EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 145 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 BATTING AVG.: .237 (4th) April 13, 2018 -- Game #7, Away Game #1 BATTING AVG.: .263 (2nd) TEAM HR: 4 (9th) TEAM HR: 3 (T-10th) WALKS: 13 (12th) Altoona Curve (4-2) at Erie SeaWolves (3-4) WALKS: 27 (T-4th) STRIKEOUTS: 47 (12th) RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-0, 1.93) vs. RHP Dario Agrazal (0-0, 0.00) STRIKEOUTS: 75 (T-1st) TEAM ERA: 2.33 (2nd) TEAM ERA: 3.32 (T-5th) WALKS: 26 (T-4th) 6:05 p.m. | UPMC Park | Erie, Pa. WALKS: 26 (T-4th) STRIKEOUTS: 54 (9th) STRIKEOUTS: 63 (8th) () -- EL Rank Radio -- 98.5 FM WRTA & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Sat., April 14 at Erie 1:35 p.m. LHP Brandon Waddell (0-0, 1.59) vs. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (0-0, 6.00) Sun., April 15 at Erie 1:35 p.m. RHP Mitch Keller (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Tyler Alexander (0-0, 3.18) Mon., April 16 at Akron 6:35 pm. LHP Taylor Hearn (0-0, 0.00 vs. RHP Shane Bieber (1-0, 0.00) Tues., April 17 at Akron 6:35 p.m. RHP J.T. Brubaker (0-1, 2.70) vs. RHP Aaron Civale (0-0, 2.45) WEDNESDAY: The Curve completed their first homestand of the season with a narrow 2-1 loss to the Harrisburg Senators, splitting the two-game series and took four of six total games at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The Senators plated one run in 2018 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS each of the first two frames off Curve starter J.T. Brubaker. Altoona's bullpen of Bret Helton, Jake Brentz and Sam Street hurled four scoreless innings and allowed one hit to keep the Curve close. Cole Tucker ousted Harrisburg's shutout bid in the Team W-L PCT GB Today eighth inning with an RBI-double and Ke'Bryan Hayes went 3-for-4 with a triple. Bowie 5-2 .667 -- @ HAR Altoona 4-2 .667 0.5 @ ERI TONIGHT: The 20th Season of Altoona Curve Baseball, presented by Stuckey Subaru, continues at UPMC Park in Erie, Pa. Akron 4-3 .571 1.0 vs. TRN against the Erie SeaWolves, Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, in the first road series of the year. Altoona opened the Richmond 4-3 .571 1.0 vs. REA season winning three-of-four at home against Akron and split an abbreviated two-game series with Harrisburg. Monday Harrisburg 3-3 .500 1.5 vs. BOW night's game was postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up as part of a double-header on June 26 at PNG Erie 3-4 .429 2.0 vs. ALT Field (Time TBD). Friday's game will be Erie's home opener after they started the season with three straight wins at Reading, followed by four consecutive losses that included a three-game sweep at Bowie. 2018 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS THE CURVE: Heading into the 2018 season, the Curve are the only team in the Eastern League that has qualified for the Team W-L PCT GB Today postseason in each of the last three years. After back-to-back wild card berths, Altoona was the Western Division's top seed New Hamp. 6-1 .857 -- vs. HTF heading into the postseason in 2017. With four of the top-six MLB.com Pirates prospects and ten of the top-30, the Curve Binghamton 3-3 .500 2.5 @ POR have the most decorated prospect roster of Pittsburgh's minor league affiliates to start the year. Top-ranked prospectMitch Trenton 3-4 .429 3.0 @ AKR Keller returns after dominating in the E.L. postseason last season. Notable Curve returners and newcomers include 2017 Reading 3-4 .429 3.0 @ RIC Florida State League All-Stars Dario Agrazal, Jake Brentz, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Logan Hill, Christian Kelley and Cole Portland 1-5 .167 4.5 vs. BNG Tucker. Bryan Reynolds and Jason Martin, outfielders acquired in the January trades of Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Hartford 1-6 .143 5.0 @ NH Cole, open the season with the Curve. Elvis Escobar, who was a standout offensive performer in last year's E.L. postseason, returns for a third year with the Curve, as well as 2017 E.L. All-Star Wyatt Mathisen. 2018 CURVE AT A GLANCE THE SEAWOLVES: Last year, the SeaWolves finished 65-75 in fourth place in the E.L. Western Division and nine games Overall Record ........................................... 4-2 behind Altoona. They return Dominic Ficociello who hit .306 in 90 games for the SeaWolves last season, the fourth-best aver- Home ................................................... 4-2 age in the Eastern League during the 2017 season. The Erie roster is littered with Tigers top-30 prospects, according to MLB. Road .................................................... 