Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 1, 1993 TAG: 9307010224
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For the third consecutive night, Salem staged a heavy-handed mugging of the floundering Kinston bullpen, banging out all its runs in the last four innings on the way to a 7-4 Carolina League victory that propelled the Bucs into a three-way tie for the Southern Division lead.
The Bucs (6-4) won their third in a row from the Indians and shoved their way into a first-place deadlock with Kinston and Winston-Salem, a 6-0 winners over Durham on Wednesday. This to the delight of a Municipal Field crowd of 1,699.
"We're having some fun now," Salem center fielder Jon Farrell said. "We're swinging the bats better and hitting in the clutch. The pitching has also been good."
Along with the flogging of the Kinston relief corps, Salem's victory recalled the previous night's affair in that the long ball was the centerpiece of the attack.
Salem slugged three more home runs - giving the Bucs six in two nights. Wednesday, the big boppers were Ken Bonifay, whose solo blast broke up a Jason Fronio no-hit bid in the fourth; Farrell, whose 15th was a two-run bash that put the Bucs ahead for good; and Marty Neff, whose three-run clout in seventh partially atoned for some of his misadventures afield. Neff has hit two homers in as many nights and has 16.
"The difference in these two teams right now is that our middle relievers are getting the job done and theirs aren't," Salem pitching coach Dave Rajsich said.
Until the fifth, when Kinston matched Bonifay's bomb with a solo rocket by Mike Crosby, it had been a pitcher's duel between knuckleballer Fronio and the Bucs' Doug Harrah.
Harrah (5-0) worked six effective innings, giving up only two runs on seven hits.
Fronio was gone after the sixth, and by that time Farrell had gotten to him.
"The knuckleball was his pitch, but he'd throw fastballs when he got behind," Farrell said. "I had a 3-0 count [on the home run] and had a green light to swing the bat."
\ BUCSHOTS: Two Bucs - Neff and reliever Kevin Rychel - were being hard on themselves later in the boisterous clubhouse. Rychel, who walked two and gave up two ninth-inning runs, was downcast as teammates came by to cheer him up. "We've been working on some new things with him and he tried them," Rajsich said. "That was my fault." . . . Neff had something to do with it, too, misplaying Pat Maxwell's fly to right into a two-run double in the ninth. Neff also threw behind a runner who advanced easily earlier. "I messed up some things for our pitchers," he said. . . . Catcher Tim Marx, fresh from Augusta to replace disabled Angelo Encarnacion, went 0-for-4. \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB