ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996 TAG: 9607230065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Whether he has worn the uniform of the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs or the Frederick Keys, Tom Trebelhorn has seen a trend in baseball.
At any level, good pitching can put the clamps on hot hitting.
Trebelhorn, the former major-league skipper who is filling in as the Keys' field boss this week in Salem, saw that maxim personified in starter Todd Dyess, who pitched seven strong innings in a 5-4 victory over the Salem Avalanche on Monday night. (Box score in Baseball Scoreboard.)
"That was a good job by Dyess out there,'' said Trebelhorn, a minor-league coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles who is pulling his second stint with the Keys while regular manager Julio Garcia attends to a family matter in Houston.
"When Syd Thrift [Baltimore's player development director] says `do this,' I do it,'' Trebelhorn said. "It's a pretty easy transition going to the field.''
Dyess (4-6) and the Keys' bullpen made it an easy job, holding Salem (12-17 in the Carolina League's second half) to just six hits. This, after the Avalanche rapped 44 hits in the past three games against Wilmington.
After falling behind 2-1, Dyess pitched four innings of scoreless ball.
"It was almost like he pitched a long relief job for himself,'' said Trebelhorn. "He almost pitched better when he was down 2-1.''
Dyess is 2-0 with an 0.53 ERA in three appearances against Salem.
"I'll tell you, their starting pitcher tonight does a great job against us,'' said Salem catcher Blake Barthol, one of six players with one hit. "He works us inside, he gets that curveball [and] slider over. We didn't have very many opportunities against him. The opportunities we had, we pretty much scored on.''
Salem starter Steve Shoemaker nursed a 2-1 lead for six innings, despite issuing four bases on balls and walking the sacks full in the fourth before escaping unscathed.
Frederick (14-14) took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the eighth off reliever Matt Pool (4-6), who was hurt by his own throwing error on Johnny Isom's sacrifice attempt. With the bases loaded, Mike Wolff's RBI groundout tied it at 2, then Wady Almonte delivered a two-run single.
Isom doubled home another run in the ninth to seal it.
"Matt Pool didn't pitch bad,'' said Salem manager Bill McGuire, whose team is 2-2 through the first four games of a seven-game homestand. "We're 2-2, but we're playing a lot better than we did on the road. Matt gave up a couple of hits, but it was no big deal. We played pretty well behind him. There's nothing anyone did that caused us to lose. You lose as a team.''
The Keys got on the board in the third when Rick Short doubled home Lincoln Martin to extend his club-record hitting streak to 21 games. Salem tied it at 1 in the bottom of the inning on John Giudice's two-out single.
Salem took a 2-1 lead with an unearned run in the third, as Tal Light singled to center, went to second when the ball rolled by Almonte and scored on Chad Gambill's base hit.
"That was about it, as far as opportunities,'' Barthol said. "That was the first pitching duel we've had in awhile.''
SNOWBALLS: Salem starters are 2-5 with seven no-decisions over the past 14 games, with Mike Vavrek getting both victories. ... Salem right-handed reliever Jeff Sobkoviak, one of the workhorses of the Avalanche bullpen, has a sore elbow. ... Salem outfielder Jeff Sobkoviak, who has been on the disabled since April 27, has left the team to rehabilitate his right shoulder and will not play again this season.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN SPEARMAN Staff Salem's Elvis Pena does his bestby CNBtrying to break up a double-play attempt by Frederick's Chip
Lawrence.