EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION CHAMPIONS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES PLAYERS TO MLB 2010, 2017 2004, 2010, 2017 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 144 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 THE 19TH SEASON OF CURVE BASEBALL: Altoona finished the season eight games over .500 and won the Western 2017 E.L. WESTERN STANDINGS Division by two games over the Baysox. The title marked the franchise's third regular-season division championship in Team W-L PCT GB franchise history, winning the South Division in 2004 and the Western Division in 2010. This year, the Curve led the Altoona 74-66 .529 -- West for 96 of 140 games and took over sole possession of the top spot for good on August 22. The Curve won 10 of Bowie 72-68 .514 2.0 their final 16 games, including a regular-season-best five-game winning streak from August 20-24. Altoona clinched the Western Division regular-season title with a walk-off win over Harrisburg on September 4 and a loss by Bowie at Akron 69-71 .493 5.0 Richmond that afternoon. The Curve advanced to the ELCS with a three-game sweep over the Bowie Baysox in the Erie 65-75 .464 9.0 Western Division Series. In the Championship Series, the Curve took the first two games in Trenton before beating Richmond 63-77 .450 11.0 the Thunder, 4-2, at PNG Field on September 14 to lock up their second league title in franchise history. Including the Harrisburg 60-80 .429 14.0 regular season and the playoffs, the Curve won their final eight games, their best winning streak of the year. 2017 E.L. EASTERN STANDINGS PITCHING WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Curve's pitching staff combined to post a 1.50 ERA in their six postseason Team W-L PCT GB games. Altoona starters went 6-0 with a 1.66 ERA (8 ER/43.1 IP) in the playoffs.Mitch Keller set the tone with a Trenton 92-48 .657 -- complete-game shutout in Game 1 of the Division Series at Bowie, holding the Baysox to two hits while throwing Binghamton 85-54 .612 6.5 just 90 pitches. Keller returning to the mound for the championship-clinching ELCS Game 3 and allowed two runs in the second before settling in to go scoreless the rest of the way, totaling 7.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Keller Reading 72-68 .514 20.0 was named as the Eastern League Postseason MVP, combing to go 2-0 in his two starts with a 1.10 ERA (2 ER/16.1 Portland 65-74 .468 26.5 IP). Alex McRae (1-0, 6.00) allowed four runs over six innings in Game 2 of the Division Series, but the Curve won Hartford 62-77 .446 29.5 the game, 8-4. Austin Coley (1-0, 1.29) started the clinching Game 3 of the Division Series and allowed one run over New Hamp. 59-80 .424 32.5 seven innings. In the ELCS, Brandon Waddell (1-0, 0.00) started Game 1 in Trenton and worked six scoreless innings. In Game 2, J.T. Brubaker (1-0, 1.13) worked eight innings and allowed two runs (one earned). The Altoona bullpen al- 2017 CURVE AT A GLANCE lowed just one run in the playoffs and posted a 0.84 ERA (1 ER/10.2 IP) with three saves. In Game 3 of the ELCS,Tate Overall Record ..................................... 74-66 Scioneaux struck out the side in order in the top of the ninth to cap the three-game sweep. Home ............................................ 40-30 Road ............................................. 34-36 RYAN RETURNS HOME: The Curve were led in 2017 by first-year managerMichael Ryan, a native of nearby Indiana, vs. E.L. Western ......................... 46-47 Pa. He served as a coach with the Curve for the 2012 season before beginning his managerial career with West Virginia the following year. After winning the Florida State League championship as the manager of the Bradenton vs. E.L. Eastern ........................... 28-19 Marauders in 2016, Ryan led the Curve to their second Eastern League championship in 2017. Following the season, Place (E.L. Western) .................................1st Ryan was voted to the Fans' Choice All-Time Altoona Curve team as the fans' pick for the best manager in Curve fran- Games Ahead/Behind ...........................+2.0 chise history as part of the team's year-long celebration of their upcoming 20th season in 2018. ‘17 Home Attendance .................... 