EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017, 2018 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 170 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 September 2, 2019 -- Game #140, Second Half Game #72, Road Game #69 Altoona Curve (69-70, 33-38) vs. Harrisburg Senators (75-63, 33-35) LHP Sean Brady (5-12, 4.32) vs. RHP Kevin McGowan (1-3, 5.06) Noon | FNB Field | Harrisburg, Pa. Radio -- WKMC 96.1 FM & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV EASTERN LEAGUE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE E.L. Eastern Division Series Best-of-Five Series Trenton vs. Reading September 4-5 at Reading; September 6-8 at Trenton E.L. Western Division Series Best-of-Five Series Harrisburg vs. Bowie September 4-5 at Bowie; September 6-8 at Harrisburg E.L. Championship Series Best-of-Five Series September 10-11 at Eastern Champ; September 13-15 at Western Champ THE LAST TIME OUT: Mario Sanchez led a 3-0 shutout win for Harrisburg over the Curve with seven hitless innings in the 2019 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS start for the Senators. After a walk to the first batter in the game, Sanchez faced the minimum and struck out 10 the rest of the way. Bligh Madris broke up the no-hitter with a single on the first pitch of the eighth inning from reliever Andrew Lee Team 2nd Half Overall GB Today and Adrian Valerio connected on a two-out single two batters later but Andrew Istler locked down the final four outs. Curve y-Bowie 46-25 76-63 -- @ RIC starter Pedro Vasquez fired seven one-run innings with a Danny Masters RBI single plating Rhett Wiseman in the fifth -in Erie 45-26 76-61 1.0 @ AKR ning. Harrisburg snuck across two unearned runs in the eighth inning while facing Nick Mears. x-Harrisburg 33-35 75-63 11.5 vs. ALT TODAY'S GAME: The Curve close out the franchise's 21st season with the final game of 2019 versus the Harrisburg Sena- Altoona 33-38 69-70 13.0 @ HBG tors, Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Altoona has been swept three times in 2019, all in three-game series. Richmond 31-40 54-84 15.0 vs. BOW The Senators swept a three-game set in Altoona during Harrisburg's breakout April and in 19 games between the two ballclubs, Harrisburg has outscored the Curve 85-74. A win for the Curve would give the club a .500 finish for the first time Akron 27-43 6-78 18.5 vs. ERI in team history but a loss would result in the eighth losing season and first since 2014. The Curve open up the 2020 season 2019 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS at PNG Field on April 9 against the Erie SeaWolves, Double-A affiliate of the Erie SeaWolves. Team 2nd Half Overall GB Today THE CURVE: The Curve have lost their last three games by a combined score of 21-8 after they won their previous four by y-Reading 41-30 80-58 -- @ TRN a 19-3 tally. Over the last 24 games, the Curve are 12-12 with eight shutout wins. Before the current series with Harrisburg began, Altoona was 9-4 over their previous 13 games and had a 2.29 ERA (29 ER/114 IP) over that period, the second-low- x-Trenton 37-34 75-62 4.0 vs. REA est mark in the E.L. Since the All-Star Break, the Curve are 21-32 and have been outscored 228-196. The Curve went 25-10 Hartford 36-35 73-65 5.0 @ BNG from June 3-July 13, including wins in 7 of 8 entering the All-Star Break, to climb from a season-low five games under .500 Portland 35-36 62-76 6.5 vs. NHM (24-29) to a season-best 10 games over (49-39). New Hamp. 31-40 62-76 10.0 @ POR THE SENATORS: The First Half Western Division Champions are playoff bound for the first time since 2013 and begin the Binghamton 31-44 66-73 11.5 vs. HFD hunt for the franchie's first league title since 1999 on Wednesday. Harrisburg rattled off 21 wins in April but went 26-37 from May 1 until the All-Star Break. Since the break, the Senators are 28-22 record and are 10-5 over their last 15. Har- 2019 CURVE AT A GLANCE risburg ranks fourth in pitching with a 3.46 ERA, fifth in starter ERA at 3.74 and third in bullpen ERA at 3.00. Offensively, Overall Record ........................................69-70 Harrisburg is fourth in the league scoring 4.1 runs per game, fourth with a .242 batting average, tied for first with a .268 ........................................36-32 average with men in scoring position and their 87 homers rank ninth. First Half Second Half ....................................33-38 FOR ALTOONA: Left-handed pitcher Sean Brady takes the hill for his 22nd start with Altoona and 27th overall in 2019. Home ...............................................39-32 Brady has pitched to two straight wins with a nine-inning, complete-game shutout two starts ago on August 23 at Bowie Road ................................................30-38 and seven one-run innings in his lastest start on Wednesday versus Akron. The lefty leads the Curve pitching staff with 15 Place (E.L. Western) .................................. 