times,
drew a walk and stole a base
Buttler had been out since April 25 with an injured right hamstring
‘‘You start the season with expectations, sometimes
things don’t go as planned’’ he said
‘‘I battled through with my injury and feel a lot better
now’’
Delaney went 2-for-5 with a double
‘‘The additions strengthen our lineup a lot’’
Pearce said
‘‘We had good hitters anyway’’
Chamberlain (2-1) labored through his five innings despite fanning
a season-best 10 Curve batters
The hard-throwing righty also allowed four walks and five hits
in throwing 103 pitches
Thirty-three of those came in the third inning, when he loaded
the bases with one out against the heart of Altoona’s lineup
Pearce singled, but Chamberlain’s changeup froze Adam Boeve
and Andrew McCutchen grounded out