Altoona Curve Vs. Bowie Baysox
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EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017, 2018 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 163 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 May 7, 2019 -- Game #31, Home Game #14 Bowie Baysox (8-23) vs. Altoona Curve (15-15) LHP Zac Lowther (2-2, 2.66) vs. RHP Pedro Vasquez (2-0, 2.67) 6 p.m. | Peoples Natural Gas Field | Altoona, Pa. Radio -- WRTA 98.5 FM & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Wed., May 8 Bowie 10:30 a.m. RHP Alex Wells (1-1, 2.87) vs. LHP Sean Brady (0-2, 9.64) Thurs., May 9 OFF DAY Fri., May 10 Erie 6 p.m. TBD vs. LHP Cam Vieaux (1-2, 2.67) Sat., May 11 Erie 4 p.m. TBD vs. RHP Scooter Hightower (1-3, 5.52) THE LAST TIME OUT: Bowie starter Hunter Harvey pitched his longest outing since July 5, 2014 and held the Curve 2019 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS scoreless over six two-hit innings. Meanwhile, the Bowie bats broke loose with six runs off Curve starter James Marvel. The Baysox eventually built a 7-0 lead before Altoona rallied for five in the eighth to tighten the score to 7-5 Team W-L PCT GB Today with two-run singles from Bligh Madris and Jerrick Suiter. However, the Baysox extended their lead with three in Harrisburg 23-6 .793 -- vs. BIN the top of the ninth with the second home run of the game from Ademar Rifaela, a two-run blast, before a run scor- Erie 14-12 .538 7.5 vs. AKR ing double later in the frame. Altoona 15-15 .500 8.5 vs. BOW Akron 13-17 .433 10.5 @ ERI TODAY'S GAME: The 21st season of Altoona Curve Baseball continues as the Curve continue their homestand with the second of three games against the Bowie Baysox, Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The series is the Richmond 11-17 .392 11.5 vs. TRN first of four total series against Bowie in 2019, totalling 14 head-to-head contests. Bowie 8-23 .258 16.0 @ ALT THE CURVE: Altoona has won seven of their last 12 by outscoring their opponents 68-54, but have lost their last two 2019 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS by a 16-5 margin. Entering 2019, the Curve own the Eastern League's longest active streak for reaching the post- season while their four straight playoff appearances are tied for a franchise record (2003-06). Over that four-year Team W-L PCT GB Today period, the Curve have the best record (302-258) among Western Division teams while the only teams in the league Trenton 17-10 .630 -- @ RIC with better records are Trenton (329-235) and Reading (305-254). Binghamton 16-10 .615 0.5 @ HBG Reading 15-11 .577 1.5 vs. HFD THE BAYSOX: Bowie owns the worst record in professional baseball. The Baysox are the lone team in the minors with a winning percentage below .300 while Single-A Columbia (Mets) are 9-21, right at .300. Bowie has been shut Hartford 16-15 .516 3.0 @ REA out a league-high seven times this season, including two in their previous three games before last night's 10-run New Hamp. 13-16 .448 5.0 @ POR outburst. As a team, Bowie is batting a league-low .210 and their 100 runs are 10th among the 12 Eastern League Portland 9-18 .333 8.0 vs. NHM squads. From a pitching perspective, the Baysox team ERA is 4.35, the highest in the league. Since the 2017 season, the Baysox are 23-10 against the Curve. 2019 CURVE AT A GLANCE FOR ALTOONA: Right-handed pitcher Pedro Vasquez will make his seventh outing of the season and his sixth start Overall Record ........................................15-15 of the campaign. In his last start, Vasquez picked up his second win of the year after he held Richmond to one run Home ................................................... 4-9 through five innings as the Curve rolled to a 9-2 victory on Thursday at The Diamond. He also matched a season .................................................. 11-6 high with five strikeouts in the winning effort. Vasquez will make his second career start against Bowie on Tuesday. Road The right-hander from Santo Domingo was originally signed by the Mariners as an international free agent in 2015 Place (E.L. Western) ..................................3rd and was traded to the Pirates organization in September 2016...For more on Vasquez, see page two. Games Ahead/Behind ............................... -8.5 Streak .............................................................L2 FOR BOWIE: Southpaw Zac Lowther will take the mound for his sixth start of the year. He last appeared for the Bay- sox on Thursday in Erie and out-dueled SeaWolves starter Gregory Soto with five one-hit, scoreless frames in which Last 5............................................................ 