EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 152 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 BATTING AVG.: .252 (T-6th) August 7, 2018 -- Game #110, Road Game #55 BATTING AVG.: .250 (8th) TEAM HR: 79 (11th) TEAM HR: 83 (10th) WALKS: 356 (8th) Altoona Curve (59-50) vs. Trenton Thunder (63-49) WALKS: 381 (6th) STRIKEOUTS: 818 (10th) RHP Scooter Hightower (0-1, 5.09) vs. Adonis Rosa (AA Debut) STRIKEOUTS: 925 (4th) TEAM ERA: 3.95 (5th) TEAM ERA: 3.20 (1st) WALKS: 380 (5th) 7 p.m. | ARM & HAMMER Park | Trenton, N.J. WALKS: 377 (6th) STRIKEOUTS: 801 (12th) STRIKEOUTS: 1004 (1st) () -- EL Rank Radio -- WRTA 98.5 FM & Curve Radio Network | TV -- MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Wed., Aug. 8 at Trenton Noon RHP Dario Agrazal (3-2, 2.79) vs. LHP Ryan Bollinger (6-4, 4.58) Thurs., Aug. 9 at Trenton 7 p.m. RHP Eduardo Vera (5-3, 4.62) vs. RHP Trevor Stephan (2-7, 4.78) Fri., Aug. 10 Erie 7 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Sat., Aug. 11 Erie (1) 4:30 p.m. TBD vs. TBD SUNDAY: The Curve took the rubber match over Akron, 4-1, with seven splendid innings from left-hander Cam Vieaux. The Michigan native held the RubberDucks off the scoreboard for 6.2 innings and struck out six prior to allowing a solo homer to Mark Mathias to end the shutout bid. Ke'Bryan Hayes slugged his second homer of August with a two-run shot in the third 2018 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS inning off Indians top prospect Triston McKenzie to break a scoreless tie. Bryan Reynolds started the sixth with a triple and he Team W-L PCT GB Today was knocked in by Will Craig, and Christian Kelley singled in one more run in the eighth. Sean Keselica and Matt Eckelman Akron 66-47 .584 -- vs. REA each logged scoreless innings of relief to close out the win. Altoona 59-50 .541 5.0 @ TRN TODAY: The 20th Season of Altoona Curve Baseball, presented by Stuckey Subaru, continues as the Curve travel to Trenton Harrisburg 57-54 .514 8.0 vs. HFD for the first time since games one and two of the 2017 Eastern League Championship Series. Altoona captured the first two Richmond 53-58 .477 12.0 vs. BIN games of last year's ELCS in Trenton before clinching the second title in franchise history and completed a three-game sweep Erie 52-60 .464 13.5 vs. POR at Peoples Natural Gas Field on September 14, 2017. This season, the two squads concluded the first half of the season with Bowie 51-60 .459 14.0 vs. NHM a five-game series in Altoona in which the Thunder won the first two contests and the Curve rattled off three straight wins to head into the all-star break. Trenton will visit Altoona for the final four regular season home games at PNG Field on August 2018 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS 27-30. Current Curve players 1B Will Craig, 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes and New Jersey native LHP Sean Keselica participated in the 2018 Eastern League All-Star Game at ARM & HAMMER Park on July 11. Team W-L PCT GB Today New Hamp. 64-46 .582 -- @ BOW THE CURVE: The Curve have won eight of their last 13 games since July 23. In those 13 games, the Curve are hitting .245 Trenton 63-49 .563 2.0 vs. ALT (102/416) with 11 homers, averaging 5.0 runs per game (65 total runs). The pitching staff has a 4.01 ERA (50 ER/112.1 IP) Binghamton 53-60 .469 12.5 @ RIC over the last 13 games. Prior to this series, the Curve won two of three at home over Akron. Over the last eight series played, the Curve have won five, lost two and split one. The Curve are playing their second of five straight series against American Hartford 52-59 .468 12.5 @ HAR League opponents. Reading 52-60 .464 13.0 @ AKR Portland 46-65 .414 18.5 @ ERI THE THUNDER: Trenton has won four straight series including two-of-three in Hartford to wrap up a 4-2 road trip that also saw the Thunder travel to Reading. Since July 24, Trenton is has won nine of 12 and have out-scored their opponents 48-29. 2018 CURVE AT A GLANCE Over the first three games of this stretch, Thunder pitching tossed 26 straight scoreless innings and their starting pitchers started Overall Record ...................................... 