Altoona Curve Vs. Akron Rubberducks
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EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010 2004, 2010 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 141 2010, 2015, 2016 BATTING AVG.: .237 (11th) May 23, 2017 -- Game #42, Home Game #20 BATTING AVG.: .272 (2nd) TEAM HR: 41 (3rd) TEAM HR: 26 (9th) WALKS: 139 (6th) Akron RubberDucks (18-21) vs. Altoona Curve (24-17) WALKS: 136 (8th) STRIKEOUTS: 334 (3rd) LHP Matt Whitehouse (1-1, 2.45) vs. RHP Yeudy Garcia (2-2, 4.88) STRIKEOUTS: 268 (12th) TEAM ERA: 3.79 (5th) TEAM ERA: 3.52 (3rd) WALKS: 113 (11th) 6 p.m. | Peoples Natural Gas Field | Altoona, Pa. WALKS: 134 (6th) STRIKEOUTS: 266 (12th) STRIKEOUTS: 293 (T-9th) () -- EL Rank Radio -- News Talk 1240, WRTA | TV -- MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Wed., May 24 Akron 10:30 a.m. RHP Julian Merryweather (3-2, 3.59) vs. RHP Alex McRae (3-0, 3.48) Thurs., May 25 Akron 10:30 a.m. LHP Thomas Pannone (0-1, 4.09) vs. LHP Brandon Waddell (0-1, 4.70) Fri., May 26 at Erie 6:35 p.m. TBD vs. RHP Tanner Anderson (2-4, 3.73) Sat., May 27 at Erie 6:35 p.m. TBD vs. RHP Austin Coley (1-1, 2.98) YESTERDAY: The Curve lost the series opener, 4-3, afterLuis Heredia issued three walks in the top of the ninth in- 2017 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS ning and Joe Sever hit a two-run single to break a 2-2 tie.Wyatt Mathisen homered in the top of the ninth to pull the Team W-L PCT GB Today Curve within a run, but Neil Holland closed out the inning and stranded the tying run on base. Kevin Newman led off Altoona 24-17 .585 -- v. AKR the bottom of the first with a solo home run, his second of the season. Akron scored a run in the second and another Bowie 22-22 .500 3.5 v. HFD in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead, but Pablo Reyes evened the score with an RBI single in the seventh. Austin Coley Erie 19-22 .463 5.0 v. HAR worked seven innings and allowed two runs while matching a season-high with six strikeouts. Akron starter Luis Lugo Akron 18-21 .462 5.0 @ ALT allowed two runs over 6.1 innings. Harrisburg 19-23 .452 5.5 @ ERI Richmond 17-25 .405 7.5 v. BIN TODAY: The Curve play the second in a four-game series against the Akron RubberDucks, Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The Curve swept the 'Ducks in three games during their first trip to PNG Field from April 13-15 2017 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS before Akron returned the favor with a three-game sweep of Altoona at Canal Park from April 21-23. The Curve took Team W-L PCT GB Today two of the three games played at Canal Park from May 4-7, including a double-header sweep. The two teams meet Trenton 26-16 .619 -- v. REA again for three games at PNG Field May 30-June 1 and for three games in Akron from July 7-9. Binghamton 23-15 .605 1.0 @ RIC Reading 23-16 .590 1.5 @ TRN FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Yeudy Garcia makes his eighth start of the season for the Curve and third against Portland 20-18 .526 4.0 @ NHM Akron. He faced the 'Ducks on April 23 and struck out a season-high nine but allowed five earned runs in his fourth Hartford 20-22 .476 6.0 @ BOW inning and was removed. Last time out, Garcia allowed four earned runs over 3.2 innings in a no-decision at Bing- New Hamp. 14-28 .333 12.0 v. POR hamton on Thursday. In his three starts prior to that outing, Garcia went 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA from April 29-May 12. He spent last year with the A-Adv. Bradenton Marauders, where he went 6-8 with a 2.76 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and averaged a strikeout per inning. In 2015, Garcia went 12-5 with a 2.10 ERA for the Single-A West Virginia Power 2017 CURVE AT A GLANCE and was named the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Garcia enters 2017 as the Pirates' No. 12 Overall Record ..................................... 24-17 prospect on MLB.com and Baseball America's No. 16 Pirates prospect. For more on Garcia, see page two. Home ...............................................14-5 Road ............................................. 10-12 FOR AKRON: Left-hander Matt Whitehouse makes his second spot start of the season and his eleventh overall ap- pearance. He also made a spot start against the Curve on April 21 and worked two scoreless innings. He pitched three Place (E.L. Western) .................................1st relief innings against Altoona on May 7 and allowed three runs (two earned). Whitehouse was drafted in the 19th Games Ahead/Behind ...........................+3.5 round in 2013 by Cleveland out of UC Irvine. Streak............................................................ L2 HEY JOE!: First baseman/right fielderConnor Joe is batting .364 (32/88) in 26 games since April 18 with seven Last 5 .......................................................... 2-3 doubles, two triples, two homers and 17 RBIs over 26 games, raising his average from .194 to .319, eighth-best in the Last 10 ........................................................ 5-5 Eastern League. He is tied for the third-best on-base percentage (.413) and has the fourth-best TPA/SO ratio (9.27). Over his last six games, Joe is batting .524 (11/21) with four doubles, two triples and four RBIs. 2017 vs. Akron ......................................... 5-5 at Altoona ....................................... 3-1 PUTTING IT IN PLAY: The Curve offense has the fewest strikeouts in the Eastern League with 268 and have four of at Akron ........................................... 2-4 the nine toughest hitters to strike out in the league. Edwin Espinal has the lowest K rate (9.2%) in the E.L. He's fol- All-time vs. Akron ...........................174-215 lowed by Pablo Reyes (2nd/10.1%), Connor Joe (4th/10.8%) and Jordan Luplow (9th/13.2%). at Altoona ...............................102-101 at Akron .....................................72-114 KRAMERICA INDUSTRIES: Curve second baseman Kevin Kramer is off to a hot start in his Double-A debut cam- paign, hitting .338 (47/139) through his first 36 games, second-best in the league, including four home runs. A 2013 ‘17 Home Attendance .......................73,659 College World Series champion at UCLA and a second-round draft pick of the Pirates in 2015, Kramer is currently Home Openings .........................................19 second in the Eastern League with a .426 on-base percentage, fourth with a .568 slugging percentage, fourth with Average Attendance ............................3,877 25 runs scored and tied for first with 14 doubles. Kramer has also been hit by a pitch a league-high eight times. He has reached base in 33 of 36 games he has played to begin the season and has at least one hit in 30 of his 36 games. However, Kramer is 0-for-8 with six strikeouts over his last two games. BROADCAST INFORMATION EDWINNING: 2016 E.L. All-Star Edwin Espinal leads the team with 28 RBIs. He has the best strikeout rate in the league (10.93 TPA/SO) and had multiple strikeouts in a game just once. Espinal is tenth in the E.L. in batting average at .316 (43/136). VIEW FROM THE TOP: The Curve have held first place for 35 of their 41 games this season and 28 straight games Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Max Gun since April 18. Dating back to July 24, 2016, they have been in first place in the Western Division for 69 of 77 games, will call the action of the 2017 season on including 36 straight games until the last two games of the year. the flagship of the Curve, News Talk 1240, WRTA in Altoona. Pregame coverage HOME SWEET HOME: The Curve are 14-5 at PNG Field this season, the best home record in the Eastern League. begins 15 min. before all games. With back-to-back losses over the last two night's, the Curve have picked up their first consecutive home losses this The Curve can also be heard on the following year. affiliate stations for selected games: ON THE HOMESTAND AIR JORDAN: With homers on Wednesday and Thursday, Jordan Luplow is - WKMC-AM 1370 AM in Roaring Spring - WTRN-AM 1340 in Tyrone Games ....................................................................4 now tied for fifth in the E.L. with eight on the season. His 1/16.50 HR/AB ratio is fifth-best in the league and his .553 slugging percentage is sixth. - WTRN-FM 100.7 in Tyrone Record ............................................................... 2-2 - WWGE 1400 AM in Ebensburg Average ....................................... .298 (39/137) DU-RAP IT UP: Altoona closer Montana DuRapau finished second in the - Online streaming at AltoonaCurve.com Runs/Runs Per Game ........................... 18/3.6 Eastern League with 22 saves last year, tied for fourth-most in Curve history. provided by TuneIn Radio It was tied for the second-most for a Curve pitcher in a season since 2007, Home Runs...........................................................3 - Via the TuneIn Radio App and the MiLB behind only 24 by Noah Krol in 2011. He finished last season first in the EL First Pitch App RISP ................................................. .275 (11/40) with 43 games finished and fourth with 50 appearances. With his six-out Errors ......................................................................3 save on Friday, DuRapau now sits alone with 30 career saves, passing Matt Peterson (2003-06) for the most in Curve franchise history. DuRapau is sec- ERA ...................................3.75 (15 ER/36.0 IP) ond in the E.L.