The Result
Curve - 6 runs to 4

The Curve - Year-to-Date
29 wins and 28 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - Leftfield
Batting - #3

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - none down
Called strike
Called strike - breaking ball
Foul ball - down the leftside
Ball - breaking ball - low and outside
"That breaking ball is hit towards the Senators' second-baseman and he collects the ball, tags the runner going past, and then throws on to first base to complete the double play ... the runner from second base advances to third base on the play"
Ground out to second base and into a double play - 4 unassisted to 3
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
"That ball is lifted into leftfield and the fielder strolls across to the foul ball line and makes the catch for the first out of the innings"
Fly out to leftfield - F7
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Swing and a miss
Called strike/Foul ball - ???
Ball - low and away
Foul ball
"This pitch is chopped across the diamond and the second-baseman collects the ball and throws to first base to complete the out"
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - one down
Ball - breaking ball - high
Called strike - fast ball - "The umpire says that pitch clipped the outside corner and Roneberg doesn't look happy with the call"
Ball
Ball - just a bit wide
Ball - high
Walk
Out at second base on a fielder's choice play
Fifth plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Swing and a miss
Ball - fast ball - high and outside
"This ball is skied into centrefield and the catch is made for the first out of the innings"
Fly out to centrefield - F8

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 4 at-bats - 1 x walk, 1 x grounded into a double play

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

The Curve rallied with two outs for four runs in the fourth inning and never looked back, taking game one of a three-game series, 6-4, from the Harrisburg Senators on Friday Night at Commerce Bank Park in Harrisburg

Kip Bouknight (6-2) went seven innings to earn his sixth win of the season, and also was a prominent presence in the Curve offensive attack

In a scoreless ballgame, Harrisburg starter Dan Foli retired Brett Roneberg and Steven Pearce to start the Curve fourth inning
With two outs, Neil Walker got Altoona started with a single and then advanced to third on back-to-back walks to Adam Boeve and Brian Peterson
Brandon Chaves then blistered a Foli offering off the base of the wall in right field to clear the bases and give the Curve a 3-0 lead
Bouknight followed with his second single of the ballgame to score Chaves and give Altoona a four-run lead

With two outs in the fifth inning, the Senators got a run back on the first of two home runs on the night for Steven Mortimer

The Senators cut the lead to 4-2 on a single by John Suomi in the sixth, but the Curve answered in the seventh, scoring a run without the benefit of a base hit against reliever Zechry Zinicola to lead, 5-2

Mortimer belted his second home run of the ballgame of off Bouknight in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 6-3

Mother Nature intervened prior to the eighth inning, but after a 25-minute rain delay, play resumed with Jeremy Plexico on in relief for the Senators
Taber Lee contributed a pinch-hit single to score Boeve and give the Curve a 6-3 lead

Chris Hernandez turned in a scoreless eighth inning and turned the game over to Curve closer Matt Peterson in the ninth
The right-hander endured a slightly rockier road than he is accustomed, permitting a run on a Mortimer double to score Suomi
But Peterson got out of harm's way by completing his patented first-to-third pick-off move to nail Seth Bynum at first base to end the ballgame

Foli (0-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season

Peterson earned his 11th save of the season as the Curve won their third game on this six-game road trip

The Curve will look to nail down a winning trip in game two on Saturday night at 6.05pm
RHP Alay Soler (1-1, 4.26) will make the start for the Curve against RHP T.J. Nall (1-8, 4.96) for the Senators

Brandon Chaves drove in three runs as visiting Altoona held off Harrisburg for a 6-4 win on Friday

The 27-year-old shortstop delivered a three-run double and scored in the fourth to stake the Curve to a 4-0 lead
He went 2-for-4 and has eight hits in his last 16 at-bats

Adam Boeve went 0-for-2, but drew three walks and scored twice for the Curve (29-28)

Altoona starter Kip Bouknight (6-2) picked up the win, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking one in seven innings
He helped himself at the plate, going 2-for-2 with an RBI

Chris Hernandez pitched a hitless eighth in relief, and Matt Peterson got his 11th save, despite allowing one run on two hits and two walks in the ninth

Steve Mortimer hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth, and went deep again in the seventh
He also delivered an RBI double for the Senators (20-40)

Harrisburg's Daniel Foli (0-1) gave up four runs on six hits and three walks through four innings with one strikeout in his first start of the season

Curve starter Kip Bouknight helped the Curve move above .500 for the first time since May 18 - but it was his hitting that did the trick
Bouknight went 2-for-2 with a walk, RBI, run scored and stolen base as Altoona topped Harrisburg, 6-4, Friday at Commerce Bank Park

His run-scoring single gave the Curve a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning, then he later scored on Steven Pearce’s sacrifice fly in the seventh as the Curve took a 5-2 advantage

Bouknight (6-2) also pitched seven strong innings, scattering three runs and seven hits

Chris Hernandez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, then Matt Peterson came on in the ninth to earn his 11th save, but not without some suspense
Steve Mortimer doubled home a run to draw Harrisburg within 6-4
The Curve’s closer then went to his bread and butter - his fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move caught Seth Bynum and ended the game
Peterson has used the move to pick off about 15 runners during his Curve tenure, and it helped him escape a bases-loaded jam in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Reading
Altoona won that one, 6-5

