Altoona Curve (9-10) at Erie SeaWolves (10-9)
Today-Friday, 6:35 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, 1:05 p.m.
Jerry Uht Park
Pitching matchups
Today: Erie RH Andrew Kown (2-1, 6.88) vs. Altoona RH Josh Hill (1-1, 2.87)
Friday: Erie LH Dan Christensen (0-2, 4.76) vs. Altoona LH Corey Hamman (0-3, 4.66)
Saturday: Erie RH Josh Rainwater (2-1, 2.81) vs. TBA
Sunday: Erie RH Ben Fritz (1-0, 4.03) vs. Altoona RH Jimmy Barthmaier (2-0, 5.40)
Altoona notes: A 2-0 loss to Akron on Wednesday ended a season-high three-game winning streak for Altoona, which has won five of its past seven games. … Altoona has yet to surpass the .500 mark this season. … Outfielder James Boone entered Wednesday's play with a league-leading six homers. He was named the Eastern League's player of the week on Monday. In six games last week, he hit .524 (11-for-21) with four homers, six RBIs and eight runs scored in six games. … Altoona has not committed an error in 13 of its past 17 games. The Curve entered Wednesday's game with the league's top fielding percentage (.988). The Curve have committed just nine errors in 19 games. … Five Altoona players are ranked by Baseball America among the Pittsburgh Pirates' top 30 minor league prospects: outfielder Brad Corley (10), right-hander Jimmy Barthmaier (17), left-hander Dave Davidson (23), right-hander Yoslan Herrera (25) and first baseman Jason Delaney (29). … Barthmaier and Herrera are members of the Pirates' 40-man roster. ... Former SeaWolves pitchers Brian Rogers and Corey Hamman are with Altoona. … Hamman was the starter and loser in Erie's 13-4 win at Altoona Friday, allowing four runs (two earned) and four hits in 2 2/3 innings. … Rogers is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in six appearances spanning 13 innings. Rogers was traded by the Tigers to the Pirates in July 2006 for first baseman Sean Casey.
Erie notes: With wins Tuesday and Wednesday in the final two games of their three-game series at Harrisburg, the SeaWolves earned their first series win since sweeping a season-opening four-game series at Bowie on April 4-6. … Erie had lost four straight series. … The SeaWolves lost two of three games at Altoona last week in the first series meeting between the teams. … Altoona won the opener, 6-1, before Erie rebounded with a 13-4 win in the second game. The Curve rallied for a 3-2 win in the third game. The final game of the series Sunday was postponed by officials because of rain and rescheduled as a doubleheader on May 3 at Altoona. … Third baseman Kody Kirkland has a six-game hitting streak. … Erie went 2-4 on its first homestand. … The SeaWolves stole four bases in Wednesday's 7-0 win at Harrisburg, increasing their league-leading total to 33.
-- Ron Leonardi