The Result
Defenders - 6 runs to 5
----------Eleven innings

The Curve - Year-to-Date
11 wins and 12 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Did Not Start
Playing
Batting - #

----------Entered the game as a pinch hitter with one out in the top of the ninth innings

Brett's at-bats

First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Ball - up and away
Called strike
Ball - low
Ball - low
Called strike - "Roneberg was about to drop his bat and head to first base thinking that pitch was going to be called ball four"
"That ball is lifted into leftfield and the fielder takes a few steps back and makes the catch just shy of the warning track"
Fly out to leftfield - F7

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 1 at-bats

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Neil Walker belted a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning, but the Connecticut Defenders rallied to score twice in the bottom of the frame and then plated the game-winner in the bottom of the 11th to defeat the Curve, 6-5, Thursday afternoon at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT

The late-inning loss drops Altoona (11-12) back below the .500 mark as the team now returns home to open a six-game homestand Friday night at Blair County Ballpark against first-place Akron

The Curve completed their six-game road trip to Binghamton and Connecticut with a 3-3 record, dropping two of three to the B-Mets over the weekend and winning two of three against the Defenders

Walker's two-run shot in the top of the 10th frame was his fourth home run in the past five games and gave Altoona a 5-3 lead entering the bottom half of the inning
The Curve third baseman counted three RBI on the afternoon and finished the six-game road trip with four homers and eight RBI

Curve reliever Chris Hernandez started the bottom of the 10th on the mound with Altoona three outs away from a series sweep of the Defenders
However, Connecticut loaded the bases with out and cut the Altoona lead to one run when Hernandez walked Travis Ishikawa
Romulo Sanchez then entered the game for the Curve, but his wild pitch allowed the tying run to score
The right-hander settled down, getting the next two batters out to force an 11th inning, tied at 5-5

After Altoona was set down in the top of the 11th by reliever Jeff Petersen, the Defenders won the game in the bottom of the inning when, after two outs, Alay Soler walked Carlos Sosa and then gave up the game-winning double to Pat Dobson

Soler (1-1) was handed his first loss of the season for Altoona, while Peterson (2-0) picked up the win for the Defenders

Josh Shortslef started his fifth game of the season for Altoona and turned in a quality start, going six innings and allowing three runs on seven hits
The left-hander remains winless on the season

In addition to Walker's outstanding performance at the plate, the Curve got a two-hit effort from shortstop Jason Bowers, who has now hit safely in all six games he has played in since joining Altoona as a minor league free agent last Friday

Newcomer Steven Pearce, making just his second start since being called up from Class-A Lynchburg earlier in the week, knocked in a run in the first inning to help the Curve grab an early 2-0 lead

Altoona will return home to open a six-game homestand Friday night with the first of three games against the Akron Aeros (AA/Cleveland Indians)
First pitch is set for 6.35pm and the game will be followed by another spectacular fireworks show, courtesy of neighboring Lakemont Park
Right-hander Wardell Starling (0-2, 7.79) will take the mound for Altoona
Akron will counter with righty J.D. Martin (2-2, 6.32)

The Connecticut Defenders played a bright and sunny afternoon game on Thursday, May 3rd at Dodd Stadium
The team played host to the Altoona Curve in the finale of a three game set that had resulted in two consecutive wins for the Curve to start the series
However, the Defenders were looking to avoid the sweep and were successful in their efforts as they snapped a 3 game losing streak and won 6-5 in a dramatic come from behind victory in 11 innings

As a result, Dave Machemer picked up his career 1200 minor league managerial win

The Curve wasted no time getting to starter RHP Darren Sack
Leadoff batter SS Jason Bowers opened the game with a double to right field and 2B Taber Lee followed with a walk
A batter later, top prospect and recently promoted 1B Steven Pearce delivered a 1-out double to score Bowers for the first run of the game
Lee advanced to third base on the play and he'd come in to score on a sacrifice fly by 3B Neil Walker to complete the 2-run inning

Down 2-0, in the bottom of the second inning the Defenders would string together a few hits and get on the board
OF Eddy Martinez-Esteve led it off with a single in the hole between first and second base, followed by a walk by C Todd Jennings
Two batters later SS Jake Wald would ground into a fielders choice, erasing Jennings at second base, but advancing Martinez-Esteve to third and putting runners at the corners
Next, P Darren Sack would step in the box and show off his bat, helping himself with an RBI single to center field, scoring Martinez-Esteve
The very next batter 1B Pat Dobson drove a double to left field, scoring Wald and Sack to cap a 3-run inning and give the Defenders the lead 3-2

In the top of the fourth the Curve would tack on another run
OF Brandon Chaves led off the inning with a double down the first base line
The ball was mishandled in right by OF Brian Howitz on the fielding effort, and on the error, Chaves advanced to third base
A few pitches later, Sack would deliver a pitch to the plate that got away from Jennings and Chaves would come down the line to score the lone run of the inning, tying it up at 3

Things would remain scoreless through nine frames, as no base runner from either team would advance beyond first base throughout the next five innings

But in the top of the tenth inning with RHP Justin Hedrick on in relief, the Curve would deal a big blow
After leadoff batter Lee grounded to second base, OF Adam Boeve would follow with a walk to put the go ahead run on base
Pearce would fly out to center field next and Hedrick would be one out away from ending the inning unscathed
But Walker would step to the plate with other plans in mind
After a working a full count, Hedrick would deal a pitch to the plate that was driven to deep center field and kept carrying, clearing the wall for a 2-run blast to put the Curve ahead 5-3

