2021 Game Notes
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2021 GAME NOTES 1000 PARK AVENUE, ALTOONA, PA 16602 814.283.3180 ALTOONACURVEBASEBALL ALTOONACURVE @ALTOONACURVE ALTOONA_CURVE EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017, 2018 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 172 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 June 6, 2021 -- Game #29, Road Game #18 Richmond Flying Squirrels (16-13) vs. Altoona Curve (18-10) RHP Gerson Garabito (0-2, 5.49) vs. RHP Jeff Passantino (0-1, 3.00) 1:05 p.m. | The Diamond | Richmond, VA Radio -- WRTA 98.5 FM & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV THE LAST TIME OUT: Rodolfo Castro blasted two home runs in a four-hit night, scoring four runners to lead the Altoona SOUTHWEST DIVISION STANDINGS onslaught over Richmond, 11-2, on Saturday night at The Diamond. The Curve (18-10) recorded 11 runs on 18 hits, a season- Team W-L GB Today high in both categories. After a scoreless first two frames, Altoona scored all 11 runs from the third through seventh inningsBowie 21-6 -- @ HFD and picked up a hit in every inning but the ninth. Castro broke open the scoring with a two-run home run off starter Phil Pfeifer (Loss, 0-1) in the third inning. His second blast closed the Altoona scoring in the seventh, another two-run shot off Akron 18-9 3.0 vs ERI reliever Matt Seelinger. It was the fifth multi-homer game in Castro’s career and the 108th in Curve history. Altoona 18-10 3.5 @ RIC Erie 18-10 3.5 @ AKR TODAY'S GAME: The Curve look for their 5th win in 6 games this afternoon at The Diamond. Richmond 16-13 6.0 vs ALT Harrisburg 10-18 11.5 vs POR HE STRUCK HIM OUT!!: The Curve struck out 17 batters on Opening Day, the most in a 9-inning game in franchise history. It surpassed the previous record of 16 which stood since May 9, 2010 vs. Erie. Roansy Contreras struck out a career-high 11 NORTHEAST DIVISION STANDINGS batters in the loss, Jeff Passantino struck out four and Yerry De Los Santos struck out two. In 28 games this season, Curve Team W-L GB Today pitching has struck out 10 or more batters 17 times (61%). Altoona pitching struck out nine batters in both ends of their Somerset 20-8 -- vs REA 7-inning doubleheader on 5/29 vs. Erie. Portland 17-12 3.5 @ HBG New Hamp. 10-18 10.0 vs BING THAT'S A HIT: Altoona recorded at least one hit in each of the first eight innings, a season-high 18 in all, in their 11-2 win over Richmond on Saturday 6/5. Rodolfo Castro and Ji-Hwan Bae each had four hits with Castro recording his 5th career Binghamton 8-20 12.0 @ NH multi-homer game in the victory. Five different players (Bae, Castro, Martin, Mitchell and Amaral) had multi-hit games and Hartford 8-21 12.5 vs BOW four different players (Bae, Castro, Citta and Amaral) each drove in at least two runs. Reading 5-24 15.5 @ SOM 2021 CURVE AT A GLANCE THIS IS THE WAY: Altoona starters are first in the AA Northeast League in WHIP (1.02) and have issued the second-fewest Overall Record ........................................18-10 walks (35). The Curve are one of 3 teams in MiLB with a WHIP of 1.02 or lower, (Frisco, 0.76 and Aberdeen 0.93) and have ................................................... 5-6 issued the 8th fewest walks among starting pitchers. Home Road .................................................. 13-4 IT'S GETTING HOT: SS Oneil Cruz has started to find his stride at the plate. In the midst of a 10-game hit streak, Cruz is bat- Place (S'East Div) .......................................3rd ting .333 (15-for-45) with 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI with 5 SB and has raised his batting average from .226 to .284. Cruz has a Games Ahead/Behind ............................... -3.5 hit in 19-of-24 games played this season and had a season-high 4 hits and 3 SB in Altoona's 9-4 win at Richmond on 6/2. Streak ........................................................... W1 Last 5............................................................ 4-1 THE FLYING SQUIRRELS: Richmond got off to a strong start this season with a 15-9 record entering this week's series Last 10 ......................................................... 7-3 against the Curve. Flying Squirrels manager José Alguacil is taking an absence from his position in Richmond to manage All-Time Record ............................1,521-1,469 the Venezuelan national team for the WBSC Baseball Americas Olympic Qualifier at Clover Park in St. Lucie, Fla. and The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla. Venezuela is playing in Group B with Canada, Colombia and Cuba. 2021 vs. Richmond .................................... 4-1 Jason Wood is managing the Flying Squirrels during this week’s series. He spent the last 10 seasons as a manager in the at Altoona ........................................... 