EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010 2004, 2010 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015 136 BATTING AVG.: .266 (2nd) September 5, 2016 -- Game #140, Road Game #72 BATTING AVG.: .257 (8th) TEAM HR: 84 (7th) TEAM HR: 83 (8th) WALKS: 454 (8th) Altoona Curve (75-64) vs. Richmond Flying Squirrels (62-78) WALKS: 400 (10th) STRIKEOUTS: 948 (11th) RHP Tyler Eppler (9-10, 4.14) vs. LHP Andrew Suarez (7-7, 4.25) STRIKEOUTS: 1024 (5th) TEAM ERA: 4.08 (8th) TEAM ERA: 3.50 (2nd) WALKS: 542 (1st) 12:05 p.m. | The Diamond | Richmond, Va. WALKS: 465 (4th) STRIKEOUTS: 983 (10th) STRIKEOUTS: 1040 (5th) () -- EL Rank Radio -- ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM | TV - MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Wed., Sept. 7 TBD Thurs., Sept. 8 TBD Fri., Sept. 9 TBD Sat., Sept. 10 TBD YESTERDAY: The Curve lost for the third straight game to Richmond, 6-2. The Curve opened the scoring with a 2016 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS two-run home run by Stetson Allie in the fifth, but Richmond responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning. The Team W-L PCT GB Today Flying Squirrels took the lead on a grand slam by Ryder Jones, his second go-ahead grand slam in two games. Brandon Akron 76-64 .543 -- v. BOW Waddell pitched three scoreless relief innings. Altoona starter Nick Kingham four perfect innings before the six-run Altoona 75-64 .540 0.5 @ RIC fifth frame.Barrett Barnes and Edwin Espinal each doubled in the game. Harrisburg 75-66 .532 1.5 v. HFD Richmond 62-78 .443 14.0 v. ALT TONIGHT: The Curve wrap up the regular season with the last of four games against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Erie 61-79 .436 15.0 @ BIN Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Altoona had won 13 consecutive games against Richmond this year, Bowie 56-85 .397 20.5 @ AKR dating back to April 22, prior to Friday night's loss. The Curve have dropped the first three games of the series after taking three of four against Binghamton at home. The Flying Squirrels took three of four games against Hartford in their last series. 2016 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS Team W-L PCT GB Today PLAYOFF HUNT: The Curve are 11 games over .500. Altoona, Akron and Harrisburg are still in the chase for the two Reading 88-52 .629 -- v. TRN postseason spots from the Western Division. The Curve's "Magic Number" for clinching a playoff spot is one, mean- Trenton 87-54 .617 1.5 @ REA ing a win today against Richmond or a loss by Harrisburg against Hartford will put the Curve into postseason. The Hartford 74-66 .529 14.0 @ HAR Curve can still win the Western Division regular-season championship for the first time since 2010 with a win today New Hamp. 68-73 .482 20.5 v. POR and a loss by Akron against Bowie. The Curve took over first place in the division for the first time on June 26, and Binghamton 63-76 .453 24.5 v. ERI held that spot in the standings for 55 of their 62 games until falling to second yessterday. Last year, the Curve won Portland 55-83 .399 32.0 @ NHM the Western Division Wild Card and went to the playoffs for the first time since their E.L. title run in 2010. They have not appeared in consecutive postseasons since the first four playoff trips in franchise history in four straight years from 2003-06. 2016 CURVE AT A GLANCE Overall Record ..................................... 75-64 FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Tyler Eppler makes his 27th start of the year for the Curve and his fifth against Rich- Home ............................................ 43-25 mond. Eppler is 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA in his four previous outings against Richmond and has not allowed more than Road ............................................. 32-39 one earned run in any of those starts. In his most recent start, Eppler allowed four runs (two earned) in seven innings in a win against Binghamton on Wednesday. Eppler is 6.1 innings away from tying the franchise record for innings Place (E.L. Western) ................................2nd pitched in a single season (162.2 IP by Landon Jacobson in 2003). He leads the Altoona rotation and sits third in the Games Ahead/Behind ........................... -0.5 E.L. with 156.1 innings pitched. He leads Altoona starters in WHIP (1.28) and is third in strikeouts (99). He holds the second-lowest BB/9 IP (1.67) amongst E.L. starters. He has turned in a team-best 15 quality starts this season, Streak............................................................ L3 including seven in his first eight starts. The Texas native is in his third professional season following his All-Conference Last 5 .......................................................... 2-3 career at Sam Houston State, where he was teammates with Curve pitcher Cody Dickson, and briefly appeared with Last 10 ........................................................ 