4th quality starts, including three straight for a 1.64 ERA (4 ER/22 IP), and holds a 3.89 ERA with Altoona. The lefty spent the Games Ahead/Behind ............................. -13.0 first six years of his professional career in the Indians organization and was granted his release by Cleveland on May 1 before he signed with the Pirates on May 6. Brady was originally a fifth-round draft pick out of high school by Cleveland in Streak .............................................................L3 the 2013 draft...For more on Brady, see page two. Last 5............................................................ 2-3 Last 10 ......................................................... 5-5 FOR HARRISBURG: Right-hander Kevin McGowan makes his 17th start in the Nationals system and seventh for Harrisburg. All-Time Record ............................1,503-1,458 He allowed five runs over six innings at Hartford in his previous start. McGowan started the season with independent Sugar Land and went 2-2 with a 2.75 ERA in four starts before the Nationals purchased his contract on May 21. He pitched ................................ 7-12 five games with Triple-A Fresno before he landed on the injured list and rehabbed in the GCL prior to joining Harrisburg on 2019 vs. Harrisburg July 30. McGowan was originally drafted by the New York Mets in 13th round in 2013 out of Division-II Franklin Pierce. at Altoona .......................................... 5-5 at Harrisburg .................................... 2-7 RYAN'S REIGN: Indiana, Pa. native Michael Ryan became the winningest manager in Curve history with his 214th win on All-time vs. Harrisburg .....................203-178 August 18 over Bowie. Ryan is now 221-196 as Altoona's manager and was the fastest to reach the 200-win milestone in his at Altoona .....................................115-71 365th game on July 12 in Erie. Over his seven-year managerial career, Ryan is a two-time league champion, which included at Harrisburg ...............................88-107 the 2017 Eastern League Championship with the Curve, and has a career record of 501-465. HEROES OF THE ZEROES: Altoona extended a team record with their 18th shutout over Akron on Tuesday, which also leads ‘19 Home Attendance ........................ 308,464 the Eastern League this season. Two individual nine-inning, complete-game shutouts by Sean Brady and Domingo Robles Home Openings ............................................67 tied and surpassed the previous team record of 16 shutouts by the 2015 Curve. Brady and Robles' performances are the Average Attendance ............................... 4,604 first multiple nine-inning shutouts to be pitched by the Curve in the same season since Tom Gorzelanny threw two in 2005. CURVE LEAGUE RANKINGS YEAR OF THE PITCHER: Eastern League pitchers in 2019 have handcuffed hitters to a .239 league-wide batting average with teams scoring 3.94 runs per game. The last time the league average finished below .240 and fewer than 4.0 runs were Runs Per Game ................................3.91 (6th) scored per game was in 1971 (.234/3.57). The league average has finished under .240 just five times since becoming a Average ............................................ .241 (5th) Double-A league in 1963: 1971 (.234), 1968 (.219), 1967 (.228), 1966 (.234) and 1965 (.236). The circuit has witnessed eight RISP. ................................................. .254 (5th) no-hitters in 2019 (two against Altoona), the most since a league-record nine no-nos were thrown in 1967. Strikeouts have Home Runs .....................................85 (T-10th) also spiked to 8.7 SO/9 IP, the highest ratio in league history going back to the earliest data available in 1965. The Curve ....................................... 86 (9th) are on pace to set new offensive lows in team batting average (.252 in 2013) and hits (1,142 in 2018) while already setting a Stolen Bases new single-season record for offensive strikeouts (1,201 to pass 1,155 in 2014) in club history. ERA... ...............................................3.70 (10th) CRUZ CONTROL: Oneil Cruz batted .377 (20/53) over 16 games between August 5-21 with 13 RBIs and six extra-base hits. Starter ERA ......................................3.75 (6th) He slumped over his next six games from August 22-27 by going 2-for-24 with 12 strikeouts, but did hit his first Double-A Reliever ERA ..................................3.66 (11th) homer. Cruz has rebounded in his last five games by going 6-for-19 with three RBIs. The 6-foot-6 shortstop was limited Strikeouts/9 IP................................ 7.2 (12th) to 35 games for A-Adv.