Photo courtesy @jdraw8

Senators 2, Curve 0

• A.J. Cole picked up his fourth Double-A win (tenth of the season overall) with seven scoreless innings and seven strikeouts. After tossing 27 pitches in the first inning and getting out of a bases-loaded jam, Cole settled down and cruised the rest of the way. “I thought it was probably one of his better outings. I know with that first inning you might not think that. But to get that big pop up and then to get Cunningham, who if you make a mistake to he can hurt you,” manager Matt LeCroy said, “Even his misses tonight were down. We needed an effort like that and he stepped up.”

• One thing that Cole had to contend with was the one-hour rain delay prior to the game and how it affected his warm-up and preparation. “It depends on the guy,” pitching coach Paul Menhart discussed how that affects pitchers, “You have different personalities and if there was a guy I would want that to happen to and I thought could handle it the best, it would be A.J. He’s one of those guys that I have to check to see if he’s alive sometimes because he’s so mild mannered, calm, and confident all in one.” When it appeared like the game would start at 7:30, Cole began throwing in right field only to shut it down when heavier rains came. Menhart says his starter hadn’t ramped up yet, “He was so smart and he recognized the weather that when he was tossing he came in and said, ‘I knew something was going to happen. I wasn’t even throwing.’

• Billy Burns continued his assault on Curve pitchers as he collected two of the four Senators hits and scored the first run. “Billy is a sparkplug and he finds a way to get on. It seems like it’s an infectious thing,” LeCroy said, “It’s amazing what speed will do. The first baseman, the pitcher. Everybody knows it. It’s just fun watching him play. Everybody loves it. Everybody laughs. He’s got a good demeanor about him and everybody just loves to watch him run.”

• In a bit of random symmetry, the shutout win marked the 14th time the Curve have been blanked this season and the 14th time the Senators have held their opponent scoreless.

• Without closer Aaron Barrett, the back-end of the Senators’ bullpen will be a “all hands on deck” approach. That was evident in the ninth frame when Tyler Herron was summoned to get the final two outs after Neil Holland struck out the only batter he faced. Looking at the stats, the move made much sense as left-handed batters were hitting .193 and slugging only .239 off Herron.