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After an 11-day absence, the Curve will finally return to Blair County Ballpark to begin a pivotal three-day four-game series with division rival Erie on Friday night at 7.05pm
The Curve currently trail the SeaWolves by 4-1/2 games for the final playoff spot in the Eastern League's Southern Division

--Friday's series opener will feature post-game fireworks presented by Envision Laser Centers

--Sunday's series finale to be contested at 6.05pm will also feature a post-game fireworks spectacular
Also on Sunday, all kids will be invited to run the BCB bases following the ballgame

--In between the two fireworks shows, the Curve and SeaWolves will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 5.35pm
BCB gates will open early at 4.30pm as the Curve and the Teeter Group present the Curve Hat Giveway to the first 2,000 fans of all ages

This weekend series includes the Curve's final home games before a regular season-ending eight-game homestand against the Harrisburg Senators and the Reading Phillies (August 23rd-30th)

The Result
SeaWolves - 5 runs to 4

The Curve - Year-to-Date
64 wins and 58 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Designated hitter
Batting - #4

---------------Replaced by a pinch hitter during the bottom of the eighth innings
---------------......and now click on the "PLAY" button for the details
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Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
......and now click on the "PLAY" button

Bouncing ball on the rightside which gets past the first-baseman but it's collected by the second-baseman who throws on to the pitcher covering the base - out 4 to 1
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
......and now click on the "PLAY" button

Laces a line drive into rightfield for a base hit - single to rightfield
The audio file also includes Brett stealing from second to third base
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
......and now click on the "PLAY" button

Hit back up the middle and the ball is picked up by the shortstop who steps on second base and then throws on to first base to complete the double play - out 6 unassisted double play
During the at-bat, the commentator mentions that the SeaWolves have "made a dramatic shift in the infield expecting Roneberg to pull the ball"

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - single, 1 x stolen base, 1 x grounded into a double play

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Curve climbed out of a 4-0 hole Friday night, only to be brushed aside, 5-4, in 10 innings by the Erie SeaWolves at Blair County Ballpark

The game went to a 10th inning tied at four following the Curve comeback, but the SeaWolves claimed the victory by plating the game-winning run off of Curve closer Matt Peterson
Will Rhymes walked to lead off the inning and scored three batters later on a Wilkin Ramirez sacrifice fly

Peterson (4-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season

40-year old SeaWolves' closer Alan Mills closed out the ballgame by tossing a scoreless 10th inning and earned his 20th save of the season

The loss puts the Curve 5-1/2 games behind the SeaWolves in the race for the wild-card spot in the Southern Division

The SeaWolves jumped on top against Curve starter Josh Shortlsef in the second inning as Jeff Larish and Matt Joyce contributed back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out
Russ Johnson committed an error on a ball to third base off the bat of Ramirez allowing Larish to score the game's first run
Steve Torrealba followed with a single that score both Joyce and Ramirez, and the SeaWolves led 3-0

Erie put the Curve down four runs in the fourth
Ramirez led off with a single and scored a batter later as Pedro Cotto delivered an RBI single

The Curve comeback began as newcomer Russ Johnson homered to left field off of Erie starter Dallas Trahern in the sixth inning
Johnson's blast ignited a brief two-out uprising as Jason Delaney followed with a double and cut the Erie lead to 4-2 when he scored on a Jason Bowers single

Altoona caught up to the SeaWolves with a pair of runs in the eighth inning
Adam Boeve, recently returned to the Curve from Triple-A Indianapolis contributed a one-out triple to chase Trahern from the ballgame
Danny Zell came on and gave up an infield-single to pinch-hitter Taber Lee to that scored Boeve to pull the Curve within a run
Bowers tied the game with his third single of the ballgame a batter later
Bowers finished the night with four hits

Matt Rusch (5-1) earned the win for Erie turning in 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief including striking out Alex Fernandez to end the Curve threat in the eighth

The series continues with a doubleheader on Saturday night at 5.35pm
RHP Yoslan Herrera will pitch game one for the Curve, with Altoona sending RHP Todd Redmond (1-0, 2.38) in game two
Erie will counter with RHP Burke Badenhop (0-0, 0.00) in game one, while the SeaWolves' game two starter has yet to be determined

It took the SeaWolves 10 innings, but they prevailed with a 5-4 thriller over the Altoona Curve on Friday night at Blair County Ballpark

The win, coupled with an Akron loss, puts the ‘Wolves back in a first place tie with the Aeros atop the Southern Division

The SeaWolves struck first in the top of the second inning, breaking a streak of 10 consecutive scoreless innings
Jeff Larish led off with a single up the middle and Matt Joyce followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners for Wilkin Ramirez
Ramirez hit a bouncer to third that was booted by third baseman Russ Johnson into left field, Larish scored from third, Joyce went to third and Ramirez reached second
Steve Torrealba stepped in with the club leading 1-0 and singled down the third base line, plating Joyce and Ramirez, for a 3-0 Erie lead

The ‘Wolves added to the lead in the top of the fourth inning
Ramirez led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a deep fly out to left by Torrealba
Ramirez scored on a Pedro Cotto base hit making it 4-0 Erie

Altoona got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning against Erie starter Dallas Trahern
Johnson, in his first game with the Curve since being sent down from Triple-A Indianapolis, connected on a two-out solo home run making it a 4-1 game
Jason Delaney followed with a double and he scored on a Jason Bowers base knock, cutting the SeaWolves lead in half a 4-2

The Curve battled back to tie the ballgame in the bottom of the eighth
Adam Boeve tripled with one out off of Trahern and it would be the last batter he faced in the game
Danny Zell came into the game in relief and gave up a single to pinch hitter Taber Lee to make it a one-run game at 4-3
Zell then walked Johnson to put runners on first and second
He retired Delaney for the second out but Bowers connected on the third of his four hits, scoring Lee, tying the game at 4-4
Matt Rusch then came in and shut down the Curve threat by striking out pinch hitter Alex Fernandez

