Erie SeaWolves 10, �Altoona Curve 7 (box)

A 4-run rally in the 8th and a franchise-record 16 opposing batters struck out could not push the Curve past the SeaWolves on Sunday in Altoona. �Curve batters C Kris Watts doubled twice and 1B Matt Hague singled twice in the losing effort.

The Curve scored first, when CF Gorkys Hernandez singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the 1st. �After a couple of quiet innings, Erie took the lead in the top of the 4th, on a 2-run homer by 1B Michael Bertram. �Matt Hague tied the game in the bottom of the frame, when he led off with a single, went to second on DH Jim Negrych's bunt, to third on a wild pitch, and scored on LF Alex Presley's RBI single.

Curve starter Rudy Owens had allowed only a single and a walk over the first three innings, then a walk and the homer in the 4th. �Another homer, by C Max St. Pierre, led off the 5th, and Owens then gave up three singles and a walk for two more runs, and Erie was ahead, 5-2. �The SeaWolves just kept coming, scoring 3 runs (2 earned) in the 7th off reliever Mike Dubee. Dubee gave up a single and a walk, then a fielding error loaded the bases with SeaWolves. �CF Wilkin Ramirez cleared the bases with a double, and Erie was ahead 8-2. �They added another run in the 8th on a triple by St. Pierre and an RBI ground out, then a homer by RF Josh Burres lifted the Erie total to 10 runs.

The Curve rallied in the bottom of the 8th, as they batted around. �Watts opened the inning with a double, Hernandez walked, and pinch-hitter Jose De Los Santos singled to load the bases. �A single by Hague scored Watts, and the bases were still loaded. �A walk to Negrych forced in Hernandez, and a fielding error let De Los Santos score. �Presley's grounder force out plated Hague, and left runners on the corners, but a fly out ended the inning, with the Curve closer at 10-6.

Watts also doubled to begin the 9th inning, and the Curve had hopes that another rally might get them a win. �The third Erie error of the game, on a ball hit by Shelby Ford, put runners on the corners. �Hernandez grounded back to the mound for a fielders' choice, scoring Watts, and that was all the Curve could get.

Owens pitched 5 innings, and allowed 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks, with 9 strikeouts. �Dubee struck out 4 in his 2 innings of work, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits and 2 walks. �Ronald Uviedo pitched the final two innings and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, no walks, with 3 strikeouts.

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Indianapolis Indians �5, �Buffalo Bison �4 (box)

The Indianapolis Indians celebrated Mother's Day and Breast Cancer Awareness Day with pink jerseys and a few pink bats. �Like in past years, the pink agrees with them. �The score went back and forth, and there was some sloppy play on both sides of the field, but the Indians held on for the afternoon win at Victory Field.

Each team posted 12 hits, and C Erik Kratz and SS Argenis Diaz each went 3-for-4 at the plate, including a triple for Kratz. �2B Neil Walker and 1B Brian Myrow had 2 hits each, with a solo homer apiece.

Starter Jeremy Powell (photo) pitched 6 innings to earn his third win. �He worked around runners on base in each inning -- in fact, neither team went down in order in any inning -- but did not go deep into counts on many batters. �Powell threw 82 pitches (58 strikes), and used only 7 pitches against 4 batters in the 4th, and 8 pitches against 6 batters in the 5th.

The Bison loaded the bases against Powell in the 1st. �With two outs, a walk to 1B Mike Jacobs, a ball to the arm of 3B Mike Hessman, and a rare fielding error by Neil Walker at second base as he fumbled trying to pick up the ball on a grounder, filled the bases with visitors. �But Powell calmly got 2B Russ Adams to ground out to short, leaving all three runners standing there.

Walker (photo) made up for his mistake in the bottom of the inning. �CF Jose Tabata reached base on a fielding error by Buffalo SS Ruben Tejada, who also had trouble picking up the ball. �Neil Walker and his pink bat were next. �Walker, batting right-handed against knuckleball pitcher RA Dickey, smashed a double to deep left-center field. �The speedy Tabata scored easily from first base, and the Indians had an early 1-0 lead.

Powell had to work around two hits in the 2nd inning. �C Josh Thole led off with a bloop single behind first base, then Powell got two outs. �CF Jason Pridie grounded to short for what ought to have been the third out, but SS Argenis Diaz was not as aggressive making the scoop, the transfer, or the throw as he could have been, and Pridie beat out the throw to first base. �Again Powell remained calm and fired strikes to RF Jose Feliciano, striking him out. �Feliciano was apparently having issues with the way that home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez was calling the strikes. �After he swung and missed strike three, he slammed his bat and must have said the wrong words, because Gonzalez immediately ejected him. �Alex Cintron came in to the game to replace Feliciano in right field, though he later swapped positions with Russ Adams and took over at second base.

The Indianapolis Indians lost, but the rest of the Pirates' affiliates won on Saturday.

