Game Reports

Senators Split with Curve
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Brett Roneberg hit a three-run homer and Claudio Vargas pitched six plus strong innings as the Harrisburg Senators slipped past the Altoona Curve, 4-1, in the first game of a doubleheader.

Roneberg blasted a shot to left center with one out in the bottom of the third inning.

Vargas (2-2) allowed one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings to get the win.
Vargas threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 26 batters he faced, including the first 11.

Bryan Hebson enduced a double play to record his seventh save for Harrisburg in his second game since being sent down from Class AAA Ottawa.

Scott Hodges had a pair of hits and an RBI, extending his streak of reaching base by a hit or walk to 24 games for the Senators, who have won seven of their last nine games.

Tony Alvarez had a pair of singles and an RBI for Altoona.

Brad Guy (2-2) surrendered three runs and five hits over four innings to absorb the loss for the Curve, who have dropped 10 of their last 12 games.

J.J. Davis and Joe Caruso each drove in three runs to lead the Altoona Curve to a 13-6 romping of the Harrisburg Senators, earning a split of the doubleheader.

Davis hit a three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning and Caruso singled home two runs in the third and tripled home a run in the sixth.

Carlos Rivera singled in a run and had a sacrifice fly and Victor Rodriguez hit a two-run double for Altoona.

Justin Reid (11-7) surrendered five runs and four hits over five innings to get the win for the Curve, who won for just the third time in 13 games.

Brett Roneberg, who hit a three-run blast in the frontend of the doubleheader, had a two-run shot and knocked in a run with a groundout and Glenn Davis hit a solo homer for Harrisburg, which took the opener, 4-1.

Gerardo Casadiego (1-3) was rocked for seven runs -- five earned -- and six hits over 2 1/3 innings to suffer the loss for the Senators, who dropped to 7-12 against Altoona this season.

Harrisburg and Altoona play the final game of the series starting Monday at 6:35 PM at RiverSide Stadium.

Senators split doubleheader
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Joe Caruso and J.J. Davis each drove in three runs to lead the Altoona Curve to a 13-6 victory over the Harrisburg Senators and a split of Sunday's Eastern League doubleheader.

The Senators won the first game 4-1 behind Brett Roneberg's three-run homer.

In the second game, Caruso drove home two runs during Altoona's six-run rally in the third inning that gave the Curve an 8-3 lead. Davis' three-run homer in the next inning pushed Altoona's lead to 11-5.
Caruso's triple in the sixth inning gave the Curve a 12-5 lead.

Justin Reid (11-7) picked up the victory in the second game, working the first five innings for the Curve before Clint Chyrsler and Chris Spurling split the final two innings.

Harrisburg starter Gerardo Casadiego (1-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs before leaving in the middle of Altoona's rally in the third inning.

Roneberg also homered in the second game for Harrisburg, as did teammate Glenn Davis.

Roneberg's three-run homer in the third inning of the opener came off Altoona starter Brad Guy (2-2), who allowed three runs in four innings.

Claudio Vargas (2-2) picked up the victory for Harrisburg, working into the seventh inning before Bryan Hebson finished the game for his seventh save.

Altoona's Tony Alvarez had two hits in each game.

Senators thrown a curve
Doubleheader split puts Harrisburg a half-game back
For a fleeting moment, the Senators found themselves back in a playoff position.
The moment came when Glenn Davis lifted a homer to left-center in the second inning of the second game of yesterday's doubleheader against Altoona.
The homer gave Harrisburg a 3-2 lead, leaving only a handful of innings to be played before the Senators could formally move into second place in the Eastern League's Southern Division.
And, with that, owning the South's final playoff spot for the first time since April 13.

Their warm fuzzy moment ended in the third inning as Altoona scored six runs to break open the game en route to a 13-6 victory and a split of the doubleheader at RiverSide Stadium.

The Senators won the first game 4-1 before 5,227, most of whom left before the Curve ruined Harrisburg's near-perfect day.

The victory in the opener came as Reading was careening to its sixth straight loss at home, moving the Senators into a tie with the floundering Phillies for second place.
The loss in the second game, though, dropped the Senators to one-half game behind Reading.

The Senators (73-61) have a chance tonight to move back into a second-place tie as they finish their four-game series with Altoona (68-65).

The Phillies?
They have the day off to ponder new ways of falling out of the race.

"Any time you pick up anything, it's great," Harrisburg manager Dave Huppert said. "We could have lost a half a game. We're within a half a game now; we can pick that up tomorrow with a win. I'll take my shot being tied with seven days [remaining in the season]. A week ago, we were five out."

That was before Reading, which began selling playoff tickets July 11, was swept at home in back-to-back weekend series against Harrisburg and Akron.

Naturally -- in a scenario that surely delights ticket manager Tom Wess -- the Senators and Reading end the regular season with four games Labor Day weekend on City Island.

First, there was the matter of yesterday's split against one of the Eastern League's most potent offenses.
Starter Claudio Vargas and closer du jour Bryan Hebson shut down the Curve in the first game.
Gerardo Casadiego could not in the second game.

Vargas (2-2) allowed five hits in 61/3 innings, leaving with two on and one out in the seventh and final inning.
Hebson needed just two pitches to end the game as pinch-hitter Victor Rodriguez drilled a 1-0 pitch back to Hebson, who dropped the ball but nicely recovered to start a double play.

Casadiego (1-3) never reached the fourth inning, getting chased in the middle of Altoona's six-run rally in the third.
"He's getting everything belt-high, he can't get that breaking ball over the plate on a consistent basis and he doesn't change speeds well," Huppert said of Casadiego, who has allowed 26 earned runs in his last 181/3 innings.
"In Double-A, if you can't change speeds and you can't get the ball below the belt, you're going to get hit hard. You might get through one time in the order, but not the second and third time."

The rally negated the 3-2 lead the Senators built on Brett Roneberg's RBI groundout, Valentino Pascucci's sacrifice fly and Davis' solo homer off Altoona starter Justin Reid (11-7).

Roneberg, whose three-run homer off Brad Guy (2-2) in the opener carried the offense, then hit a two-run homer off Reid in the third.
Roneberg's second homer of the day cut Altoona's lead to 8-5.

The revival quickly ended as J.J. Davis launched a three-run homer off reliever Dustin Seale in the fourth, pushing Altoona's lead to 11-5 and effectively keeping the Senators from moving past Reading (74-61) into second place.

"We're right where we want to be," Hebson said. "If we go into that Reading series even, I think the ball's in our court."
The Senators had not been within one-half game of Reading since Aug. 2.