EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010 2004, 2010 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015 123 BATTING AVG.: .236 (11th) May 21, 2016 -- Game #42, Home Game #21 BATTING AVG.: .250 (T-3rd) TEAM HR: 14 (11th) TEAM HR: 22 (6th) WALKS: 124 (10th) Altoona Curve (23-18) vs. Portland Sea Dogs (15-27) WALKS: 140 (6th) STRIKEOUTS: 263 (2nd) RHP Aaron Wilkerson (2-1, 1.37) v. LHP Brandon Waddell (3-0, 2.41) STRIKEOUTS: 290 (8th) TEAM ERA: 3.95 (8th) TEAM ERA: 3.74 (6th) WALKS: 154 (11th) 6 p.m. | Peoples Natural Gas Field, Curve, Pa. WALKS: 167 (12th) STRIKEOUTS: 312 (2nd) Radio -- ESPN Radio 1430, WVAM | TV - MiLB.TV STRIKEOUTS: 216 (11th) () -- EL Rank () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Sun., May 22 Portland 6 p.m. RHP Keith Couch (2-0, 0.90) vs. RHP Clay Holmes (3-4, 5.22) Mon., May 23 Akron 6 p.m. RHP Adam Plutko (3-2, 2.35) vs. LHP Cody Dickson (2-2, 4.62) Tues., May 24 Akron 6 p.m. LHP Anderson Polanco (0-2, 11.74) vs. RHP Tyler Eppler (2-2, 2.74) Wed., May 25 Akron 10:30 a.m. RHP D.J. Brown (2-0, 2.70) vs. RHP David Whitehead (2-4, 6.29) YESTERDAY: The Curve drew five walks in the bottom of the eighth inning to score six runs and defeated the Port- 2016 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS land Sea Dogs. Montana DuRapau worked around a leadoff double in the top of the ninth to seal the win and the Team W-L PCT GB Today shutout for Altoona. Barrett Barnes doubled home the first runs of the game in the bottom of the second inning to Akron 29-11 .725 -- v. BIN give Altoona a 2-0 lead. David Whitehead threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walked three. Altoona 23-18 .561 6.5 v. POR Harrisburg 19-20 .487 9.5 v. BOW TODAY: The Curve play the second of a three-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of Bowie 17-23 .425 12.0 @ HAR the Boston Red Sox. Even though Portland finished with the worst record in the Eastern League last season, they Erie 17-23 .425 12.0 @ RIC went 4-2 against Altoona. The Curve have won 12 of their last 14 games. Richmond 10-30 .2506 19.0 v. ERI FOR ALTOONA: Lefty Brandon Waddell makes his fourth Double-A start for the Curve. Last time out, Waddell earned his third straight Double-A win (seventh consecutive overall this season) after allowing two earned runs in 5.2 2016 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS innings at Richmond. In his previous start, Waddell allowed one run on three hits over seven innings in a win against Team W-L PCT GB Today Trenton in his first home start at PNG Field. In his Double-A debut at Erie, Waddell allowed two runs in 6.1 innings Reading 27-14 .659 - v. TRN with no walks and three strikeouts to pick up his fifth consecutive win. In five starts with the Marauders, Waddell Hartford 25-15 .625 1.5 @ NHM went 4-0 with a 0.93 ERA. He earned Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honors last Monday for his six score- Trenton 22-17 .564 4.0 @ REA less, two-hit innings against Jupiter over the previous weekend with no walks and a career-high seven strikeouts. He New Hamp. 19-20 .487 7.0 v. HFD won each of his last four starts prior to his promotion. Waddell was a three-year member of the starting rotation at Binghamton 17-22 .436 9.0 @ AKR the University of Virginia prior to being drafted by the Pirates in the fifth round last summer. He pitched seven innings Portland 15-27 .357 12.5 @ ALT and got the win in the decisive Game Three of the 2015 College World Series Championship against Vanderbilt last summer, giving Virginia its first-ever national championship in baseball and the first ACC CWS title since Wake Forest won in 1955, a 59-year drought. 2016 CURVE AT A GLANCE Overall Record ..................................... 23-18 FOR PORTLAND: Right-hander Aaron Wilkerson makes his eighth start of the year for the Sea Dogs. Last time out, Home ...............................................12-8 he worked a career-high 7.1 innings and held New Hampshire scoreless with eight strikeouts. He opened the season Road ............................................. 11-10 with an 11-strikeout performance against Reading and picked up a win. He made one Triple-A start this season for Pawtucket on April 22 and gave up three earned runs over 4.2 innings in a no-decision. Wilkerson pitched for Cum- Place (E.L. Western) ................................2nd berland University in Tennessee. After not being selected in the draft in 2011, Wilkerson was signed out of indepen- Games Ahead/Behind ........................... -6.5 dent baseball in 2014 by the Boston Red Sox. Streak..........................................................W1 EIGHT’S PRETTY GREAT: Thursday night’s loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Curve, tied for the Last 5 .......................................................... 4-1 third-longest winning streak in franchise history. Altoona last won eight consecutive games in 2013 (June 13-20 at Last 10 ........................................................ 