The Result
Phillies - 4 runs to 3

The Curve - Year-to-Date
36 wins and 37 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
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Game Reports

Adam Boeve's two home runs weren't enough for Altoona as they fell, 4-3, in the finale of a four-game series against the Reading Phillies

With the Curve trailing 4-2 entering the ninth inning, Boeve made things interesting with his second solo homer of the morning
Boeve belted his 12th of the year over the wall in center field to give the Curve a chance with two outs
But Chris Key got Andrew McCutchen to fly out to center field to end the ballgame
Key earned his fifth save of the season

The R-Phils jumped to a 4-0 lead against Curve starter Josh Shortslef
Reading struck twice in the second inning to obtain the lead for the first time
Randy Ruiz was hit by a pitch with one out and Jason Hill doubled him to third
Ruiz scored on a Matt Padgett ground out and Hill scored on an infield single from Michael Garciaparra

Ruiz was promoted by the Phillies to Triple-A Ottawa following the ballgame

Reading made it 4-0 in the third inning as Chris Coste blasted a two-run home run off of Shortlsef

The Curve got on the board for the first time in fifth inning on Boeve's first homer of the day
Boeve belted his 11th of the season off of R-Phils' starter Matt Maloney

The Curve closed it to 4-2 in the seventh inning as McCutchen singled in Neil Walker

Other than those two hiccups, Maloney (6-6) was solid, working 7-2/3 innings allowing just two runs on four hits to earn his sixth win of the season

Shortlef (2-7) took the loss for the Curve, allowing four earned runs on eight hits over seven innings of work

With the loss, the Curve endured a losing road trip (3-5)

The Curve will return home on Tuesday to open a four-game series with the Trenton Thunder
RHP Kip Bouknight (7-3, 3.99) will make the start for Altoona against RHP Ian Kennedy (3-1, 3.00) for Trenton

Matt Maloney pitched into the eighth inning and Chris Coste hit a two-run homer as Reading edged visiting Altoona, 4-3, on Monday morning

The two-hour, 21-minute contest started at 9.35am and ended a few minutes shy of noon

Maloney (6-6) earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits over a season-high 7-2/3 innings while striking out seven
The 23-year-old southpaw is second in the Eastern League with 93-1/3 innings pitched on the season, while his 78 strikeouts rank fourth

Chris Key earned his fifth save of the season despite allowing a run in the ninth

The Phillies (36-39) got on the board in the second inning when Randy Ruiz was hit by a pitch with one out and Jason Hill followed with a double
Matt Padgett then hit an RBI groundout to score Ruiz before Hill came home on Michael Garciaparra's infield single

Coste bashed a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, in the third

Adam Boeve whacked two homers for the Curve (36-37) in a losing cause
The 27-year-old right fielder went yard in the fifth and ninth frames, and now has a team-leading 12 dingers on the season

Andrew McCutcheon contributed an RBI single in the seventh

Josh Shortslef (2-7) took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits over seven innings

Wardell Starling tossed a scoreless eighth

Apparently the Phillies wiped the sleep out of their eyes a little earlier than the Altoona Curve in Monday's 9.35am start
The Phillies (36-39) had four runs by the fourth inning, lefty Matt Maloney struck out the side in the first inning, and the Phillies prevailed 4-3 before 7,652

Maloney tossed a season-high 7.2 innings in evening his record at 6-6
He allowed two runs and four hits, matched his season best with seven strikeouts, and walked two batters
He has a 2.98 ERA over his last seven outings (3-3)

Offensively, Jason Hill's one-out double was the key hit in a two-run second

A two-out home run by Chris Coste, his fifth, came up big in the third

With a pair of solo homers, Adam Boeve supplied much of the Curve's offense

Altoona fell to 36-37

Notes
After the game, slugger Randy Ruiz (.320, 10-42) was promoted to Triple-A Ottawa, his first at that level
The Phillies went 4-3 on the homestand
With a second-inning double, Jason Hill jacked his hitting streak to seven games
Hill and Michael Garciaparra had two hits apiece
With his two-run homer, Chris Coste has 27 RBIs in his last 23 games
With his 3-for-4 day, Michael Spidale upped his batting average from .244 to .295 - he also stole a base and made a nifty diving catch in center field
Ruiz lost a seven-game hitting streak
The Phillies are 20-20 at home

Despite Adam Boeve’s best efforts, the Curve are coming back home with a loss
Altoona’s right fielder hit two homers, but Reading topped Altoona, 4-3, at FirstEnergy Stadium to split the four-game series

Boeve got the Curve on the board with a shot in the fifth inning that made the score 4-1, then hit his second blast of the day with two outs in the ninth to draw the Curve within one
He became the fourth Altoona player to hit two homers in a game this season and now has a team-leading 12 homers and 42 RBIs

The Curve’s offense couldn’t get untracked against Phillies starter Matt Maloney
Maloney, the Phillies’ ninth-best prospect, limited Altoona to four hits in seven innings
The lefty also struck out seven
Maloney (6-6), who skipped a level to join Reading, was the South Atlantic League pitcher of the year in 2006 at Single-A Lakewood

Altoona managed just three other singles - Steven Pearce, Andrew McCutchen and Taber Lee each had one - off Reading’s pitching staff

The Phillies got to Curve starter Josh Shortself for a pair of runs in the second inning on a Matt Padgett groundout and Michael Garciaparra single to take a 2-0 lead

Reading tacked on two more runs on Chris Coste’s two-run third-inning homer

Shortslef (2-7) held Reading scoreless over his final four innings
He allowed all four Phillies runs on eight hits over seven frames

McCutchen’s RBI single, sandwiched between Boeve’s solo homers, cut the deficit to 4-2 in the seventh inning

Reading’s Chris Key allowed Boeve’s homer, but tossed the ninth inning to save his fifth game

Altoona’s task won’t get much easier as the Curve begin an eight-game homestand tonight with four games against Trenton
The Thunder’s team ERA of 2.61 entering Monday is nearly a full run better than second-best Connecticut
Altoona’s ERA of 4.63 ranks last