Josh Bonifay has taken over from Brad Eldred at first base for the Altoona Curve after “Big Country” was promoted to Indianapolis. Eldred was leading the Eastern League and all of baseball in home runs with 13, as well as RBI, extra-base hits, slugging percentage and was second in runs scored while batting .333 when the callup came last Monday.
“I don’t want Josh to try to fill Eldred’s shoes, or carry the load now that Eldred’s not here,” explained Altoona manager Tony Beasley. “I just want Josh to be Josh, and know what works for Josh. He just needs to be consistent and understand his approach every day. If he can do those things, Josh is going to help us tremendously on offense. Ronnie Paulino is the same kind of guy as far as his mindset. They are the two guys who can really carry us offensively, because they have the potential to something big every night.”
In the Curve seventh inning at Blair County Ballpark on Tuesday night, Bonifay drilled a three-run home run to left to break up what had been a 4-4 tie and Paulino followed with a solo shot of his own that cleared the wall in right field. On two cracks of the bat, Altoona went from a tie ballgame against the Harrisburg Senators to a solid four-run lead.
“I kind of like a challenge. I don’t mind getting into a pressure situation,” said Bonifay. “Sometimes I do get a little jumpy and I strike out quite a bit. But I do like those situations. Sometimes I fail, but sometimes you put a pretty good swing on the ball and a lot of good things happen. I was in the cleanup spot before Eldred came here and when he came here, he took over that role. Now, I’m back there again. I’m not trying to duplicate what Eldred does-that’s not human. I just try to find pitches to drive and have been fortunate the past week to put us up or win the game.”
Curve lefty Brady Borner added to what has become a sizeable chunk of scoreless innings tossing three more scoreless frames to pick up the 8-4 victory. Borner (1-0) has now pitched 17 and 2/3 innings to begin the 2005 season without giving up a run.
“Borner has been a bright spot for us out of the pen,” said Beasley. “He has been the only guy who has pretty much been consistent every time out. We know pretty much what we are going to get out of him every time he steps on the field. He competes, throws strikes, changes speeds and gets guys out. I don’t think he’s focused on getting strikeouts. He’s more concerned on keeping them off balance and producing flyouts and weak ground balls, and that’s what he does. Hopefully the rest of the bullpen can look at what he’s doing and why he’s having the success.”
With one out in the seventh, Rajai Davis drew a walk and Craig Stansberry, who was brought up from Lynchburg when Eldred was promoted, singled. After Harrisburg reliever fanned Tom Evans, Bonifay worked the count to three balls and two strikes, then slammed the full count pitch into the leftfield bleachers, for his fourth dinger of the season, to give Altoona a quick 7-4 lead. Paulino stepped in and went opposite field for his team-high sixth homer to widen the advantage to 8-4.
Borner allowed two harmless singles over the final three innings after relieving Landon Jacobsen, who had pitched the fifth and sixth innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits with one walk and no strikeouts. Mike Connolly started the game for the Pirates Double-A affiliate, but once again was his own worst enemy giving up two runs in four innings on the mound, on six hits with a pair of strikeouts and three walks. Connolly, who had a 9.00 ERA in the first inning and 2.86 over the rest of this games, coming in, got out of the first inning scoreless on Tuesday, but had to throw 31 pitches to accomplish it.
“The difference this year is the confidence,” explained Borner, who had troubles in the bullpen in 2004. “For a change, I got off to a pretty good start and I have been able to carry that through. Getting put into situations in games that are real tight require maximum focus. I would like to think that I shine in those situations.”
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Evans walked with one out and Bonifay and Paulino smacked back-to-back doubles to deep center field to give the Curve a 2-1 lead. Paulino moved to third base on a passed ball and scored on a fielder’s choice by Scott Neuberger.
In the sixth, with Harrisburg taking advantage of an error to score twice against Jacobsen and retake the lead, Bonifay walked, went to second on a base hit by Jorge Cortes and scored on a single to right by Neuberger to set up the seventh inning heroics by Bonifay and Paulino.
Neuberger was in the middle of two game-breaking plays on Tuesday night. First using his arm with one run in and the Curve clinging to a slim 3-2 lead, Neuberger fired a strike to Paulino at the plate to get Jesus Feliciano trying to score from second on a base hit by Cristian Guerrero, a cousin of major leaguer Vladimir Guerrero. Then using his bat, Neuberger knocked in the tying run in the sixth, after the Senators had regained the lead.
“That was all reaction stuff and I’ve always had a good arm,” Neuberger answered when questioned about his play in the field and on offense. “That has always been a consistent part of my game. As far as being able to come in and make an impact, I’m thrilled that I can. I’m fighting for playing time, just like a lot of guys here are. I can’t answer whether the throw or the hit was more important. I don’t think you can weigh one against the other.”
