EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010 2004, 2010 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 144 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 BATTING AVG.: .258 (7th) September 4, 2017 -- Game #140, Home Game #70 BATTING AVG.: .255 (T-8th) TEAM HR: 108 (7th) TEAM HR: 96 (9th) WALKS: 464 (4th) Harrisburg Senators (60-79) vs. Altoona Curve (73-66) WALKS: 451 (6th) STRIKEOUTS: 1,072 (3rd) RHP Taylor Hill (4-6, 5.33) vs. RHP J.T. Brubaker (7-6, 4.51) STRIKEOUTS: 925 (11th) TEAM ERA: 4.49 (11th) TEAM ERA: 3.68 (3rd) WALKS: 438 (7th) Noon | Peoples Natural Gas Field | Altoona, Pa. WALKS: 460 (6th) STRIKEOUTS: 893 (12th) STRIKEOUTS: 1,036 (4th) () -- EL Rank Radio -- 1370 WKMC & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Tues., Sept. 5 OFF DAY Wed., Sept. 6 Bowie (ELDS G1) TBD TBD vs. TBD Thurs., Sept. 7 Bowie (ELDS G2) TBD TBD vs. TBD Wed., Sept. 8 Bowie (ELDS G3) TBD TBD vs. TBD YESTERDAY: The Curve and Senators split a pair of games at PNG Field. The Senators won the first game, a comple- 2017 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS tion of Saturday's rain-suspended game, 4-3. The Curve tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh with an RBI single by Team W-L PCT GB Today Jordan George and took a 3-2 lead in the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Mitchell Tolman. Harrisburg jumped ahead Altoona 73-66 .525 -- v. HAR with a two-run homer in the ninth by Corban Joseph. The Curve won game two, 6-0, behind seven scoreless innings pitched by Austin Coley. Jake Brentz and Daniel Zamora combined to pitch the final two innings and finish the shut- Bowie 72-67 .518 1.0 @ RIC out. The Curve opened a 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Jordan George and a two-run triple by Casey Akron 69-70 .496 4.0 v. ERI Hughston. Tolman plated a run with a single in the second, Morales added a run with a single in the third and Cole Erie 64-75 .460 9.0 @ AKR Tucker capped the scoring with a solo home run in the seventh inning. Richmond 62-77 .446 11.0 v. BOW Harrisburg 60-79 .432 13.0 @ ALT TODAY: The Curve wrap up the 2017 regular season with the finale of a four-game series against the Harrisburg Senators, Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Curve have won three of the four games in this set so far. The Curve opened the season in Harrisburg, splitting a four-game set from April 7-9, and won two of three games 2017 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS at home from April 28-30. The Curve also took two of three games at Harrisburg from June 6-8. The two teams last Team W-L PCT GB Today met from July 17-19 at PNG Field, when the Curve won two of three games. Trenton 91-48 .655 -- v. REA FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander J.T. Brubaker makes his 24th start and his 26th overall appearance of the year for the Binghamton 84-54 .609 6.5 v. HFD Curve. Last time out, he allowed four earned runs over three innings on seven hits in a loss at Richmond on Wednes- Reading 72-67 .518 19.0 @ TRN day. Over his last nine starts since July 18, Brubaker is 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA (18 ER/48 IP). After posting a 4-4 record Portland 65-73 .471 25.5 v. NHM with a 5.22 ERA before the All-Star Break, he has gone 3-2 with a 3.57 since. Brubaker began 2016 with Single-A Hartford 62-76 .449 28.5 @ BIN West Virginia, where he went 4-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 12 starts. He was promoted to A-Adv. Bradenton in June and went 2-6 with a 5.32 ERA over 14 starts. The Pirates selected Brubaker in the sixth round of the 2015 draft out of the New Hamp. 58-80 .420 32.5 @ POR University of Akron. He went 6-4 with a 2.82 in his professional debut season with the West Virginia Black Bears in 2015 en route to a New York-Penn League championship. For more on Brubaker, see page two. 2017 CURVE AT A GLANCE FOR HARRISBURG: Right-hander Taylor Hill makes his 17th start and 18th overall appearance of the year for the Overall Record ..................................... 73-66 Senators. Last time out, he worked seven innings and allowed two earned runs in a no-decision against Akron on Home ............................................ 39-30 Wednesday. Over his last four starts, Hill has posted an 0-2 record but has a 3.33 ERA (10 ER/27 IP) with four con- Road ............................................. 34-36 secutive quality starts. He has also made nine starts with Triple-A Syracuse, where he went 3-5 with a 7.25 ERA. Hill was drafted by the Nationals in the sixth round in 2011 and made his MLB debut in 2014, going 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA over nine big-league games across two seasons. Place (E.L. Western) .................................1st Games Ahead/Behind ...........................+1.0 PLAYOFF BOUND: The Curve solidified a playoff berth for the third straight season with Tuesday night's win at Richmond. They currently lead the Western Division by one game over Bowie heading into the final day of the season. Streak..........................................................W1 The Curve can lock up their third division title with a win today or a Bowie loss. Altoona is the only team to qualify for Last 5 .......................................................... 2-3 the Eastern League playoffs in each of the last three seasons. This year marks the second time in franchise history the Curve have reached the playoffs in three straight seasons (They went to the playoffs in four consecutive years from Last 10 ........................................................ 4-6 2003-2006). The Curve have won their division two times: 2004 and 2010. In both of those seasons, they advanced to the Eastern League Championship series, losing in the finals to New Hampshire in 2004 and winning their only E.L. 2017 vs. Harrisburg ...............................10-6 title to date in 2010 over Trenton. The win on Tuesday also locked up the Curve's 12th winning season in their first 19 at Altoona ....................................... 6-3 years. A win in today's game would solidify the sixth-best record in team history (.529 winning percentage). at Harrisburg .................................. 4-3 PITCH PERFECT: Over the last 15 games since August 20, Curve starting pitchers have combined to go 7-3 with a All-time vs. Harrisburg ..................182-158 2.29 ERA (23 ER/90.1 IP). In that stretch, J.T. Brubaker is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA (8 ER/16 IP) in three starts, Brandon at Altoona .................................101-64 Waddell is 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA (3 ER/18.2 IP) in three starts, Mitch Keller is 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA (6 ER/16.2 IP) at Harrisburg .............................. 81-94 in two starts, Casey Sadler is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA (1 ER/9.0 IP) in one start, Alex McRae is 1-0 with a 2.81 ERA (5 ER/16 IP) in three starts and Austin Coley is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two starts (0 ER/14 IP). ‘17 Home Attendance .................... 290,157 ICE COLE: Cole Tucker is batting .390 (23/59) over his last 15 games with 12 RBIs, three doubles, a triple and two Home Openings .........................................66 homers. He has picked up five go-ahead hits for the Curve dating back to Aug. 20, when he hit an RBI single in the Average Attendance ............................4,396 10th inning at New Hampshire to lift the Curve to a 6-5 win. On Aug. 21, he clubbed a two-run homer in a 2-0 win at Hartford. On Aug. 22, he gave the Curve a lead with a two-run triple to give the Curve the lead in a 5-4 win at Hartford. On Saturday, Tucker broke a 1-1 tie with a go-ahead single in the sixth inning in a win over the Baysox. He BROADCAST INFORMATION broke a scoreless tie in a 3-1 win on Tuesday at Richmond as the Curve clinched a postseason berth. CLOSE CALLS: The Curve have gone 23-21 in their last 44 games, and ten of those losses have been by one run. Their last 21 losses since July 18 have been by an average of 2.1 runs (44 runs/21 games). The Curve have played 54 one-run games this year, the most in the Eastern League, and have posted a 27-27 record in those games. SEARCHING FOR HITS: The Curve hit .243 in the month of August, the lowest in the Eastern League and the lowest Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Max Gun for the Curve in a single month this season. The team average for the season is currently .255, which would tie the will call the action of the 2017 season on second-lowest in franchise history (2008 Curve also hit .255), trailing only the 2013 team, which hit .252. The team is hitting .296 over three games in September, third-best in the league. the flagship of the Curve, News Talk 1240, WRTA in Altoona. Pregame coverage C-N-O: Reliever Tate Scioneaux has held opposing batters to a .219 average, tied for fourth-best in the league among begins 15 min.