Altoona Curve �9, �Erie SeaWolves �7 (box)

A 6-run 2nd inning boosted the Curve to an early lead, and a late-inning rally kept them on top for a win at home on Saturday. �The Curve sent 11 batters to the plate in the 2nd, collecting 8 hits for their 6 runs. �DH Jim Negrych got the fun started with a single through the hole into right field. �2B Josh Harrison and LF Alex Presley both doubled, and RF Miles Durham added another single, and two runs were in before an out had been recorded. �After a fly out, SS Chase d'Arnaud singled, bringing in both Presley and Durham, and a fielding error accounted for the second run (so only one RBI for d'Arnaud) and moved d'Arnaud to third. �Three more consecutive singles, by CF Gorkys Hernandez, 3B Jordy Mercer, and 1B Matt Hague, and another run came in. �That brought it back to Negrych, who this time brought the 6th run in with a sacrifice fly, before a ground out by Harrison ended the inning.

Starter Tim Alderson elected to work entirely out of the stretch as he worked on mechanics. �He�kept the SeaWolves from scoring over the first three innings, but gave up one run in the 4th on a single and an RBI double. �He ran into more trouble in the 5th, giving up a single, a double, a sacrifice fly, and another double, and then another single, for 3 runs. �Alderson was relieved at that point, just one out away from qualifying for the win, having surrendered 4 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks over his 4.2 innings, with 6 strikeouts. �He was replaced by Dustin Molleken, who gave up another single, but the throw in from Durham in right field put the runner from first out at third base to end the inning. �Curve 6, SeaWolves 4.

Erie moved within one run of the Curve in the 7th, when Molleken gave up a double, a wild pitch to move the batter to third base, then a sacrifice fly. �The Curve responded in the bottom of the inning with 3 more runs to maintain a bigger lead. �Hernandez led off with a double, and Hague walked. �A grounder by Negrych forced Hague out at second, but left runners on the corners with two outs. �Harrison brought both Negrych and Hernandez in with a line drive double into left field, and he moved to third on the throw in to the plate. �That meant that he was able to score on a wild pitch, and the Curve had a 9-5 lead.

Jeff Sues came in fro Molleken to begin the 8th inning, and he was greeted by a solo home run by Erie 1B Michael Bertram. �Sues got two outs, then gave up a single, a wild pitch, and another single. �Danny Moskos finished the inning for Sues with a fly out. �Moskos had to work around a fielding error by SS d'Arnaud and 2B Harrison in the 9th, but still kept Erie from scoring, to earn his 7th save of the season. �Molleken was credited with the win, his first of the season.

Gorkys Hernandez had a 3-hit night for the Curve, with a double and one RBI. �Jim Negrych, Josh Harrison, and Alex Presley each had 2 hits for the Curve.

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Brrrrr!

The heater in the dugout was not helping a lot.

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Buffalo Bison �4, �Indianapolis Indians �3 (box)

Last night the Indians came from behind after the Bison had scored 4 early runs. �They tried the same trick tonight, but fell one run short, losing to the Bison on a cold and windy night at Victory Field.

Starter Mike Crotta made his longest start of the season, and the longest start for any Tribe pitcher this year, going 8 innings. �He threw 90 pitches (58 strikes), and gave up all 4 of the Buffalo runs and all 8 of their hits, while walking one and striking out two. �Crotta began the game by making 2B Neil Walker do all the work -- three straight ground balls to Walker. �The first two were pretty routine, but the third one required a dive to Walker's left, a roll, and a throw from a nearly seated position. �(see photo sequence -- you can see the ball in his glove in the photo on the left)

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It took Crotta (photo) only 9 pitches to get through that 1st inning, but the 2nd was another story.

Buffalo 3B Mike Hessman led off with a sky-high pop up that got caught in the wind. �1B Brian Myrow thought he had it, but at the last second, the wind moved the ball again, and it fell in just behind Myrow in back of first base. �It was ruled a hit. �LF Chris Carter followed with another hit, a single slipped through the hole into right field. �2B Russ Adams helped Crotta out by bouncing to Walker, who turned and fired to SS Doug Bernier to begin a 4-6-3 double play. �That erased Carter, but allowed Hessman to move to third base. �C Josh Thole brought Hessman in with a long double to left field that went over the head of LF Brandon Moss, who was playing in. �SS Ruben Tejada singled to left next, scoring Thole from second base, but when the throw in from Moss was clearly not going to be in time for a play at the plate, cut-off man 3B Pedro Alvarez alertly threw to second base, where Neil Walker easily tagged out Tejada as he tried for a double. �That inning took Crotta 22 pitches, and the Bison were ahead, 2-0.

