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

A note from Brett on Saturday 28th July 2007
The last few days have been good for my hand
But my return to the roster has been pushed back to the first game in Portland,
which is on Tuesday 7th August
So I hope if all goes well, I will be in there then
Swinging a lot lately and it feels good - a lot better than I thought it was going to be

Curve Game Day Notes on Sunday 29th July 2007

The Result
Aeros - 6 runs to 3

The Curve - Year-to-Date
55 wins and 50 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

Asdrubal Cabrera knocked in three of Akron's six runs to help the Aeros salvage the final game of a four-game against the Curve with a 6-3 win Sunday afternoon at Canal Park in Akron, OH

The loss on the field wasn't the only loss suffered by the Curve on Sunday, as slugging first baseman Steven Pearce learned that he has been promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis following the game

Pearce, the Pirates' eighth round draft pick in the 2005 June Draft out of the University of South Carolina, is in the middle of one of the finest offensive seasons in all of Minor League Baseball
The 24-year old, who opened the season at Class-A Lynchburg and hit .347 with 11 home runs and 24 RBI in 19 games before being promoted to Altoona on May 1, hit .334 with 14 homers and 72 RBI in 81 games in a Curve uniform
Pearce leaves the Curve as the Eastern League's leader in both batting average and slugging percentage (.585 entering Sunday) and his 96 RBI's between Lynchburg and Altoona ranks first among all minor league hitters

The Curve also announced that catcher Dave Parrish has been promoted to Indy

Pearce and Parrish will join the Indians for their game on Monday evening against the Durham Bulls (Devil Rays' AAA) at Victory Field in Indianapolis

In Sunday's game, the Aeros, who dropped out of first place in the E.L. South after three consecutive losses to the Curve to open the series, scored five times against Altoona starter Jason Roach and cruised to the victory

Roach (4-3), who was making a spot start in place of recently-promoted right-hander Luis Munoz, was only charged with two earned runs after all three runs he allowed in the second inning were unearned because of a pair of Curve errors

Trailing 5-0, Altoona scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings to trim the Akron lead to 5-2 and brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh before Brandon Chaves grounded out to end the inning

In the ninth, Javier Guzman singled home his second run of the game to cut Akron's advantage to 6-3, and Altoona once again sent the tying runs to the plate, but Reid Santos got Brian Peterson and Parrish for the final outs of the game

Scott Lewis (3-8) allowed two runs over six innings to earn the win for the Aeros

Cleveland Indians' left-handed reliever Aaron Fultz made a one-inning rehab start for Akron and retired all three Curve batters he faced

Guzman paced the Curve offense by going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI's
The switch-hitter enjoyed three multi-hit games in the four-game series

Altoona (55-50) now trails the second-place Aeros (61-47) by 4-1/2 games in the wild-card race in the Southern Division
The Curve are 5-1/2 games behind the first-place Erie SeaWolves, who completed a four-game series sweep of last-place Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon

The Curve will enjoy an off day Monday before returning to the diamond Tuesday night in the opener of a six-day, seven-game homestand at Blair County Ballpark

Altoona will face the Reading Phillies in Tuesday's 7.05pm series opener
Lefty Josh Shortslef (2-11, 5.06) will start for the Curve against Reading righty Zack Segovia (3-2, 4.00)

Tuesday's ballpark activities will include the fifth installment of the Curve's popular "Awful Night" series
Great seats are still available for all games on the upcoming homestand and can be purchased by visiting the Curve Ticket Office at Blair County Ballpark or by calling (877) 99-CURVE

The Akron Aeros finally came out of the first inning with a lead for the first time in this four game series against the Altoona Curve

The Aeros avoided the sweep, winning 6-3 over the Curve as Scott Lewis pitched six strong innings, allowing just two runs on five hits for the win

Cleveland Indians reliever Aaron Fultz made a rehab appearance and started the game, throwing just 10 pitches to get the Aeros out of the first

Altoona had outscored the Aeros 8-0 in the first inning over the first three games, but on Sunday the Aeros scored a run on a Shaun Larkin RBI single

Akron plated three more runs in the second, as Asdrubal Cabrera drove home one runner and an error allowed a second run to score and Cabrera to advance all the way to third
Brian Barton followed with a single, bringing Cabrera home to cap the inning

The Aeros added insurance runs in the third and the seventh, while Altoona managed only single runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth

Reid Santos pitched in relief for the first time since May 26

Cabrera finsihed the day going 2-3 with a sacrifice fly, two runs scored and three driven in

Argenis Reyes went 2-4 with two runs scored out of the leadoff spot, while Nathan Panther, who joined the Aeros roster prior to the game from Kinston, homered in his first game with Akron this season

