EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 146 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 BATTING AVG.: .226 (T-10th) May 10, 2018 -- Game #31, Road Game #13 BATTING AVG.: .255 (3rd) TEAM HR: 14 (11th) TEAM HR: 27 (4th) WALKS: 88 (11th) Altoona Curve (16-14) vs. Reading Fightin Phils (11-18) WALKS: 94 (10th) STRIKEOUTS: 214 (12th) LHP Taylor Hearn (0-3, 5.8) vs. RHP Franklin Kilome (1-0, 4.98) STRIKEOUTS: 250 (5th) TEAM ERA: 3.10 (3rd) TEAM ERA: 4.01 (8th) WALKS: 94 (9th) 6:45 p.m. | FirstEngergy Stadium | Reading, Pa. WALKS: 109 (T-5th) STRIKEOUTS: 236 (10th) STRIKEOUTS: 25 (6th) () -- EL Rank Radio -- 98.5 FM WRTA & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Fri., May 11 at Reading 7:15 p.m. RHP Pedro Vasquez (0-0, 3.00) vs. LHP Elniery Garcia (0-2, 8.10) Sat., May 12 at Reading 6:15 p.m. RHP Dario Agrazal (2-0, 1.26) vs. LHP Ranger Suarez (1-2, 4.25) Sun., May 13 at Reading 2:15 p.m. LHP Brandon Waddell (1-0, 1.59) vs. RHP Harold Arauz (3-0, 3.27) Mon., May 14 Richmond 6:00 p.m. RHP Nick Kingham vs. TBD YESTERDAY: The Curve tumbled to an 8-2 defeat against the Baysox to close out a seven-game homestand. Mitch Keller was tagged for six runs, four earned, and took the loss with only one strikeout on the day. Anderson Feliz hit a solo homer off 2018 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS Keller in the second inning before Bowie added two in the third, one in the fourth, and two more in the fifth against the Pirates' top prospect. Altoona cut the lead down to 4-2 in the fourth with a two-RBI single by Logan Hill, but the Baysox countered Team W-L PCT GB Today with four unanswered runs of their own. Akron 20-12 .625 -- vs. ERI Richmond 17-14 .548 2.5 vs. TRN TONIGHT: The 20th Season of Altoona Curve Baseball, presented by Stuckey Subaru, continues as the Curve visit the Read- Altoona 16-14 .533 3.0 @ REA ing Fightin Phils, Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the first game of a four-game set. This series marks the first Bowie 15-16 .484 4.5 vs. HFD meetings of the year between the two teams and the first games for the Curve against the E.L. Eastern Division in 2018. The Harrisburg 12-19 .387 7.5 vs. NH Curve went 5-1 against the Fightin Phils and 28-19 against the Eastern Division during the 2017 regular season. Erie 11-20 .355 8.5 @ AKR THE CURVE: After opening the season with a 6-2 record, Altoona lost eight of the next 11 games before winning seven of 2018 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS the next eight, including a season-high five-game winning streak from April 29-May 3. The Curve split a four-game series at home against Erie and lost two of three against Bowie to finish the most recent homestand. The Curve have played 12 games Team W-L PCT GB Today decided by one run this season, the second-most in the league, and have won eight of them. Trenton 20-11 .645 -- @ RIC New Hamp. 18-11 .621 1.0 @ HAR THE FIGHTIN PHILS: Prior to this series, Reading lost two of three at Trenton with all three games decided by two runs or Hartford 19-13 .594 1.5 @ BOW fewer. Before the brief three games away from home, the Fightin Phils lost two of three during a quick homestand against Binghamton 14-15 .483 5.0 @ POR Richmond. Reading has lost six of their last nine games and have won back-to-back games two times this season. The Fightin Reading 11-18 .379 8.0 vs. ALT Phils started the season 0-3, won three of four and lost eight of the next 13 before their most recent slide. Portland 8-19 .321 9.5 vs. BIN FOR ALTOONA: Left-hander Taylor Hearn takes the mound for his sixth start of the season. Last time out, he took his third loss of the season despite a season-best six innings of work and nine strikeouts. Hearn allowed four earned runs on seven 2018 CURVE AT A GLANCE innings and walked two in his most recent start against Erie. He started the season with an 0.82 ERA (1 ER/11 IP) over his Overall Record ....................................... 16-14 first two starts but has since gone 0-3 with an ERA of 9.39 (16/15.1 IP) over his last three starts. Hearn entered the season as Home ................................................... 9-9 the Pirates' No. 11 prospect according to MLB.com and is ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Pirates' system according to Road .................................................... 