The Defenders would not go quietly though
In the bottom of the tenth they would fight back against RHP Chris Hernandez
With 1 out, Dobson would double to bring the tying run to the plate
Bowker would follow with a walk and SS Mark Minicozzi would single to load the bases for pinch hitter Travis Ishikawa
Ishikawa would fight off a tough pitch to stay alive with a 3-2 count, and eventually walk to force in a run and cut the lead to 1 run
Romulo Sanchez would come on to relieve Hernandez and face Martinez-Esteve
During Martinez-Esteve's at bat, Sanchez delivered a pitch that got away from C Milver Reyes and Bowker would come down the line to score the tying run
But with runners at second and third with just 1 out, Martinez-Esteve would strike out swinging and Jennings would ground out to the shortstop to send it into an eleventh frame locked at 5-5

After a scoreless top half of the inning, in the bottom of the 11th, former Met Alay Soler would come in and retire the first two batters of the inning on strikeouts looking
But next batter Carlos Sosa, after being behind 0-2 would work out a walk, setting the stage for a dramatic RBI double by Dobson to win the game and give the Defenders the 6-5 victory

With the win the Defenders snapped a 3 game losing streak and were able to salvage game three of the series

Neither starter factored into the decision

Jeff Peterson (W, 2-0) took home the win for the Defenders after pitching a scoreless top of the eleventh inning, surrendering 1 hit, and striking out 2 batters

Romulo Sanchez (BS, 2) blew his second save of the year after pitching 0.2 innings and allowing an inherited runner to cross the plate, while striking out a batter

Alay Soler (L, 1-1) took the loss after tossing 0.2 innings and giving up 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk and striking out 2

The hero of the game for the Defenders, Pat Dobson, went 4-6 with a single, 2 doubles and 3 RBI

On the victory Dave Machemer secured his 1200 career win as a minor league manager and was doused with a congratulatory Gatorade shower during the post game celebration

Pat Dobson went 4-for-6 and drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead Connecticut past Altoona, 6-5, on Thursday afternoon

Dobson's third double of the game came off Alay Soler (1-1) and plated Carlos Sosa to secure Dave Machemer's 1200th win as a Minor League manager

The 26-year-old first baseman drove in three runs and upped his average to .192

Both offenses started fast, as the Curve (11-12) scored a pair of runs in the first and the Defenders (8-13) came back with three in the second
After starting pitcher Darren Sack stroked an RBI double with runners at the corners, Dobson came through with a two-run double to give Connecticut a short-lived, 3-2 lead

The Defenders would not lead again until the winning run scored nine innings later

Altoona tied it in the fourth when Brandon Chaves doubled, took third on an error and scored on a passed ball

The game remained that way until Neil Walker hit a two-run homer, his fourth overall and fourth in five games, off reliever Justin Hedrick in the top of the 10th

Connecticut answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to extend the contest

With Chris Hernandez on the mound, Dobson hit a one-out double, John Bowker walked and Mark Mincozzi singled to load the bases
Hernandez then walked pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa to drive in Dobson
Reliever Romulo Sanchez entered and threw a wild pitch, scoring Bowker to tie the game, 5-5

Dobson's third double made a winner out of Jeff Petersen (2-0), who fanned two in the 11th

Sack worked five innings, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk while fanning four

Alexander Hinshaw worked three scoreless frames and Hedrick allowed only Walker's homer over two innings

Soler, who made his third relief appearance of the season, took the loss, recording two outs before Dobson's walk-off hit

Josh Shortslef started the game for Altoona, working six innings and allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk, fanning one

Justin Vaclavik worked two scoreless frames, Chris Hernandez was tagged with Connecticut's runs in the 10th and Sanchez was given a blown save when he allowed the tying run to score in the same frame

One of the more miserable things that can happen to a minor league team is blowing a lead in extra innings before having to hop on a bus for a seven-hour ride
The Curve had to deal with that downer Thursday afternoon

Neil Walker ripped a two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning for a 5-3 lead, putting Altoona in position for a three-game sweep of Connecticut
But the Curve bullpen, which nearly blew a five-run lead Wednesday night before hanging on, couldn’t do the same this time
The Defenders scored a pair of runs in the 10th to tie, then Pat Dobson’s RBI double in the 11th gave them a 6-5 victory at Dodd Stadium

Adam Boeve walked with one out in the 10th, and two batters later, Walker drilled a 3-2 pitch over the wall in center for a 5-3 Curve lead
Walker has homered in four of his last five games

Reliever Chris Hernandez couldn’t hold the lead as Dobson started Connecticut’s 10th-inning rally with a one-out double
Hernandez walked pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa with the bases loaded to force in a run, then a wild pitch by reliever Romulo Sanchez scored John Bowker to tie it

Alay Soler (1-1) came on in the 11th for the Curve and retired the first two batters before walking Carlos Sosa
Dobson finished off a 4-for-5 day by belting his third double, scoring Sosa with the game winner

Jeff Petersen (2-0) won in relief for the Defenders

Steven Pearce had an RBI double and Walker a sacrifice fly as the Curve scored twice in the first inning

Connecticut scored three runs off Altoona starter Josh Shortslef in the second before the Curve tied it, 3-3, when Brandon Chaves came home on a wild pitch in the fourth