The Curve built early leads to help win the first three games against Akron, but the tables were turned Sunday afternoon
The Aeros scored four runs in the first two innings and went on to beat a sloppy Altoona team, 6-3, at Canal Park

The Curve committed four errors, and four of Akron’s runs were unearned

The Aeros held a 4-0 lead with three runs in the second inning, all of which were unearned
Argenis Reyes rounded third as Andrew McCutchen threw to second base, and catcher Brian Peterson was charged with an error when he couldn’t field Jason Bowers’ throw
Asdrubal Cabrera, whose single started the ugly sequence, scored when the ball went to the backstop

Altoona jumped on Akron in the first two innings in the first three games of the series, scoring a combined 14 runs

Akron’s Shaun Larkin singled in a run in the first inning, the first time the Curve trailed all series

Jason Roach (4-3), who made a spot start in the place of Luis Munoz, allowed five runs - just two earned - in four innings

Akron mowed down the Curve offensively, limiting Altoona to just two hits through the first five innings

Scott Lewis (3-8) yielded two runs on five hits in six relief innings
He was scheduled to start but relieved Aaron Fultz, who was on a major league rehab assignment, in the second inning

The Curve generated their runs on Brian Peterson’s RBI groundout in the fifth and Javier Guzman’s RBI singles in the seventh and ninth innings

Despite the setback, Altoona came away from the series winning three of four at Canal Park after the team had lost nine of its previous 10 at Akron’s home park

‘‘Quite frankly, I would have been real happy with three out of four’’ Curve manager Tim Leiper said on the Curve radio network before the game
‘‘You come into this ballpark, and it hasn’t been a great place for us to win’’

Minutes after the Curve lost to Akron Sunday afternoon, Altoona also lost the best hitter in the minor leagues
The Pirates promoted Steven Pearce to Triple-A Indianapolis following the team’s 6-3 setback

Catcher Dave Parrish also went to Indy

‘‘I’m very surprised’’ Pearce said en route to his apartment, where he’ll pack his bags and prepare to leave this morning for a seven-hour trip
‘‘I was here to help the team make the playoffs, and I was here working very hard
I was pretty surprised, but also surprised in a good way’’

Pearce hit a combined .337 with 25 homers and 96 RBIs in 100 games between Single-A Lynchburg and the Curve
He leads the minors in RBIs, is first in slugging percentage (.644) among players on full-season teams, ranks fifth in extra-base hits and ninth in homers
Among Eastern League leaders, he’s at the top in batting average (.334) and slugging percentage (.586), and he ranks second in RBIs with 72 in only 81 games

Pearce also reached base in 33 consecutive games for the Curve, tying Ronny Paulino’s franchise record

His departure comes at a time when the Curve are playing as well as they have all season
Altoona took three of four from Akron over the weekend and is only 4-1/2 games out of the Southern Division wild card spot

Leaving the Curve in the midst of a playoff run will be ‘‘very hard’’ Pearce said
‘‘I’ve gotten close to a lot of my teammates
Now I have to go to another team where I may know people, but I may not
I’m looking forward to moving, but I wish those guys nothing but the best’’

Pearce, who’s in just his third professional season, entered the year as the Pirates’ No. 6 prospect
He surely will jump several spots with his monster year

‘‘I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished this season’’ he said
‘‘I knew what I was preparing for
I managed my offseason very seriously. I worked very hard offensively and defensively, and it’s starting to show this year’’

Pearce, who went 1-for-3 with two runs scored Sunday afternoon, plans to join Indy in time for tonight’s game against Durham, though he conceded ‘‘it’s going to be a long 24 hours’’

He hit .247 with two homers in his first 29 games with Altoona but has blistered Eastern League pitching to a .372 clip with 12 homers and 59 RBIs in his past 51 games

‘‘I guess I’m becoming less and less surprised at how quickly Pearce transitioned to Double-A because every time he moves up, whether it’s year to year or within the system, he continues to put up real good offensive numbers and plays well defensively, too’’ Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said during a recent visit to Blair County Ballpark
‘‘So I continue to be impressed, as everyone in the organization has, and really tip my cap to what he’s done’’

The Curve are now without their best hitter in Pearce and arguably their best starting pitcher
Luis Munoz was promoted to Indy on Saturday

Jason Delaney is the only other player on the active roster with significant time at first base
Brett Roneberg, whose wrist injury has sidelined him since June 25, has played 12 games at first

Parrish spent more than a month with Indy
He returned June 19 after hitting .212 in 33 games

Corresponding roster moves will be officially announced before Tuesday’s game

Former major league outfielder Peter Bergeron, who was with York in the Atlantic League, was signed Thursday and has been with the team for the past several days

It’s possible that catcher Milver Reyes, who was promoted to Indy on Friday, will rejoin the Curve

Curve manager Tim Leiper could not be reached for comment