0-0 com, with pitchers Beau Burrows (No. 4), Kyle Funkhouser (No. 6), Tyler Alexander (No. 19), Sany Baez (No. 20) and Matt Hall (No. 25) along with catcher Jake Rogers (No. 5), shortstop Sergio Alcantara (No. 26) and outfielders Troy Montgomery Place (E.L. Western) ..................................2nd (No. 27) and Jake Robson (No. 28). Games Ahead/Behind ........................... -0.5 FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Dario Agrazal makes the third start of his Double-A career and second of 2018. Agrazal shut out Akron on 4/6 at PNG Field when he threw six no-hit innings and left the game with a 6-0 lead but received a no- Streak ...............................................................L1 decision after the RubberDucks charged back against the Curve bullpen. He pitched one game for the Curve last season, Last 5 ............................................................. 3-2 working four innings and allowing two runs in a loss against Trenton on June 21. He was placed on the disabled list with a Last 10 ........................................................... 4-2 right pectoral strain after the start and missed the remainder of the year. A native of Panama, Agrazal was an All-Star selec- tion in the Dominican Summer League in 2013, the New-York Penn League with the West Virginia Black Bears in 2015 and 2018 vs. Erie ................................................ 0-0 with the Bradenton Marauders in the Florida State League last season. He is currently ranked by both Baseball America and at Altoona .......................................... 0-0 MLB.com as the Pirates' No. 30 prospect. at Erie .................................................. 0-0 FOR ERIE: Right-hander Spencer Turnbull makes his second start of the year for Erie in their home opener on Friday. He All-time vs. Erie .................................200-185 pitched 4.2 innings for the SeaWolves at Reading on 4/7 and struck out seven. Turnbull was promoted to Double-A for the at Altoona ......................................93-91 first time in mid-August 2017 and made four starts for the SeaWolves, but Friday will be his first outing against the Curve. at Erie ........................................... 107-94 Between A-Adv. Lakeland and Double-A Erie in 2017, he went 7-6 in 19 starts with a 3.67 ERA. Turnbull was selected by the Tigers in the second round in 2014 as the 63rd overall selection and the Pirates chose RHP Mitch Keller with the following ‘18 Home Attendance ........................18,846 pick. Home Openings ............................................6 Average Attendance ............................. 3,141 THE STARTING LINE: Curve starting pitchers combined to go 1-0 with a 0.65 ERA (2 ER/27.2 IP) over the first five games of the 2018 season, the best start for Altoona starters since 2015, when they were 1-0 with a 0.35 ERA (1 ER/26.0 IP) through the first five games. That year, starting pitchers Jason Creasy, Zack Dodson, Tyler Glasnow, Chad Kuhl and Angel Sanchez began the year 6-0 with a 0.71 ERA (6 ER/75.2 IP) over their first 14 games. Over the last 21 games dating back BROADCAST INFORMATION to August 20, 2017, Curve starters have combined to go 8-4 with a 2.02 ERA (29 ER/129.0 IP). Including the Curve's six postseason games in 2017, Curve starters are 14-4 with a 1.92 ERA (37 ER/172.1 IP) over the last 26 games. WILL POWER: Curve first basemanWill Craig homered in three consecutive games for the Curve between 4/7-4/10 and has delivered an extra-base hit in his last four games. On Saturday, he clubbed a three-run, go-ahead home run, the first of his Double-A career, against Akron. He followed with a two-run homer on Sunday afternoon, and then added a three-run, inside-the-park homer on Tuesday against Harrisburg in a 4-3 win. A first-round pick by the Pirates in 2016, Craig hit 37 Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Garett Mansfield home runs over his three-year career at Wake Forest. So far as a professional, he has combined to hit 11 homers. His three will call the action of the 2018 season on homers and 1/7.00 HR/AB ratio are both second in the league. His .762 slugging percentage is third-best among E.L. hitters. the flagship of the Curve, Talk Radio 98.5 FM/1240 AM WRTA in Altoona. Pregame ALEMAIS-ING: InfielderStephen Alemais is currently hitting .450 (9/20) through his first six games, second-best in the Eastern League. He is also ranked tied for second with a .500 on-base percentage. coverage begins 15 min. before all games. The Curve can also be heard on the following affiliate COLE TRAIN: Dating back the end of the 2017 regular season, Cole Tucker currently holds a 22-game on-base streak, stations for selected games: which is the second-longest active streak in the Eastern League.