7-5 Baseball America. He spent last season with A-Adv. Bradenton, where he averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings and held opponents to a .207 batting average over 17 starts and one relief outing. He was placed on the disabled list in July with a left Place (E.L. Western) ...................................3rd oblique strain and missed the remainder of the Florida State League schedule. He did return to make one scoreless, two-inning Games Ahead/Behind ........................... -3.0 outing in the Gulf Coast League on September 2. After the season, he pitched for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League, where he went 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA and struck out 14 in eight outings (four starts). Hearn was picked up by the Pirates along with current major league closer Felipe Vasquez on July 30, 2016 in the trade that sent RHP Mark Melancon to Streak ...............................................................L1 the Nationals. For more on Hearn, see page two. Last 5 ............................................................. 2-3 Last 10 ........................................................... 6-4 FOR READING: Right-hander Franklyn Kilome makes his sixth start of the season for the Fightin Phils. Kilome has allowed two earned runs or fewer in all but one of his previous five starts. An international signee by the Phillies in 2014, Kilome is 2018 vs. Reading ....................................... 0-0 ranked as Philadelphia's No. 8 prospect. He reached Double-A for the first time in 2017 and made his first appearance in at Altoona .......................................... 0-0 Double-A at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona on August 10. He took a loss after throwing five innings, allowed three at Reading ......................................... 0-0 runs on five hits, walked three and struck out six batters. Kilome went 1-3 in five starts for Reading in 2017 with a 3.64 ERA in All-time vs. Reading .........................137-149 addition to a 6-4 record with a 2.59 ERA with A-Adv. Clearwater a year ago. at Altoona ......................................78-69 BLANK SPACE: The Curve were held off the scoreboard in 16 straight innings, being shut out in back-to-back games on at Reading .................................... 59-80 Saturday and Monday, including the third shutout of the season as Bowie one-hit the Curve on Monday. Over the last four games, the Curve are hitting .119 (13/109) and have gone 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Over the previous nine ‘18 Home Attendance ........................62,027 games, the team hit .280 (70/250) and scored 39 runs, averaging 4.3 runs per game. Home Openings ..........................................17 Average Attendance ............................3,649 MARGIN FOR ERROR: The Curve entered their previous homestand with a .982 fielding percentage, the best in the Eastern League. Over their last seven games, Altoona defenders have committed eight errors in the field to drop down to third in the league at .979 as a unit. Altoona fielders have committed six errors in their last three games with two three-error games. BROADCAST INFORMATION KELLEY HEATING UP: Over his last 11 games since April 22, Christian Kelley is hitting .412 (14/34) with three homers, three doubles, six runs scored and 10 RBIs, raising his batting average from .162 to .273. He set a new career high with his third homer of the season on Saturday. Kelley is ranked by Baseball America as the "Best Defensive Catcher" in the Pirates organization and is tied for second the Eastern League with 11 base-stealing attempts thrown out this season. HAYES AT THE HOT CORNER: Ke'Bryan Hayes was presented with this MiLB Rawlings Gold Glove Award on Thursday, Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Garett Mansfield honoring him as minor league baseball's top defensive third baseman for 2017 with Bradenton. He is currently leading the league with nine double plays started. will call the action of the 2018 season on the flagship of the Curve, Talk Radio 98.5 J-MART: OutfielderJason Martin leads qualifying Curve hitters with a .304 batting average this season, tied for ninth in FM/1240 AM WRTA in Altoona. Pregame the Eastern League. Over his last eight games, Martin has driven in six runs and added two homers. Martin is batting .367 coverage begins 15 min. before all games. (11/30) over eight games in May with four multi-hit games. After going 0-for-6 on May 5-7, the Pirates' No. 22 prospect has collected consecutive games with two hits. The Curve can also be heard on the following affiliate stations for selected games: THE STARTING LINE: Curve starting pitchers have combined to go 8-8 with a - WKMC 1370 AM in Roaring Spring ON THE LAST HOMESTAND 2.61 ERA (50/172.2 1 IP) over the first 30 games of the 2018 season.