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Altoona On the Road

The Altoona Curve are currently in 5th place in the Eastern League Southern Division, with a 4-7 record, 3 games out of first place. They are in the middle of the first road trip of the season. They won one out of three games in Reading, and have won the first of three games in Trenton.

OF Pedro Powell was placed on the Disabled List last week. INF Shelby Ford was placed on the DL this week with a hip flexor. He had been struggling with it, felt better and got back into the lineup, then got worse again and went on the DL. INF Victor Alvarez was promoted from Hickory to take Ford’s spot on the roster.

The Curve website is currently collecting votes for players for their 10th Anniversary Team. You can vote as many times as you like. Vote here: www.altoonacurve.com

Friday: Curve 8, Reading Phillies 4
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The Curve scored one run in each of the first 5 innings and another 3 runs in the 7th inning, and 1B Jason Delaney led the charge, going 3-for-3 with 2 walks. Delaney smacked his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the 5th inning, and doubled with the bases loaded for 2 more RBI in the 7th inning. He boosted his batting average to .407. 2B Shelby Ford had a single and a triple, and LF Anthony Webster also had his first home run of the season, a solo blast in the 3rd inning.

Ford’s triple plus a throwing error when the R-Phils catcher tried to pick Ford off third base, brought in the first run of the game. Delaney’s first walk with SS Luis Cruz’s double and a ground out by C Miguel Perez accounted for the run in the 2nd inning. In the 4th inning, Delaney singled, and three subsequent walks, to Cruz, Perez, and CF James Boone brought in the run.

Two former Pirate prospects, now playing in the Phillies’ organization, starting pitcher Kip Bouknight and reliever Shane Youman were the victims of the Curve’s bats. Curve starter Jimmy Barthmaier earned his first win of the season by going 5 innings and allowing 3 runs on 3 hits (all on a homer in the 3rd inning) and 4 walks while striking out 3 R-Phils. Brian Rogers pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief, allowing one walk. Patrick Bresnehan pitched the last two innings. He gave up a run on a double and a single in the 8th, but then struck out the next two batters to end the inning, and he got three fly outs in the 9th.

Saturday: R-Phils 5, Curve 2
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Reading starter Fabio Castro held the Curve hitless for 6 innings, until Jason Delaney singled with one out in the 7th inning. Delaney was left stranded on base, like the few baserunners the Curve had in the earlier innings — those who reached on Castro’s 3 walks or on an error. When Castro finally departed in favor of reliever Ronald Hill to begin the 8th inning, the Curve jumped right on Hill. C Milver Reyes singled and pinch hitter Brian Finegan walked. A fielding error put James Boone on to load the bases. 3B Jason Bowers was hit by a pitch, forcing in the Curve’s first run, and LF Jonel Pacheco’s RBI single brought in the second run.

Starter Yoslan Herrera took the loss, his first of the season. He gave up 5 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings. One run came in the 3rd inning, on a walk, a balk, and a single. The R-Phils opened it up with a 4-run 4th inning, scoring on a single, a double, a hit batter, and a home run. Dave Davidson pitched 2 scoreless relief innings, allowing 2 hits, and Kevin Roberts put the side down in order in the 9th inning.

Sunday: R-Phils 7, Curve 3
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1B Jason Delaney again went 3-for-3, this time with one walk, increasing his batting average to .455, and making him 11-for-13 against Reading. CF James Boone led off the 1st inning with a solo home run, his first of the season, and Delaney led off the 2nd inning with his second homer of the season. The Curve’s only other run came in the 7th inning, when 2B Melvin Dorta led off with a double for his second hit of the game. He moved to third base on a wild pitch and scored when pinch hitter Anthony Webster grounded out to shortstop.

Bases on balls were the downfall of the Curve pitchers in this game. Four walks by starter Kyle Bloom brought in a run in the first inning. Bloom lasted 3 innings, allowing 2 runs on those walks plus 2 doubles in the 3rd inning. Corey Hamman pitched the next 3 innings and suffered the loss. He gave up 2 walks, plus 2 runs on 2 hits, including a solo home run. Ron Belisario pitched the last 2 innings, and he also gave up 4 walks — 3 of them combined with 2 hits and a hit batter for 3 runs in the 9th inning.

Monday: Curve 4, Trenton Thunder 1
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Starter Josh Hill earned his first win in the Pirates’ organization with 5 shutout innings, allowing the Thunder only one hit — a single in the first inning. Brian Rogers pitched 2 scoreless innings and he also allowed only one hit. Chris Hernandez pitched the last two innings, and he gave up the Thunder’s only run, on two hits in the 9th inning.

1B Jason Delaney had a double in 4 at-bats, which “dropped” his batting average to .432, and gave him a hit in all but one of his 11 game appearances this season. The Curve’s first two runs came on solo homers by LF Jonel Pacheco and CF Anthony Webster in the 1st and 2nd innings. Webster got his second hit of the game, a single, to lead off the 5th inning. He stole second base and then scored on SS Luis Cruz’s single. Two walks, to 3B Jason Bowers and DH James Boone, loaded the bases for the Curve, but they could not bring the baserunners home before the inning ended. Delaney’s double started another rally in the 6th inning, and he scored on Cruz’s second single of the game.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Luis Cruz, Corey Hamman, Josh Hill, Miguel Perez, Anthony Webster, Jason Bowers, Kyle Bloom, Ron Belisario, Kevin Roberts, Jimmy Barthmaier, Shelby Ford, Dave Davidson, Yoslan Herrera, Pedro Powell, Patrick Bresnehan, James Boone, Jonel Pacheco, Jason Delaney, AA - Altoona Curve. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.