A note from Brett on Wednesday 18th July 2007
Is all good!
Every scan I have had has said that it's all okay and that I am okay to resume activity
I will start small and slow and hope to progress to swinging in about a week or so
The doctor said it is going to hurt - probably a lot - but it's not doing further damage
so try to swing through it
He is going to give me some painkillers and I am going to go from there
If after two to three weeks of trying to play and it's still being sore,
I will go to Pittsburgh to see another hand specialist for a second opinion
But as for today, I am starting to do things!!
About bloody time, huh!!

A note from Brett on Monday 23rd July 2007
Well, today went really good
A lot better than I thought it was going to be
I had fifteen dry swings with a fungo bat
and surprisingly had zero pain or discomfort
I also got to play catch as well
It all went really well!!
I am not sure of my plans tomorrow
but I am sure it will be a little more than today
Not bad for a start!!

A note from Brett on Thursday 26th July 2007
Tuesday I swung a fungo twenty times - with no problems
Wednesday I swung the fungo fifteen times and then a timber bat also fifteen times
and again, no worries at all
Today I am a little achy but I have to deal with a few niggles for a little while
I am not sure what my plan is for today but tomorrow I am hitting off the tee

Curve Game Day Notes on Friday 27th July 2007

The Result
Curve - 8 runs to 6

The Curve - Year-to-Date
54 wins and 49 losses

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

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance

Second plate appearance

Third plate appearance

Fourth plate appearance

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

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Steven Pearce homered for the second consecutive game and remained the Eastern League's batting leader with a pair of hits and two RBI to lead the Curve to their second straight win at Akron, 8-6, Friday night at Canal Park

Pearce, who went 2-for-4 on the night to push his league-leading average to .337, knocked in the first of two Curve runs in the first inning with an RBI double before belting a solo homer - his 14th of the season with Altoona - over the left-field wall in the top of the fifth inning

Pearce, who hit 11 longballs at Class-A Lynchburg before being promoted to Double-A on May 1, now has 25 homers and Minor League-leading total of 96 RBI between the two levels

Javier Guzman and Andrew McCutchen each chipped in three hits and Jason Bowers added a pair of key insurance runs with an eighth-inning double to help improve the Curve record to a season-high five games above the .500 mark at 54-49

Despite the win, Altoona remains 4-1/2 games out of the wild-card race in the E.L. South
Akron (60-46) will enter Saturday's action sharing the top spot in the Southern Division for the first time since May 21
The Aeros have held at least a share of the division lead every day since May 12

Kip Bouknight (9-3) picked up his second straight win for the Curve since returning from Triple-A Indianapolis last weekend
The right-hander allowed four runs and eight hits over 6-1/3 innings to earn the win

Matt Peterson closed out the Altoona victory with a perfect ninth inning to earn his 19th save of the season and his first since July 8

Chuck Lofgren (9-6), one of the Indians' top young pitching prospects, suffered his first loss against Altoona in four starts this season after yielding six runs over 5-1/3 innings
The 21-year old left-hander walked four batters and fanned only two in the outing

Altoona scored a pair of runs in the first inning and two more in the second against Lofgen and led the game wire-to-wire for the second consecutive night
The Curve also won Thursday's series opener, 10-5

Jason Delaney went 0-for-4 and did not record an RBI in the game to end both his 13-game hitting streak and club-record 12-game RBI streak
Delaney's 13-game hit streak is the longest by any Curve player this season and his 12-game RBI streak, which dated back to July 15, doubled the previous record of six straight games held by both Pearce and Brad Eldred

Altoona will seek a third consecutive win in Akron Saturday evening at 7.05pm
Curve righty Dewon Brazelton (3-3, 3.95) will make the start against Akron right-hander Bobby Brownlie (0-0, 6.00)

After a one hour and 16 minute delay to start game two of a four game series between Akron and Altoona, the Aeros gave up four runs in the first two innings and did not regain the lead all night

Chuck Lofgren picked up his sixth loss of the season, pitching 5.1 innings allowing six earned runs on nine hits
He struck out two and walked four on the night

The scoring began in the first as Neil Walker hit a single that was followed by a double from Steven Pearce, bringing Walker home

With a throwing error in the second inning by Aeros catcher Wyatt Toregas, the Curve scored two more runs to make the score 4-0

Pearce hit a homer in the fifth off Lofgren and Altoona continued to put up runs as Akron tried to rally, but to no avail

Brandon Pinckney singled to left in the fourth to score Asdrubal Cabrera

Rodney Choy Foo hit a solo shot to lead off the fifth inning and Akron hitters put together a rally in the seventh, but Altoona responded with two insurance runs in their half of the eighth, making the score 8-4

Akron added two more in the eighth, but could not make up the four run difference to win the game

Kip Bouknight was awarded his ninth win of the year, giving up four earned runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings pitched
He struck out just one and did not allow a walk

Taking the mound for the Aeros in Saturday night’s game is newcomer Bobby Brownlie
He pitched for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League (Independent) before signing with the Aeros on July 24
In a relief outing with Akron on the 24th, he pitched three innings allowing two runs

Dewon Brazelton will pitch for Altoona with a record of 3-3 and an ERA of 3.95

The script that’s been a large part of the Curve’s season played out again Friday night
Steven Pearce and Jason Bowers helped the Curve come up with just enough offense in an 8-6 win over Akron at Canal Park

Altoona moved to a season-best five games over .500

Pearce, the unquestioned anchor of the Curve lineup, went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs

Bowers came through with a double in the eighth inning to help Altoona claim an 8-4 lead

Akron whittled two different four-run leads down to two, but the Aeros got no closer against Matt Peterson
The Curve closer pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save of the season

The Aeros cut the deficit to 8-6 on Brandon Pinckney’s RBI triple and Ryan Goleski’s RBI single in the eighth inning before Peterson closed the door

Akron drew within 6-4 in the seventh on Wyatt Toregas’ double and Argenis Reyes’ single, but Bowers’ hit provided crucial insurance runs

Pearce roped an RBI double down the left-field line to stake the Curve to a 1-0 lead in the first inning
Andrew McCutchen then singled him home to take a 2-0 advantage

Pearce blasted his 25th homer of the season in the fifth inning to stake the Curve to a 5-1 lead
His eye-popping season continued, as he is now batting .339 with 96 RBIs between Single-A Lynchburg and the Curve

Altoona tacked on another pair of runs in the second inning
Javier Guzman scored on Toregas’ throwing error, and Altoona went up 4-0 on Neil Walker’s groundout

Curve starter Kip Bouknight (9-3) was perfect through the first three innings before finding some trouble over the next three-plus frames
He allowed four runs on eight hits in 6-1/3 innings

Akron’s Chuck Lofgren (9-6), who won his first three starts against the Curve, was charged with six runs on nine hits in 5-1/3 innings

Rain delayed the start by 1 hour, 16 minutes