LEADING OFF: At the midway point of the season, two Curve alums led the major leagues in hitting and home runs. Andrew McCutchen's .360 average for the Pirates was tops in the game entering play Thursday, while Jose Bautista led all sluggers with 27 homers for the Blue Jays.
SAFE AT FIRST: Curve manager P.J. Forbes served a one-game suspension Thursday. Forbes' suspension was handed down for a bench-clearing incident between the Curve and Akron in a June 24 game. Even though he had to serve a suspension, Forbes was not ejected from the game as a result of the incident.
STEALING SECOND: Hitting coach Ryan Long took the manager role for the night Thursday, and coach Michael Ryan took Forbes' role as third-base coach. Meanwhile, Forbes took in the game with Frank Kremblas, a special assistant coordinator for the Pirates special assistant coordinator. "It was hard to watch from the standpoint you want to be down in the trenches with them," Forbes said. "But I got a lot of good stuff going forward that I can use, and I'm just glad it came out the way it did."
ROUNDING THIRD: C Tony Sanchez, who was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis after spending the first two months of the season with the Curve, has had a personal power surge lately. Sanchez didn't hit a homer in his first 58 games, but with a solo shot Thursday, Sanchez now has three homers in his last three contests.
HEADING HOME: OF Jose Tabata went 2-for-5 with an RBI in his second game with Indianapolis on Thursday. Tabata was demoted from Pittsburgh earlier in the week and has gone 3-for-9 in two games as a member of the Indians.
- Stephen Pianovich