294,486 Home Openings .........................................67 Behind a breakout first half of the season with Altoona, climbed from Double-A to LUPLOW'S RISE: Jordan Luplow ............................4,395 the big leagues in a span of less than four months. He hit his first two home runs on April 11 at Richmond and went Average Attendance on a home run tear over his 73 games with the Curve. Luplow picked up Eastern League Player of the Week honors E.L. Rank ......................................................7th for May 29-June 4 after hitting .423 with five homers in seven games, including homering in three straight games CURVE IN THE LEAGUE LEADERS from June 4-June 6. He became the fastest Curve player to reach 14 homers to open a season on June 6, hitting the Batting mark in just 52 games. His 16 homers were the most for a Curve player prior to the All-Star Break since 2005. An Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star selection, Luplow was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on June 30. After car- Average ...........Jerrick Suiter (.285/T-14th) rying his hot stretch to indy, it took less than a month for Luplow to earn his first call to the big leagues. He made his Doubles .............Edwin Espinal (25/T-10th) Major League debut on July 28 for the Pirates. He went on to play 27 major league games and knocked three homers. Triples..........................Cole Tucker (5/T-4th) Home Runs ..... Jordan Luplow (16/T-16th) EDWINNING: First baseman Edwin Espinal returned for a second season with the Curve and improved on his per- RBIs .....................Edwin Espinal (72/T-8th) formance from 2016. Over his 95 games with the Curve, Espinal hit .283 with a team-leading 72 RBIs and set a new Base on Balls ...........Pablo Reyes (51/17th) career high with 15 home runs prior to his promotion to Triple-A on July 28. At the time of his promotion, Espinal Stolen Bases .......... Pablo Reyes (21/T-4th) ranked second in the Eastern League with 25 doubles, second with 72 RBIs and fourth with 174 total bases. Even Caught Stealing .....Pablo Reyes (14/T-1st) though he was promoted with five weeks left in the regular season, Espinal was named the Curve's Most Valuable On-Base % ............Jerrick Suiter (.372/8th) Player for 2017. He also picked up an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star selection, becoming just the fourth player ...............Wyatt Mathisen (.357/16th) in Curve history to achieve the honor twice. Espinal did not commit a single error at first base, becoming the first Altoona infielder to post a perfect fielding percentage at a single position in franchise history, and he was awarded an ...................... Pablo Reyes (.356/17th) MiLB Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the top defensive first baseman in the minors. Slugging % ........Edwin Espinal (.474/11th) .................... Jerrick Suiter (.447/18th) DU-RAP IT UP: After picking up 22 saves in 2016, closerMontana DuRapau returned to the Curve to start the 2017 OPS .................... Jerrick Suiter (.819/13th) season. He picked up his fourth save of the year on April 18 against Erie to move ahead of Brandon Knight for sole ...................Edwin Espinal (.797/17th) possession of second place on the Curve's all-time career saves list with 28. On May 17, he closed out the 29th save Pitching of his Curve career at Binghamton to tie Matt Peterson's franchise mark. He took over first place on the Altoona Wins ............... Tanner Anderson (10/T-5th) all-time saves list with his 30th on May 19 against Erie, working two scoreless innings on the night. DuRapau was pro- .........................Alex McRae (10/T-5th) moted to Triple-A Indianapolis on July 14 having stretched his record to 36 total saves. He ranked first in the Eastern ERA ....................... Austin Coley (3.01/4th) League with 14 saves and 26 games finished at the time. For the year, he tied Tate Scioneaux for the team lead with ................Tanner Anderson (3.38/6th) 14 saves. Over his 27 outings for Altoona, DuRapau went 14-for-15 in save tries and posted a 1.49 ERA. DuRapau also picked up an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star selection, the first all-star nod of his career. ...................... Alex McRae (3.61/10th) .....................J.T. Brubaker (4.44/17th) SUIT UP: First baseman/outfielderJerrick Suiter turned around his season beginning with his first Double-A homer on Games ................ Tate Scioneaux (47/T-1st) June 2 at Bowie. Over his final 79 regular-season games from that point, Suiter hit .299 (84-for-281) with ten homers ......................... Sean Keselica (42/6th) and 49 RBIs on his way to being named Altoona's Unsung Hero for 2017. He especially caught fire over a three-game Games Started .......Alex McRae (25/T-7th) span from July 5-July 7 when he reached base in ten consecutive plate appearances, going 9-for-9 with a homer, two .....................J.T. Brubaker (24/T-10th) doubles, a walk and five RBIs. He finished the year ranked fifth in the Pirates' minor league system with 62 totals RBIs .....................Austin Coley (23/T-19th) between his time in Bradenton and Altoona.