Altoona closer Matt Peterson retired the ‘Wolves in order in the top of the ninth inning sending the Curve to the plate with a chance to win in the ninth

In the bottom of the ninth, Rusch retired Javier Guzman for the first out but gave up a double to Peter Bergeron to put the winning run in scoring position
After an intentional walk on Vic Butler to set up an inning ending double play, Rusch induced a pop-out off the bat of Boeve for the second out and he then struck out Lee to send the game to extra innings

In the top of the 10th, Peterson in his second inning of work, walked Will Rhymes to start the inning
Mike Hollimon grounded out to put Rhymes, the go-ahead run, in scoring position
Peterson intentionally walked Larish to set up an inning ending double play
Joyce followed with a base knock to load the bases for Ramirez
Ramirez connected on a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Rhymes, giving the ‘Wolves a 5-4 lead

SeaWolves closer Alan Mills came into the ballgame in the bottom of the 10th
Mills walked Johnson to start the inning
With one out, Bowers connected on his fourth hit of the game, a single, moving the tying run Johnson into scoring position
Mills then struck out Omar Falcon for the second out and got Guzman to fly out to center to end the game

The save for Mills was his 20th of the season
He is a perfect 20-for-20 in save opportunities

Rusch (5-1) picked up the win for the ‘Wolves who improved to 6-5 in extra innings games

Up Next
The SeaWolves and Curve meet in doubleheader action on Saturday night at Blair County Ballpark
In game one, the SeaWolves sent RHP Burke Badenhop to the hill making his Double-A debut against RHP Yoslan Herrera (6-6, 4.43 ERA)
Game two features RHP Randor Bierd (2-1, 3.48 ERA) for Erie against RHP Todd Redmond (1-0, 2.38 ERA)

The Curve showed some resiliency with a late comeback Friday night against Erie, but they missed a chance to make a big statement in the playoff chase

‘‘The bottom line is we really could have sent a message to them if we come back and win that game’’ Altoona second baseman Jason Bowers said
‘‘We fought hard, and we always play hard
But right now, we need to win’’

The Curve overcame a 4-0 deficit and scored twice in the eighth inning to tie

They failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities, though, and lost to the SeaWolves, 5-4, in 10 innings before 8,285 fans at Blair County Ballpark

The visitors loaded the bases with one out in the 10th off Curve closer Matt Peterson, and Wilkin Ramirez produced the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly

Erie pulled into a first-place tie with Akron in the Southern Division, and both teams lead Altoona by 5-1/2 games

The Curve and SeaWolves play a doubleheader tonight, then wrap up this weekend’s four-game series Sunday
Anything less than two wins in this series will damage the Curve’s playoff hopes, so they need to take two of the next three to avoid losing further ground

The clubs will close the regular season with six games at Erie

‘‘We’ve got nine more of these, and everybody’s going to be at their best’’ Altoona manager Tim Leiper said

Neither team played its best ball Friday, but that didn’t prevent the game from coming down to the wire

‘‘That game was everything you probably thought it would be coming in here’’ Leiper said
‘‘You’ve got two evenly matched teams that are battling’’

The Curve began battling back in the sixth inning on a solo homer by Russ Johnson, the replacement for Neil Walker at third base
Jason Bowers singled home Jason Delaney later in the inning to make it 4-2

Adam Boeve, back down from Triple-A Indianapolis, started the eighth-inning comeback with a triple to deep center
It was a bit of a gift hit as Erie’s Clete Thomas was frozen by the ball and couldn’t recover in time
The Curve turned that break into two runs, with Boeve scoring the first on pinch-hitter Taber Lee’s infield single
Bowers, who went 4-for-5 with two clutch RBI hits, tied the game with a two-out single to center that scored Lee

‘‘You’ve got to get the job done, got to put runs on the board’’ Bowers said of his big night

The Curve had other chances, but they stranded two runners on base in five different innings

Peterson (4-1), who breezed through the ninth, started the 10th by walking Will Rhymes
A one-out intentional walk to Jeff Larish and single by Matt Joyce loaded the bases and set up Ramirez’s go-ahead sacrifice fly

The Curve put runners at first and second in the 10th against Erie closer Alan Mills
The 40-year-old veteran escaped the jam for his 20th save in as many opportunities

‘‘You have to be careful when you start thinking about where you are in the standings’’ Erie manager Matt Walbeck said
‘‘You have to play the game the way we have that’s gotten us here
Today we didn’t have very good defense, but we had some clutch hitting’’

Matt Rusch (5-1) won in relief for the SeaWolves, who took control early with three runs in the second inning off Curve starter Josh Shortslef
One key play changed that inning
The first two Erie hitters singled, then Johnson couldn’t come up with a bouncer to his left that was ruled an error and would have produced at least a forceout at second
‘‘One play tonight, and it cost us a ballgame’’ Johnson said
‘‘I reached as far as I could reach for it, and it hit right off the end of my glove
I just ran out of arms, the little crocodile arms I’ve got’’

Ramirez singled home two runs later in the inning, and Erie made it 4-0 with a run in the fourth

Johnson, a 34-year-old veteran, sparked the Curve’s comeback hopes with his solo homer in the sixth
He could be a big factor for the club down the stretch

‘‘It’s about winning’’ Johnson said
‘‘That’s baseball
I don’t care what level you’re at or where you’ve been
It’s all about winning’’

The Curve may not have won the first game of this big series, but they feel good about one accomplishment
‘‘The main thing is we battled back, got back in the game and didn’t give up’’ Johnson said
‘‘Maybe we can build on that Saturday’’