The Result
Curve - 5 runs to 4

The Curve - Year-to-Date
36 wins and 36 losses

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

----------Came out of the game on a double switch during the bottom of the seventh innings

Brett's at-bats

First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ground ball hit to shortstop - runner advanced to second base
Ground out to shortstop - 6 to 3
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Walk
Stolen base
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Third plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Single to centrefield
Out at second base on a double play hit by the next Curve hitter
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Swing and a miss - "That was a very good change up"
Called strike - curve ball
Ball - fast ball - high
"That ball is popped up on the left side and the Phillies third-baseman is under it and makes the catch for the final out of the innings"
Pop up to third base - F5

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - single, 1 x walk, 1 x stolen base

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Yoslan Herrera tossed five strong innings to pick up his second win of the season and Adam Boeve led the Curve offense with three hits, including a bases-clearing double in the top of the first inning, as Altoona defeated the Reading Phillies, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading

The Curve (36-36) have now won two of the first three games in the four-game series at Reading and will look to win the set in the Monday's 9.35am series finale

Herrera, who earned just one win over his first 12 starts, shook off a two-run bottom of the first inning and tossed scoreless baseball over his final four frames before turning the game over to the Curve bullpen in the sixth
In five innings, the 26-year old Cuban allowed two runs on six hits, walked one and struck out five to match a season high
Herrera improved to 2-5 on the season with the win

Altoona led the entire game, starting with Boeve's first-inning, three-run double off all-time Curve wins leader and eventual losing pitcher Landon Jacobsen (6-5)
Brandon Chaves, Steven Pearce and Neil Walker each scored to give the Curve a 3-0 lead

Altoona's other two runs came home on a Jason Bowers RBI groundout in the fourth inning and an eighth-inning wild pitch

The Phillies plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Mike Costanzo and Randy Ruiz and cut a pair of two-run Altoona deficits in half in the seventh and eighth innings on solo home runs by Costanzo and Matt Padgett

Matt Peterson entered a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired all five batters he faced to earn his league-leading 16th save
The right-hander is nearly two weeks ahead of the pace set by Brandon Knight, when he set a franchise record with 27 saves during the 2006 season

Josh Shortslef (2-6, 4.03) will get the starting nod for Monday's 9.35am contest against Reading lefty and Phillies' pitching prospect Matt Maloney (5-6, 3.99)

The Curve will return to Blair County Ballpark on Tuesday night to open an eight-game homestand
The Trenton Thunder (Yankees) and Bowie Baysox (Orioles) will each play a four-game set against the Curve during the eight-game stanza, which runs through July 3

Adam Boeve drove in three runs as Altoona edged Reading, 5-4, on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium

Following a single by Brandon Chaves and two walks in the first inning, Boeve ripped a bases-clearing double

Jason Bowers added an RBI groundout three innings later for the Curve (36-36)

Starter Yoslan Herrera (2-5) allowed two runs on six hits while striking out five and walking one over five innings for the win

Matt Peterson retired all five batters he faced for his Eastern League-leading 16th save

Phillies starter Landon Jacobsen (6-5) surrendered four runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings, striking out two

Michael Costanzo had an RBI single in the first and a solo blast, his 15th, in the seventh for the Phillies (35-39), who committed three errors

Matt Padgett added a solo homer, his sixth, in the eighth, and Randy Ruiz went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI

The Altoona Curve jumped out to an early lead Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium and held off the Reading Phillies the rest of the way for a 5-4 Eastern League win

In the first, Brandon Chaves singled with one out and Steve Pearce and Neil Walker drew two-out walks from Landon Jacobsen (6-5) to load the bases
Adam Boeve cleared the bases with a double to left-center on a 3-2 pitch to give the Curve (36-36) a 3-0 lead

The Phillies (35-39) came back with two in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Mike Costanzo and Randy Ruiz with nobody out but Yoslan Herrera (2-5) retired the next three hitters to keep Altoona in front

The Curve added a run in the fourth on an RBI grounder by Jason Bowers

Reading pulled back within a run in the seventh on a solo homer by Costanzo, his league-leading 15th of the season

Altoona extended the lead to two runs in the eighth when Walker drew a free pass and later scored on a wild pitch

The Phillies answered again in the bottom of the eighth on Matt Padgett's sixth home run of the season to make it 5-4

But Matt Peterson retired the last five Phillies hitters to nail down his league-leading 16th save
Peterson has picked up a save in each of his last nine appearances

Ruiz was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI

Costanzo was 2-for-5 with two RBI

Jason Hill and Michael Garciaparra each had two hits for the Phillies

The much-maligned Curve bullpen followed up two stellar outings with a steady performance Sunday afternoon
Altoona closer Matt Peterson retired all five batters he faced to save a 5-4 win over Reading at FirstEnergy Stadium

Aside from Peterson, the relievers have been less than reliable most of the season
However, in the first two games of the series against Reading, the pen threw seven scoreless innings against one of the Eastern League’s better lineups

Reading figured out the Curve’s pen to some extent - the Phillies scored two runs in four innings Sunday - but it wasn’t enough

Reading features the EL’s leader in batting average (Jesus Merchan), homers (Michael Costanzo) and one of the league’s best hitters in Randy Ruiz
As a team, the Phillies are tops in runs scored, homers and third in batting average

Yoslan Herrera left the game in the pen’s hands with a 4-2 lead after throwing five innings, and Adam Boeve’s bases-clearing double in the first gave Altoona a lead it wouldn’t relinquish

Jason Roach and Chris Hernandez, who each allowed a solo homer, threw 2-1/3 innings
Costanzo homered off Roach to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the seventh, then Matt Padgett homered in the eighth off Hernandez to make it a 5-4 game

Peterson came on to pitch 1-2/3 innings, striking out Costanzo and Ruiz to save his 16th game

Boeve gave Altoona a 3-0 lead in the first inning when he doubled off the left-center field wall with the bases loaded

Herrera (2-5), who yielded RBI singles in the first inning to Costanzo and Ruiz, settled down to throw four scoreless innings
He scattered six hits over his five innings of work and struck out five

Jason Bowers’ fourth-inning groundout scored Andrew McCutchen to produce the Curve’s fourth run, and Neil Walker scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning to take a 5-3 lead

Reading starter Landon Jacobsen (6-5) gave up four runs in six innings