Another double play helped Crotta zip through the 3rd inning. �After an easy ground out by Buffalo starter Tobi Stoner, CF Jason Pridie lined a single into center field. �RF Jesus Feliciano followed with a liner straight at Doug Bernier at short. �Bernier didn't even need to take a step, just put up his glove to catch it. �He quickly fired over to first base, easily catching Pridie off the base for a double play. �(8 pitches for Crotta.)

West Virginia Power �2, �Kannapolis Intimidators �0 (box)

Kyle McPherson and Maurice Bankston combined for 9 shutout innings against Kannapolis on Friday. �McPherson scattered 4 hits, no walks over 7 innings, while striking out 9 Kannapolis batters. �He had to work around 3 errors by his teammates to keep the Intimidators from scoring. �The first error came in the top of the 1st -- a throwing error by 3B Jesus Brito. McPherson worked around that runner, then around back-to-back singles in the 3rd. �A throwing error by 2B Jarek Cunningham stopped what should have been a double play in the 5th, allowing the batter to reach second base, but McPherson got a strikeout and a ground out to end that inning. �A throwing error by Brito in the 7th after a single put runners on second and third bases, but again McPherson worked around them, leaving both of them right there.

Bankston pitched the last two innings. �He gave up three singles in the 8th, but the first was doubled off first base after a fly out, and the other two were left stranded. �He gave up a walk in the 9th, but struck out two, earning his first save of the season. �The win was McPherson's second of the year.

The Power batters were having to work hard to get their runs. �Kannapolis starter Terry Doyle struck out 14 Power batters in his 7 innings of work, including 3 strikeouts each by LF Rogelios Noris and DH Kyle Morgan. Each member of the Power line up struck out at least once.

The Power put a runner on base in each of the first three innings, but couldn't score. �CF Evan�Chambers singled and stole second base in the 1st inning, and C Ramon Cabrera singled and went to second on a wild pitch in the 2nd, but neither could come around to score. �Cunningham singled in the 3rd, but was also left stranded. �Noris finally got the scoring started in the 4th, when he led off with a solo home run, his second homer in two days.

After the homer, the next 12 Power batters went down in order. �In the bottom of the 8th, when Doyle had been relieved by Garrett Johnson, the Power were able to get things going again. �RF Wes Freeman greeted Johnson with a double, SS Benji Gonalez walked, and Chambers loaded the bases with his second hit of the game. �Cunningham was hit by a pitch, forcing in Freeman with the Power's insurance run. �A grounder to first forced Gonzalez out at the plate, and Chambers was caught out between third and the plate, and no further runs scored.

Indianapolis Indians �8, �Buffalo Bison �5 � ��(box)

The Indians had to wait out the rain, but it was worth the wait, as they came from behind to beat the Bison at Victory Field on Friday night. �C Luke Carlin's home run, along with 4 RBI from 3B Pedro Alvarez, and 3 hits by RF Brandon Jones gave the Tribe the boost they needed. �Starter Donnie Veal got the win, and Jean Machi earned his third save of the season.

Donnie Veal (photo) was anxious to get going after the 1 hour 28 minute rain delay. �He pitched 5 innings but struggled to get through most of them. �In the top of the 1st, Veal struck out the first batter he faced, but then gave up back-to-back singles to 2B Russ Adams and 1B Mike Jacobs. �Veal's wild pitch got past C Luke Carlin, and the runners moved to second and third bases. �3B Mike Hessman, a long-time foe of the Indians, lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring Adams. �LF Chris Carter followed with a double to bring in Jacobs, and the Bison had a 2-0 lead. �A strikeout ended the inning, but it took Veal 34 pitches to get through the inning.

Veal did better in the 2nd inning, allowing only a walk to SS Ruben Tejada. �He was aided by what might have been a gift from the umpires. �With Tejada on second after a sacrifice bunt, CF Jason Pridie hit a sinking line drive into center field. �CF Jose Tabata came running in to make the catch... or did he? �It was not clear by just looking whether Tabata had actually made the catch, and the replays did not offer much more information. �The umpires were also unsure, because not one of the four of them signaled either a catch or a no-catch. �Manager Frank Kremblas came out to ask what was going on, and the four umps conferenced. �They finally decided that it was a catch, which also meant that when Tejada came racing around from second base, his run did not count.

The Bison came back at Veal in the third. �Once again, Veal struck out the first batter of the inning, but then walked Jacobs, bringing up the dangerous Hessman. �Sure enough, Hessman blasted a 2-run homer over the left field wall, to give Buffalo a 4-0 lead.

Veal had to work out of a jam in the 4th. �SS Ruben Tejada led off with a single, and went to second base on a balk. �After a strikeout, CF Jason Pridie singled, moving Tejada to third base. �But Luke Carlin threw out Pridie trying to steal second base, and a fly out got Veal out of trouble. �Then in the 5th, Veal retired the Bison in order. �He exited after 5, having thrown 95 pitches (53 strikes), and allowed the 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 7 batters. �