5-5 the Curve at the end of last season. For more on Eppler, see page two. 2016 vs. Richmond ................................15-6 FOR RICHMOND: Lefty Andrew Suarez makes his 19th start of the year for the Flying Squirrels. Last time out he at Altoona ....................................... 9-1 pitched seven scoreless innings in a win against Hartford on Tuesday. Suarez has made one start against the Curve at Richmond ................................... 6-5 this season, picking up a loss after allowing three earned runs with no walks and six strikeouts on May 12 at The All-time vs. Richmond ....................... 81-66 Diamond. Eric Wood hit two homers against him in that game. Suarez is 5-1 with a 2.88 ERA over his last eight starts at Altoona ................................... 52-28 since the All-Star Break. A second-round pick by the Giants last year out of the University of Miami, Suarez is currently at Richmond ............................... 28-38 ranked as San Francisco's No. 8 prospect by MLB.com. ‘16 Home Attendance .................... 272,640 COMEBACK CURVE: The Curve have outscored opponents 124-93 in the 8th inning or later this season and have 36 Home Openings .........................................66 total come-from-behind wins. The Curve have won seven times this year after trailing through eight innings, the most Average Attendance ............................4,131 in the league. The three closest teams in that category, New Hampshire, Richmond and Reading, have each done it four times. BROADCAST INFORMATION DU-RAP IT UP: Altoona closer Montana DuRapau leads active Eastern League relievers with 22 saves this year, second-most overall, sits first with 43 games finished and fourth in total games pitched with 50. His 22 saves are tied for fourth-most in a single season in Altoona franchise history. He is tied for the second-most saves for a Curve pitcher in a season since 2007 behind only the 24 by Noah Krol in 2011. The Curve are 58-2 when leading heading into the ninth inning. Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Fletcher Keel will call all the action of the 2016 BOMBS AWAY: Curve outfielderStetson Allie now sits in third place on the Curve's all-time list with 54 home runs, season on the flagship of the Curve, ESPN dating back to 2014. Allie moved ahead of Ray Sadler with his 42nd career homer on May 27 at Bowie for third all- Radio 1430, WVAM-AM in Altoona. time. Josh Bonifay and Adam Hyzdu both share the franchise record with 55 homers hit while wearing an Altoona Pregame coverage begins 15 min. before jersey. Dating back to the start of the 2014 season, Allie leads the Eastern League in home runs, ahead of Jake Fox all games. (50), Quincy Latimore (45), Dean Green (41), Dylan Cozens (39), Rhys Hoskins (37) and Steven Moya (35). The Curve can also be heard on the following affiliate stations for selected games: BARNES BOUNCING BACK: After hitting just one homer through his first ON THE ROAD TRIP - WTRN-AM/FM 1340/100.7 in Tyrone 100 games, Barrett Barnes hit four home runs in six games from August 9-16 - WWGE 1400 AM in Ebensburg Games ....................................................................3 and has hit eight homers in 23 games since August 9. He hit .249 in his first - Online streaming at AltoonaCurve.com Record ............................................................... 0-3 70 games through July 4, but has since raised his average to .308, sixth-best in the league. In his last 53 games since July 5, Barnes has hit .382 (68/178), provided by TuneIn Radio Average .......................................... .200 (19/95) tops in the E.L. during that span, with eight homers, 16 doubles and 31 RBIs. - Via the TuneIn Radio App and the MiLB Runs/Runs Per Game ..............................7/2.3 Barnes has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week twice in First Pitch App Home Runs...........................................................1 the month of August, winning the honor for the week of August 15 and was named Player of the Week again last Monday. RISP ................................................... .250 (3/12) Errors ......................................................................0 PROSPECT WATCH: The Curve roster currently features six of MLB.com's Mid-Season Top 30 Pirates Prospects: Kevin Nemwan (4), Nick Kingham (10), THIS DATE IN CURVE HISTORY ERA ...................................................................6.06 Clay Holmes (11), Brandon Waddell (19), Tyler Eppler (21) and Barrett Barnes In 2010, the Curve topped the Reading Starter W-L ...................................................... 0-1 (26). This year's team previously included four other players ranked in MLB. com's top 30, including Tyler Glasnow (1), Austin Meadows (2), Elias Diaz Phillies, 3-2, for their franchise-best 82nd Starter ERA ..................5.74 (10 ER / 15.2 IP) (9), Dovydas Neverauskas (23), Jose Osuna (28) and Edgar Santana (29), plus win of the season.