3-2 he fanned six for his second win of the year. That start began the lone shutout victory for the Baysox to date this Last 10 ......................................................... 5-5 season. Lowther was the 74th overall selection in the 2017 draft out of Xavier University and is in his first Double-A season. He was a New York-Penn League All-Star in his 2017 debut season with Aberdeen and has racked up 246 2019 vs. Bowie ........................................... 0-1 strikeouts in 201.2 innings as a pro. at Altoona .......................................... 0-1 BRAKE MEN: Curve relievers teamed up for 14 straight scoreless innings over five games before Bowie broke at Bowie............................................. 0-0 through for one run in the seventh on Monday. In the past eight games, the unit has surrendered just six runs over All-time vs. Bowie ..............................161-166 28.2 innings for a 1.91 ERA. The bullpen's ERA has dropped to 3.04 from from 3.52 since April 29. In those eight .......................................79-84 games, Altoona relievers have turned in scoreless multi-inning appearances eight times. Tate Scioneaux leads the at Altoona staff with three outings over that stretch and has allowed one run in 3.2 innings, including three straight scoreless at Bowie ..........................................82-82 innings pitched over his last two games. Beau Sulser pitched 16 innings without a run allowed to start his Double-A career before Ademar Rifaela went deep to start the seventh on Monday. ‘19 Home Attendance .......................... 40,759 MAKING THE PLAYS: Altoona pitchers have recorded the fewest strikeouts (209) in Minor League Baseball and the Home Openings ............................................12 fourth-fewest walks (75) in the game. With a high rate of balls put into play, the Curve defense has put away outs Average Attendance ............................... 3,397 consistently as their .987 fielding percentage rankes first in Double-A and second in all of the minors with the Triple- A Iowa Cubs (Cubs) leading the way at .988. GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Curve offense has found it's rhythm and aided seven wins in the last 12 games. Altoona hitters have produced 68 runs on 108 hits, including 35 extra-base knocks, and a 36-for-113 (.319) mark with men in scoring position during the recent run. Prior to the 68-run outburst, the Curve were limited to 14 runs over their previous eight games and were batting .207 (49/237) as a team, .106 (5/47) with runners in scoring position and had 10 extra-base hits over that period. PIRATES ORGANIZATION SUMMARY BOUNTY HUNTER: Third baseman Hunter Owen continues to rake in his first season at Double-A. He currently leads Affiliate W-L DIV Yest. Today the Eastern League with 26 RBIs and stands second in the league with seven homers while the rest of the Curve have combined for eight long balls. Through 30 games, the Indiana native is on pace for 33 homers and 121 RBIs, PIT (MLB) 16-15 4th, -3.0 OFF vs. TEX which is on pace to break Adam Hyzdu's single-season records of 31 homers and 106 RBIs. Coming off Eastern IND (AAA) 15-14 2nd, -2.5 OFF @ SWB League Player of the Week for April 22-28, Owen is batting .300 (15/50) over his last 13 games with six two-hit per- BRD (A+) 19-11 2nd, -0.5 W, 1-0 @ CLR @ CLR formances, four homers, 14 RBIs, four doubles and one triple, however, he is 0-for-his-last-12 in his last four games. His 38 homers since the beginning of the 2017 season are the most by any Pirates minor leaguer over that period. GBO (A) 20-10 3rd, -5.0 W, 6-3 vs. WVP OFF WVBB (A-) Season begins June 14 BLIGH GUY: OutfielderBligh Madris broke an 0-for-13 slide with a two-run single in the eighth on Monday and BRS (Rk.) Season begins June 18 has reached base in 13-of-14 while hitting safely in nine of his last 14 games. Madris is 16-for-52 (.308) with three doubles, seven RBIs and collected his first seven walks of the season over his last 14 games. The Las Vegas native BROADCAST INFORMATION is tied for fifth in the league with 32 hits. OLIVA ON EARLY: Jared Oliva is excelling during the first inning as the Curve leadoff hitter. Over 18 games from the leadoff spot, the he is 7-for-15 with two walks, one hit-by-pitch and one lead-off home run during game-opening at bats. The Pirates seventh-round selection in 2017 was the primary leadoff man for A-Adv. Bradenton in 2018 and hit .345 (30/87) with 15 walks in the ON THE HOMESTAND first inning last season.