The Curve scored four runs in the fourth inning, and all the activity came with two outs
Brandon Chaves cleared the bases with a double, then scored on Bouknight’s single off Daniel Foli
Neil Walker singled, and Adam Boeve and Brian Peterson walked to set the stage for Chaves, who continued his knack for coming through with a clutch hit
The Curve infielder carried a .333 average in 48 at-bats with runners in scoring position entering Friday

Mortimer hit two solo homers, his first in Double-A, and drove in three runs

Taber Lee added an RBI single in the eighth to put Altoona up, 6-3, to score Adam Boeve

Foli (0-1) made his first start of the season and gave up four runs in as many innings

Brandon Chaves won't land on the cover of Baseball America anytime soon
He's not a franchise-changing prospect
He won't blast rainmaking home runs every other day
And the Pittsburgh Pirates probably don't have him penciled into their future infield
But manager Tim Leiper and his Altoona Curve sure do appreciate him

Chaves helped the Pirates' AA affiliate sidestep the Harrisburg Senators 6-4 last night with both his bat and his glove
His effort, combined with another superb outing by right-hander Kip Bouknight, provided enough juice for the Curve (29-28) to disengage the mistake-prone Senators (20-40) in front of 3,294 fans at Commerce Bank Park

The win was Altoona's 10th in 12 Eastern League games

It was also the Senators' ninth loss in 11 tries, as they fell 20 games below .500 for the second time this season

Chaves, a 27-year-old Hawaiian shortstop, and Bouknight, the 28-year-old former Senator, collectively did enough damage

The Senators also hurt themselves, running into a couple outs, walking nine batters and letting baserunners run wild

"We don't help ourselves" Harrisburg manager Scott Little said
"The frustrating thing is we can't afford to make so many mistakes
Our games are close, and we're battling late, but we just haven't been able to advance that runner, hit that sacrifice fly, or prevent that two-out rally from becoming a four-run inning"

Such was the case in the fourth inning
The game still scoreless, Senators spot starter Dan Foli loaded the bases with two outs via a single and two walks
Chaves then emptied the bags with a triple to the wall in right field
Bouknight followed with an RBI single for a 4-0 lead

After Steve Mortimer's solo homer in the fifth sliced Harrisburg's deficit to 4-1, the home team had a chance for a big inning in the sixth
Two singles and an error loaded the bases before John Suomi grounded a one-out, RBI single to right
The bases still juiced, Frank Diaz followed by smacking a grounder toward short, with Chaves starting a quality double play to end the frame

"That was the biggest play of the game" Leiper said
"That was a tough play
He does more to help our ballclub than anyone can imagine
The game just seems to find him"

Each team scored in the seventh, with Mortimer hitting his second home run of the game

Helped by another single from Chaves, Altoona added a run in the eighth for a 6-3 edge

Harrisburg attempted a final rally in the ninth against Altoona closer Matt Peterson
After Suomi walked, Diaz lined a flare toward Chaves, who leaped, extended his 6-3 frame and robbed Diaz of a single
Mortimer followed with a double to left-center, just missing his third home run, to score Suomi
A walk and a flyout put runners on first and third for Sheldon Fulse, but Seth Bynum was picked off first on Peterson's fake-to-third, turn-and-throw-to-first move, ending the contest

To Little and the Senators, it should have been ruled a balk
Peterson, who notched his 11th save, has successfully utilized the same move roughly a half-dozen times this season
"It's a deception move" Little said
"He doesn't step to third
He steps up and down
But what do you do?
There's probably only one umpire in the league who would call it a balk"

Bouknight (6-2) earned his second win on City Island since departing the Washington Nationals' organization for the Pirates last winter
He scattered seven hits in seven innings, allowing three runs
He was also 2-for-2 with a run, an RBI and a stolen base, one of four thefts for the Curve

Leiper doesn't like to see his team's most consistent pitcher stealing bases, but it comes with the territory, he said
"It was late in the game seventh inning, and he needed his legs for another inning" Leiper said
"But it shows what kind of competitor he is
That's the only way he knows how to play the game
That's why people love him"

Foli (0-1), making his first start since 2003, allowed four runs in four innings

Zech Zinicola and Jeremy Plexico each surrendered a run in relief

Notes
Chaves, who hits eighth, explained the benefit of having an athletic pitcher like Bouknight hitting behind him - "The kid is an awesome player - he does it all - with him hitting behind me, I can use the same game plan as I do in American League games"
Leiper grimaced when recalling the last time he remembers a pitcher stealing a base - he said it was when he was playing for the Pirates' AAA affiliate in Buffalo in 1993 - veteran Craig McMurty tried to steal second base and pulled his quad
Bynum, who started the year in Harrisburg before an injury forced him out, was recalled from Class A Potomac to make room for IF Juan Melo, who was released
A report on the Akron Aeros Web site said Aeros catcher Javi Herrera was traded to the Nationals - he was hitting .167 in 18 games for Akron, and there's a good chance he'll land in Harrisburg, sources said
The game was delayed 25 minutes by rain between the seventh and eighth innings