Tag: Brock Holt

Altoona Curve �9, �Akron Aeros 6 (box)

The Curve swept the 3-game series with the Akron Aeros in their own park with an afternoon win on Wednesday. �DH Jim Negrych continued his hot hitting by going 3-for-4 at the plate, including 2 doubles. �C Kris Watts added a 2-run homer, and SS Chase d'Arnaud and 1B Matt Hague each had 2 hits.

Akron had the early lead. �They scored twice in the 1st inning, with a single and back-to-back doubles off Curve starter Tim Alderson. Another double, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly added a run in the 2nd inning, giving the Aeros a 3-0 lead. �That didn't last long. �The Curve came back with 4 runs in the top of the 3rd. �3B Josh Harrison singled and went to second base on a wild pitch. �He scored on Negrych's double. �Watts walked, then d'Arnaud also doubled, scoring Negrych. �A single from Hague brought in both Watts and d'Arnaud, and the Curve had a 4-3 lead.

The Aeros tied the score at 4-4 in the 4th inning, on a single, a passed ball by Watts, and an RBI single. �Altoona took the lead again in the top of the 5th. �Negrych led off the inning with a single, and Watts' homer gave the Curve a 6-4 lead. �The Aeros fought back and tied the score again in the bottom of the inning. �A walk and a single with two outs chased Tim Alderson from the game. �Tony Watson came on in relief, but he gave up a double, scoring both base runners. �Alderson was responsible for those runs, for a total of 6 (5 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks, plus one strikeout.

Finally, the Curve scored an unanswered run in the top of the 6th. �With one out, RF Alex Presley singled into center field. �Josh Harrison lined a single into right field, but was out at second when he tried to stretch it into a double. �While the Aeros were busy with Harrison, Presley was able to score the go-ahead run. �The Curve then added two insurance runs. �In the 8th, Matt Hague led off with a walk, and 2B Shelby Ford singled, moving Hague to third base. �That gave LF Jose De Los Santos the chance to bring in Hague with a sacrifice fly. �In the 9th, walks to Watts and CF Gorkys Hernandez plus a single by Hague gave Altoona even more insurance.

Tony Watson pitched 3 more innings. �He had a batter reach in the 6th on a throwing error by d'Arnaud, but retired the other 9 batters he faced. �Watson was credited with the win. �Jeff Sues earned his third save with a scoreless 9th inning.

Bradenton Marauders 6, �Jupiter Hammerheads 0 (box)

Four Marauders#039; pitchers combined for a one-hitter against the Jupiter Hammerheads on Monday night in Bradenton. � Starter Brian Leach made the start and got the win. �He pitched 5 innings and it was he who gave up the only hit, a one-out single in the 3rd. �That base runner was promptly thrown out trying to steal second base. �Leach walked a batter in the 2nd inning and another in the 4th, and one more runner reached base on a missed catch error by 1B Calvin Anderson in the 5th. �Mike Colla also walked a batter in the 6th, but he pitched two hitless, scoreless innings. �Tom Boleska and Noah Krol each pitched a perfect inning to finish the game for the Power. �The four pitchers struck out a total of 9 batters -- 4 for Leach, 2 each for Colla and Boleska, and one for Krol.

The Bradenton batters posted 10 hits on their way to 6 runs. �LF Quincy Latimore, 1B Calvin Anderson, and 2B Greg Picart had two hits each, and Latimore collected 2 RBI. �RF Austin McClune scored the first run in the bottom of the 1st, when he singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on DH Tony Sanchez's RBI double. �The Marauders had a big 3rd inning, scoring 4 runs. �Picart got things started with a lead-off single, though he was forced out at second base on SS Brock Holt's grounder. �Another grounder by McClune moved Holt to second base. �CF Starling Marte plated Holt with an RBI single. �A walk to Sanchez and a double by Latimore brought in two more runs, and 3B Jeremy Farrell's double brought in Latimore with the fourth run. �A single by Latimore and a double by Anderson added one more run in the 6th inning.

Erie SeaWolves 6, �Altoona Curve 5 (box)

DH Jim Negrych did his best to be the hero for the Curve in the afternoon game against the SeaWolves in Erie. �He tied the game with a 2-run homer in the 8th inning. �He hit a key 2-run double in the top of the 9th to give the Curve the lead. �But Erie's C Max St. Pierre was having a better day. �On St. Pierre's 30th birthday, he hit two home runs, including a walk-off blast in the bottom of the 9th to give the SeaWolves the win.

