EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010 2004, 2010 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 141 2010, 2015, 2016 BATTING AVG.: .225 (11th) May 3, 2017 -- Game #24, Home Game #11 BATTING AVG.: .259 (3rd) TEAM HR: 10 (12th) TEAM HR: 14 (T-8th) WALKS: 74 (T-7th) Richmond Flying Squirrels (9-13) vs. Altoona Curve (14-9) WALKS: 73 (9th) STRIKEOUTS: 151 (11th) RHP Jordan Johnson (1-1, 2.25) vs. RHP Tanner Anderson (1-1, 2.01) STRIKEOUTS: 160 (10th) TEAM ERA: 3.51 (5th) TEAM ERA: 2.86 (2nd) WALKS: 71 (7th) 10:30 a.m. | Peoples Natural Gas Field | Altoona, Pa. WALKS: 71 (7th) STRIKEOUTS: 221 (1st) STRIKEOUTS: 171 (5th) () -- EL Rank Radio -- 1340 WKMC | TV -- MiLB.TV () -- EL Rank UPCOMING GAMES & PITCHING PROBABLES Thurs., May 4 at Akron 6:35 p.m. LHP Brandon Waddell (0-1, 9.00) vs. LHP Andrew Suarez (1-3, 3.48) Fri., May 5 at Akron 6:35 p.m. RHP Yeudy Garcia (0-2, 6.43) vs. RHP D.J. Brown (0-1, 9.00) Sat., May 6 at Akron 6:35 p.m. RHP Alex McRae (3-0, 2.12) vs. RHP Julian Merryweather (2-1, 3.04) Sun., May 7 at Akron 2:05 p.m. RHP J.T. Brubaker (2-2, 3.94) vs. RHP Michael Peoples (1-2, 4.45) YESTERDAY: The Curve blanked the Flying Squirrels, 2-0, behind pitching from J.T. Brubaker, Sean Keselica and 2017 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS Montana DuRapau. Brubaker worked 6.2 scoreless innings before giving way to Keselica, who struck out three in 1.1 Team W-L PCT GB Today innings. DuRapau stranded a pair of runners in the ninth. The Curve jumped in front in the second inning when Tomas Altoona 14-9 .609 -- v. RIC Morales brought in Edwin Espinal with a groundout. Jordan Luplow added a run in the third inning with a two-out Bowie 13-11 .542 1.5 v. ERI double, scoring Kevin Newman from first. Akron 10-13 .435 4.0 @ BIN Erie 10-13 .455 4.0 @ ERI TODAY: The Curve conclude a five-game homestand with the second of two games against the Richmond Flying Harrisburg 10-13 .455 4.0 @ TRN Squirrels, Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The Curve took two of three at The Diamond in April in the Richmond 9-13 .409 4.5 @ ALT first meetings between the two teams. The two teams were postponed for rain on Monday night, and a make-up date has not yet officially been announced. 2017 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS Team W-L PCT GB Today FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Tanner Anderson makes his fifth Double-A start for the Curve and second against Trenton 16-8 .667 -- v. HAR Richmond. Last time out, Anderson worked a season-high six innings and allowed one earned run in a no-decision at Portland 12-8 .600 2.0 @ HFD Erie on Wednesday. He faced Richmond in his Double-A debut on April 10 at The Diamond, tossing 5.0 innings and Binghamton 12-9 .571 2.5 v. AKR allowing one earned run on five hits. Anderson enters today's start with the eighth-best ERA in the Eastern League Reading 12-9 .571 2.5 v. NHM (2.01). He opened up 2017 in the Altoona rotation after primarily working as a reliever through his first two profes- New Hamp. 9-15 .375 7.0 @ REA sional seasons. He worked three scoreless, one-hit innings in Game 4 of the FSL Championship Series last year and Hartford 8-14 .364 7.0 v. POR got the final out to clinch the league title. He worked as a starter in the Arizona Fall League, posting a 3.76 ERA in seven outings. Anderson is a native of Tampa and a graduate of Harvard University, where he pitched, played shortsop and third base and was an All-Ivy League second baseman. For more on Anderson, see page two. 2017 CURVE AT A GLANCE Overall Record ........................................14-9 FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Jordan Johnson makes his fifth appearance of the year for the Flying Squirrels and his Home ................................................. 8-2 third start. He made his first start of the year on April 11 at The Diamond against the Curve, allowing one earned run Road .................................................. 6-7 over four innings before departing after throwing 84 pitches. His most recent start came on April 18, when he allowed four runs (three earned) over a season-high seven innings. He pitched out of the bullpen in his last outing last Tuesday Place (E.L. Western) .................................1st with four scoreless innings and picked up his first win of the year. Johnson was a 23rd-round draft pick by the San Games Ahead/Behind ...........................+1.5 Francisco Giants out of CSU Northridge in 2014, where he missed most of his first two seasons after having Tommy John surgery. Streak..........................................................W3 Last 5 .......................................................... 