59-50 four straight games without a run scoring (24.1 IP) while carrying a 1.31 ERA (6 ER/41.1 IP) over their latest homestand. Trenton's pitching staff currently paces the Eastern League with a 3.20 ERA and 1004 strikeouts after posting a 2.83 ERA Home ...............................................32-23 last season. The Thunder roster contains two of the New York Yankees' top-30 prospects: Domingo Acevedo (5) and Trevor Road ................................................27-27 Stephan (8). Place (E.L. Western) ..................................2nd FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Scooter Hightower makes his fourth start for the Curve and his sixth overall appearance ........................... -5.0 at Double-A. Last time out, he worked four innings in a start on August 2 in Harrisburg and allowed two unearned runs on Games Ahead/Behind two hits. Hightower made his Double-A debut in relief against Trenton on July 5. He took over for Bret Helton in the second inning and allowed three runs in the fourth over 3.2 innings and struck out six batters. Hightower made 18 relief appearances Streak ............................................................W1 for A-Adv. Bradenton, going 5-0 with a 1.47 ERA and striking out 35 in 30.2 innings. He was a starter for the short-season Last 5 ............................................................. 3-2 West Virginia Black Bears last season and went 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA. Hightower was drafted in the 15th round in 2015 by the Last 10 ........................................................... 6-4 Pirates out of Columbia State. For more on Hightower, see page two. FOR TRENTON: Right-hander Adonis Rosa will make his Double-A debut for the Thunder to begin the series with Altoona. 2018 vs. Trenton ......................................... 3-2 He most recently pitched five innings on August 1 in Clearwater and won his 12th decision of the season. Since July 2, Rosa at Altoona .......................................... 3-2 has converted five of six starts into winning decisions. Rosa was a Florida State League All-Star with the Tarpons this season at Trenton ........................................... 0-0 and pitched a scoreless fifth for the FSL North at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Over the year with Tampa, Rosa All-time vs. Trenton .............................. 87-90 went 12-3 with a 3.84 ERA in 20 games and 15 starts in Florida State League play. The Yankees signed Rosa as an interna- tional free agent in December 2013. at Altoona ..................................... 55-39 at Trenton .......................................32-51 YOUNG HAYES: Over his last 46 games since May 31, Ke'Bryan Hayes is batting .314 (54/172) with 16 doubles, four triples, four homers and 16 RBIs, but he has hit .196 (9/46) over his last 12 games. Hayes is also batting .313 (67/214) in 57 ‘18 Home Attendance ......................237,220 games since May 19, the fourth-best in the league. His .972 fielding percentage is the best among Eastern League third base- men this season. Hayes hit his seventh homer on Sunday, a new career-best total for a single season. He also has career-high Home Openings ..........................................53 totals in doubles (27), extra-base hits (40) and walks (45) while sitting one triples short of matching his career-best of seven Average Attendance ............................4,476 from 2017 with A-Adv. Bradenton. ALEMAIS-ING: Over his last 24 games since July 7, Stephen Alemais is batting .342 (26/76) with 10 RBIs and has drown 12 walks. In 65 games since May 19, Alemais is batting .314 (64/204), third in the league, with 11 doubles, one triple, one BROADCAST INFORMATION homer, 29 walks, 26 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has had two 14-game on-base streaks, which is tied for the third longest by a Curve hitter this season, and the most recent one came to an end last Tuesday. He opened the season with a .310 batting average over his first 15 games through April 23, but batted just .102 (6/59) over his next 18 games from April 25-May 18. WILL POWER: 2016 first-round draft pickWill Craig continues to pace the Pirates organization in RBIs, totaling 89 on the season. He is on pace to drive in 113 runs this season, which would break the franchise record set by Adam Hyzdu with 106 RBIs in 2000. The next closest is Jose Bautista with 90 in 2005. The RBI total is the third-most in franchise history for a single Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Garett Mansfield season. His 89 RBIs this season rank first in the Eastern League and his 29 since the all-star break leads all hitters on the will call the action of the 2018 season on circuit. He also leads the Pirates organization with 18 home runs, a career high. Over his last 18 games since July 18, Craig is the flagship of the Curve, Talk Radio 98.5 batting .323 (21/65) with five homers and 22 RBIs. FM/1240 AM WRTA in Altoona. Pregame MOVING ON AND GETTING OVER: After swiping 47 bases last year between Bradenton and Altoona, Cole Tucker coverage begins 15 min.