With Rudy Owens on the mound for his second start of the season, Erie took an early 2-run lead in the 3rd inning. �Owens had allowed only one hit over the first two innings, but the 3rd began with three consecutive singles, including one by St. Pierre, to bring in one run. �An RBI grounder brought in the second run. �C Kris Watts ended the inning when he threw out a runner trying to steal second base.

The Curve threatened in the top of the 3rd when LF Alex Presley and 2B Shelby Ford opened the inning with back-to-back walks. �A bunt moved them both up a base. �CF Gorkys Hernandez bounced to short for a fielder's choice, and Presley appeared to slide in under the tag at the plate, but was called out. �Altoona did�get one of the runs back in the top of the 5th, when 1B Matt Hague led off the 5th inning with the first Curve hit of the game, a double down the left field line. �He went to third on a ground out, and Ford was hit by a pitch, making it runners on the corners. �SS Jose De Los Santos grounded to second base, for what should have been a double play. �But the speedy De Los Santos beat out the relay throw to first base, and the Hague scored from third base.

St. Pierre's first home, a solo blast, run led off the 5th inning, to give the SeaWolves a 3-1 lead. �That lead lasted until the top of the 8th, when the Curve finally got another hit. �Gorkys Hernandez led off with a single, deflected off the glove of the Erie pitcher. �Jim Negrych hit a long fly ball down the right field line... but as the crowd held their breath, the ball drifted foul just at the last second. �Negrych came right back with another long ball, this one to right center where it had no chance of drifting foul. �This bomb was a 2-run homer to tie the game, Negrych's first homer of the season.

Bradenton Marauders 14, �St. Lucie 5 (box)

The Marauders posted 14 hits and 14 runs on their way to an overwhelming victory of the St. Lucie Mets in Bradenton on Friday night. �SS Brock Holt, who joined the team late out of spring training due to injury, celebrated his first game of the 2010 season by going 3-for-5 with a double and 4 RBI. �DH Tony Sanchez went 3-for-4, and had a single, a double, and a homer, plus 3 RBI. �LF Quincy Latimore had "only" 2 hits, but his grand slam gave him 4 RBI. �Only 1B Calvin Anderson had a tough night, as he went hitless and committed 3 fielding errors at first base.

After a quiet 1st inning, Tony Sanchez and Quincy Latimore got the party started in the bottom of the 2nd with back-to-back singles. �Two outs later, C Eric Fryer singled, scoring Sanchez. �2B Greg Picart walked to load the bases, and Brock Holt picked up his first two RBI with a line drive single into center. � Three doubles, by CF Starling Marte, Sanchez, and 3B Jeremy Farrell added two more runs in the 3rd inning. �In the 4th, RF Robbie Grossman singled, stole second, and stole third. �A walk to Marte and Sanchez being hit by a pitch loaded the bases for Latimore. �His grand slam gave the Marauders a 9-1 lead.

A St. Lucie fielding error and singles by Holt and Marte (RBI) contributed one run in the 5th inning. �Then Bradenton added 4 more runs in the 7th. �Fryer led off with a double, Picart reached base on a fielding error, and Holt doubled both of them in. �Sanchez's 2-run homer capped the night for the Marauders.

Aaron Pribanic made the start for Bradenton. �He sailed through the first two innings, and Calvin Anderson's first fielding error was no big deal. �In the 3rd inning, a single, a double, and a passed ball by Eric Fryer gave the Mets one unearned run. �Anderson made another error in the 4th inning, but a double play eliminated that problem. �In the 5th inning with one out, Pribanic gave up a double and a 2-run homer, and he was relieved by Tyler Cox. Cox finished the 5th with a strikeout, then retired the next six batters he faced, including 3 more strikeouts. �That earned him his 3rd win of the season. �Diego Moreno gave up a lone single in the scoreless 8th inning. �Noah Krol took the mound for the 9th, when St. Lucie made a last desperate effort to catch up. �Krol gave up a walk and a double to begin the inning. �With two outs, a wild pitch let the runner from third base score and the runner from second move up to third. �Anderson's third fielding error allowed the next run to score, though it clearly did not make much difference in the outcome. �A ground out ended the game.

With Holt joining the team, a roster spot needed to be opened up. �INF Gift Ngoepe was reassigned to State College to make room, which means he will return to extended spring training right there in Bradenton.

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West Virginia Power 5, �Asheville Tourists �4 (box)

The Power celebrated their home opener with a win over the Tourists, as DH Kyle Morgan's single in the bottom of the 7th inning brought the go-ahead run across the plate. �The Tourists scored in the top of the 1st inning, with a double, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly off Power starter Quentin Miller. Miller pitched only one inning -- not sure why he was pulled.