0-0 Texas Rangers organization. He was with High-A Myrtle Beach from 2011-2013, Double-A Frisco in 2014, Triple-A Round at Richmond ....................................... 4-1 Rock from 2015-2018 and Triple-A Nashville in 2019. Wood is currently the Giants’ Coordinator of Infield Instruction. Catcher All-time vs. Richmond .........................115-90 Andres Angulo is also away from the team, heading down to Florida to play for his home country, Colombia, in the Qualifi- at Altoona .............................. 68-40 erThe Flying Squirrels have four players included in Baseball America’s Top-30 Giants prospects: Heliot Ramos (3), Tristan at Richmond ................................... 47-50 Beck (12), Sean Hjelle (13) and Jose Marte (30). Ramos is also rated by Baseball America as the No. 83 overall prospect. ‘21 Home Attendance .......................... 26,370 ............................................10 FOR ALTOONA: RHP Jeff Passantino makes his third start of the season on Sunday afternoon, he allowed three runs in 5.0 Home Openings innings last Sunday against Erie...For more on Passantino, see page two. Average Attendance ............................... 2,637 FOR RICHMOND: RHP Gerson Garabito makes his second start of the series after taking the loss on Tuesday night. The 25-year-old hails from San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic spent the first six seasons of his career as a member of CURVE LEAGUE RANKINGS the Kansas City Royals organization reaching Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2019 where he was named a Texas League Runs Scored ......................................7th (134) Mid-Season All-Star. He went 6-12 with a 3.77 ERA in 26 starts for the Naturals, he struck out 113 batters in 141.0 innings Average .............................................6th (.243) pitched. RISP. ..................................................6th (.241) Home Runs .......................................... 5th (29) PROSPECT WATCH: The Curve active roster features eight of the top-30 prospects in the Pirates organization according to Stolen Bases .......................................3rd (27) Baseball America. INF Oneil Cruz (No. 2 Pirates, No. 50 overall), INF Ji-Hwan Bae (No. 9), INF Mason Martin (No. 16), OF Cal Mitchell (No. 19), Rodolfo Castro (No. 22), and RHP Travis MacGregor (No. 28) are all ranked by BA. ERA... .................................................4th (3.58) Starter ERA ......................................3rd (3.30) Reliever ERA ....................................5th (3.86) Strikeouts/9 IP..............................5th (10.77) Walks/9 IP .......................................6th (3.61) BROADCAST INFORMATION Home Runs Allowed ........................... 2th (20) TODAY IN CURVE HISTORY ON THE ROAD TRIP Record .......................................................... 4-1 2009 - The Curve beat Akron 3-0 thanks to a complete-game four-hit Average ...................................... .293 (53-181) Jon Mozes and Preston Shoemaker will call shutout by Sean Smith; four hits and seven strikeouts. Runs/Runs Per Game .......................... 31/6.2 the action of the 2021 season on the flagship Home Runs ......................................................7 of the Curve, Talk Radio 98.5 FM/1240 AM 2017 - Jordan Luplow becomes the fastest Curve slugger to reach 14 RISP. ............................................. .222 (14-63) WRTA in Altoona. Pregame coverage begins homers when he hit the plateau in a 7-6 loss at Bowie Errors ...............................................................7 15 min. before all games. The Curve can also be heard on the following ERA... ...............................2.05 (10 ER/44.0 IP) affiliate stations for selected games: Starter W-L ................................................. 3-1 - WPHB 1260 AM in Centre County Starter ERA ......................2.13 (6 ER/25.1 IP) - Online streaming at AltoonaCurve.com, WRTA.com, and Reliever W-L ............................................... 1-0 the MiLB First Pitch App Reliever ERA ....................2.04 (4 ER/17.2 IP) Saves/Opps ................................................. 2-2 UPCOMING GAMES & PROBABLE PITCHERS Tuesday June 8 Akron 6:30 p.m. RHP Roansy Contreras (3-1, 1.63) vs. RHP Alex Royalty (1-1, 3.86) Wednesday June 9 Akron 6:30 p.m. RHP Travis MacGregor (1-1, 2.89) vs. RHP Thomas Ponticelli (2-1, 1.53) Thursday June 10 Akron 6:30 p.m. RHP Noe Toribio (1-1, 4.03) vs. RHP Shane McCarthy (0-1, 4.64) Friday June 11 Akron 7:00 p.m. TBA vs. LHP Juan Hillman (3-1, 3.41) TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER 2021 HIGHS CAREER HIGHS RHP JEFFREY PASSANTINO #25 IP: 5.0 IP, 2x, last 5/30 vs Erie IP: 7.0 - 8/14/18 (SB vs LC) HEIGHT: 5-10 WEIGHT: 225 B/T: R/R EXP: 4 YR K: 5 K, 3x, last 5/30 vs Erie K: 9, 8/8/18 (SB vs GL) BB: 1 BB, 5x BB: 4, 6/29/18 (EUG vs. EVE) BORN: SEPTEMBER 24, 1995 (25) IN COFFEYVILLE,