4-1 THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: Curve relievers have been tough to hit this season. Sean Keselica has Last 10 ........................................................ 5-5 held hitters to a .080 batting average, best among relievers in the league. Buddy Borden (.119/4th) is not far behind. Tate Scioneaux leads all pitchers in the E.L. with four wins. Curve relievers (excluding position playerChase Simpson, 2017 vs. Richmond .................................. 2-1 who has pitched one game) have combined to post a 1.63 ERA (16 ER/88.1 IP) and a 0.95 WHIP (63 H + 21 BB/88.1 at Altoona ....................................... 1-0 IP). Current members of the bullpen active on the Curve roster have combined to post an 8-0 record with a 0.80 ERA at Richmond ................................... 2-1 (7 ER/79.0 IP) and a 0.87 WHIP (48 H + 21 BB / 79.0 IP) with 73 strikeouts. All-time vs. Richmond ....................... 85-67 at Altoona ................................... 52-28 KRAMERICA INDUSTRIES: Curve second baseman Kevin Kramer is off to a hot start in his first Double-A debut at Richmond ............................... 32-39 campaign, hitting .373 (28/75) through his first 20 games, third-best in the league, including three home runs. A 2013 College World Series champion at UCLA and a second-round draft pick of the Pirates in 2015, Kramer is currently first ‘17 Home Attendance .......................38,576 in the Eastern League with a .478 on-base percentage. He has reached base in all 20 games he has played to begin Home Openings .........................................10 the season, the longest active streak in the Eastern League this season, and has at least one hit in 18 of his 20 games. Average Attendance ............................4,857 HELLO, NEWMAN: Shortstop Kevin Newman is the top-ranked prospect on this year's Curve roster, rated at No. 4 in the Pirates organization by both MLB.com and Baseball America. He made his Double-A debut with the Curve last BROADCAST INFORMATION season and led the Pirates' organization with a .320 overall batting average in his first full professional season, includ- ing a .288 mark with the Curve in 61 games. Newman was selected in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of the University of Arizona. DU-RAP IT UP: Altoona closer Montana DuRapau finished second in the Eastern League with 22 saves last year, tied for fourth-most in Curve history. It was tied for the second-most for a Curve pitcher in a season since 2007, behind Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Max Gun only 24 by Noah Krol in 2011. He finished last season first in the EL with 43 games finished and fourth with 50 ap- will call the action of the 2017 season on pearances. DuRapau picked up a save Tuesday and is now tied with Brandon Knight (2006) for second place on the the flagship of the Curve, News Talk 1240, Curve's all-time saves list with 27, trailing only Matt Peterson (29, 2003-06). DuRapau is second in the E.L. with five WRTA in Altoona. Pregame coverage saves and tied for first with eight games finished. begins 15 min. before all games. The Curve can also be heard on the following EDWINNING: 2016 E.L. All-Star Edwin Espinal leads the team with 12 RBIs. He has the second-best strikeout rate in affiliate stations for selected games: the league (13.50 TPA/SO) and is ninth in the E.L. in batting average at .356 ON THE HOME STAND (36/73). - WKMC-AM 1370 AM in Roaring Spring - WTRN-AM 1340 in Tyrone Games ....................................................................4 PROSPECT WATCH: The Curve roster currently features four of MLB.com's - WTRN-FM 100.7 in Tyrone Record ............................................................... 3-1 Top 30 Pirates Prospects: Kevin Nemwan (4), Yeudy Garcia (13), Brandon - WWGE 1400 AM in Ebensburg Average ....................................... .291 (37/127) Waddell (17) and Kevin Kramer (21). The same four players are also ranked in - Online streaming at AltoonaCurve.com Runs/Runs Per Game ........................... 22/5.5 Baseball America's Top 30 Pittsburgh prospects list: Newman (4), Garcia (16), provided by TuneIn Radio Waddell (17) and Kramer (21). B.A. also named Newman as the organization's Home Runs...........................................................3 - Via the TuneIn Radio App and the MiLB "Best Hitter for Average" and Waddell as having the "Best Changeup." First Pitch App RISP ................................................... .222 (8/36) Errors ......................................................................3 ROSTER: The current Curve roster has 10 players that have worn an Altoona uniform prior to this season. 14 are playing at the Double-A level for the first ERA ......................................3.00 (9 ER/36.0 IP) time in their careers.