9-1 New Britain, vs. Trenton, vs. New Hampshire). They also won eight games in a row during their 2010 E.L. Champion- ship season (May 20-26 vs. Akron, at Erie, at Akron). The Curve have won 12 of their last 14 games overall. 2016 vs. Portland ..................................... 1-0 at Altoona ........................................ 1-0 WHAT A RELIEF: Reliever Dovydas Neverauskas has not allowed a run over his last nine outings, a total of 13.2 in- at Portland ....................................... 0-0 nings pitched. Neverauskas tossed a scoreless inning to extend his streak in Tuesday night’s Curve win at Binghamton. All-time vs. Portland .......................... 54-54 Reliever Jhondaniel Medina allowed a run on Thursday at Binghamton for the first time in over eight games, his first at Altoona ................................... 31-25 run allowed in a span of 14.0 innings, the longest scoreless streak for any Curve pitcher this year. at Portland .................................. 23-29 BOMBS AWAY: Curve outfielderStetson Allie moved up on the Curve’s all-time home run leaders list with his 41st ‘16 Home Attendance .......................59,354 career home run on May 8 against Richmond, tying Ray Sadler for third all-time. Josh Bonifay and Adam Hyzdu both Home Openings .........................................19 share the home run record with 55 homers hit while wearing an Altoona jersey. Average Attendance ............................3,124 PROSPECT WATCH: The Curve roster currently features six of MLB.com’s preseason top 30 Pirates prospects: Austin Meadows (2), Reese McGuire (5), Harold Ramirez (6), Clay Holmes (15), Barrett Barnes (20) and Tyler Eppler (28). Six BROADCAST INFORMATION players are also featured on Baseball America’s Top 30 Pirates prospect list: Meadows (2), Ramirez (5), McGuire (6), Holmes (19), Barnes (24) and Jose Osuna (30). A NEW SKIPPER: Former Major League All-Star Joey Cora takes over as the ninth manager in franchise history. He was officially announced as the new skipper for the Curve on December 15, 2015. The native of Caguas, Puerto Rico Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Fletcher spent 11 seasons in the majors with San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians. Keel will call all the action of the 2016 He was an A.L. All-Star in 1997 with Seattle. Following his playing career, Cora spent eight seasons on the staff of season on the flagship of the Curve, ESPN manager Ozzie Guillen with the White Sox from 2004-2011 and one season as the bench coach with the Miami Radio 1430, WVAM-AM in Altoona. Marlins in 2012. Cora last managed in the minor in 2003 with Savannah of the South Atlantic League, then a Montreal Pregame coverage begins 15 min. before Expos affiliate. He also guided the Appalachian League’s Kingsport Mets in 2001 and 2002. Across three seasons, he all games. is 112-160 as a minor league manager. Cora replaces Tom Prince, who guided the Curve for one season and is now The Curve can also be heard on the following the Pirates’ Minor League Field Coordinator. affiliate stations for selected games: - WTRN-AM/FM 1340/100.7 in Tyrone ON THE LAST ROAD TRIP GLOBAL AFFAIR: Seven different countries are represented on Altoona’s - WWGE 1400 AM in Ebensburg Games ....................................................................1 current roster, including the United States (16), the Dominican Republic (3), - Online streaming at AltoonaCurve.com Record ............................................................... 1-0 Canada (1), Venezuela (1), Colombia (1), Taiwan (1) and Lithuania (1). Relief pitcher Dovydas Neverauskas became the first player born and raised in provided by TuneIn Radio Average ............................................ .241 (7/29) Lithuania to sign with a Major League team when he signed as an interna- - Via the TuneIn Radio App and the MiLB Runs/Runs Per Game ........................... 8/8.00 tional free agent with the Pirates. Canadian third basemenEric Wood was First Pitch App Home Runs...........................................................0 the first Canuck to be drafted when he went in the 6th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. InfieldersEdwin Espinal and Anderson Feliz both are natives of RISP ................................................... .167 (2/12) the Dominican Republic, and first baseman Jose Osuna both call Venezuela Errors ......................................................................1 home. OutfielderHarold Ramirez represented his home country of Colom- bia this offseason in the World Baseball Classic qualifying round in Panama. THIS DATE IN CURVE HISTORY ERA ...................................................................0.00 Catcher Jin-De Jhang is a native of Taitung City, Taiwan. In 2012, the Curve beat the Harrisburg Starter W-L .....................................................