The Power bats came to life in the bottom of the 2nd, when LF Rogelios Noris hit a two-out single, and 3B Jesus Brito got the first of three hits in the game, an RBI triple. �RF Wes Freeman walked, and a passed ball let Freeman get to second base, but it wasn't far enough away from the plate to let Brito score from third. �The Power added another run in the 3rd, when SS Benji Gonzalez led off with a walk, and 2B Jarek Cunningham doubled him over to third base. �This time when the Asheville catcher missed for another passed ball, Gonzalez was able to score from third. �1B Aaron Baker grounded to second, but a quick throw to the plate cut down Cunningham as he tried to score. �Gonzalez and Cunningham both singled again in the 5th, and a wild pitch had Gonzalez standing on third base again. �This time Baker was able to pick up the RBI with a sacrifice fly.

Brito, who had also singled in the 4th inning, made it 3-for-3 with a single in the 6th inning, following Noris' lead-off double. �Another fielder's choice on a grounder by C Josue Peley brought in Noris to give the Power a 4-1 lead. �Another scoring opportunity was missed, though, when Brito was out at the plate in a double steal attempt.

Jason Erickson had taken over for Miller in the 2nd inning. �Erickson scattered 3 hits over 4 scoreless innings, striking out 2 batters. �Marc Baca retired the Tourists in order in the 6th, but got into trouble in the 7th. �The inning began with a ground-rule double, a "regular" double, and another ground-rule double, and the Tourists were within one run of the Power, 4-3. �A walk and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third bases. �An RBI ground out to short brought in the tying run, and gave Baca a Blown Save. �A hit batter and a stolen base made it runners on first and second. �A long fly ball to the alley in right-center could have meant another two runs, but an amazing diving catch by CF Evan Chambers ended the rally.

That Blown Save turned in to a win in the bottom of the 7th. �Baca was still the pitcher of record when�Chambers was hit by a pitch. �Aaron Baker bounced a ground-rule double over the right field wall, moving Chambers to third base. �Then Kyle Morgan's single up the middle drove in Chambers with the go-ahead run. �Baker also tried to score from second base, but was out at the plate on the throw in from center field. �The one run was enough, though. �Melkin Laureano gave up a walk in the top of the 8th, but did not allow a run to score. �Zachary Foster got four outs in the top of the 9th to earn his first Save. �He struck out three batters in a row, but strike three on the third batter was a wild pitch, allowing the batter to reach first base. �Jarek Cunningham made a diving catch of a pop fly behind second base to end the game.

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Altoona Curve rained out

The Altoona Curve and Erie SeaWolves were rained out in Erie, PA on Friday night. �That game will be made up as part of a double header on May 22nd. �The two teams will play their regularly scheduled (single) game on Saturday, beginning at 1 pm.

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NOTES:

Former Pirate farmhand Danny Bomback has signed a contract with the Pittsfield Colonials of the (independent) Can-Am League.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3, �Indianapolis Indians 2

The Indians suffered their first loss in their spring training games this afternoon in Bradenton. �The Indians scored their runs in the 4th inning, courtesy of an RBI single by INF Miles Durham and a sacrifice fly by C Tony Sanchez. Tribe starter Donnie Veal pitched 2 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and one walk, with 2 strikeouts. �The Indians' bullpen held the Yankees to 2 runs, and the game went into the 9th inning with a 2-2 tie. �Reliever Michael Dubee pitched the top of the 9th, and gave up two singles to account for the go-ahead run. �Dubee was charged with the loss.

The Indians announced that their game that had been scheduled for Sunday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Tampa has already been cancelled, as they are expecting severe thunderstorms most of the day.

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Orioles 5, �Pirates 2 � (box)

The Pirates out-hit the O's 9 to 6, but the Birds still came out on top this afternoon in Sarasota, Florida. �Starter Charlie Morton suffered the loss, as he gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings. �Morton worked out of a jam in the 1st inning, with the help of a double play. �He gave up a solo home run to 1B Luke Scott in the 4th inning. �Then in the 5th, Morton began the inning with a walk, then gave up a double to former Indy Indian/Pirate (2004-05) Ty Wigginton. �An RBI ground out followed, and Morton was lifted in favor of reliever Jeremy Powell. Powell�got the next batter to ground to short, but SS Bobby Crosby's throw to first was low and it skipped past 1B Garrett Jones, allowing another run to score, giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead. �DJ Carrasco pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. �Chris Jakubauskas came on for the top of the 9th, and he gave up a double that plated 2 more runs.