THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 17, 1994 TAG: 9408170562
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Tides manager Bobby Valentine said his team had to get hot this week to rescue its fleeting playoff hopes, and that's just what the Tides appear to have done.
Norfolk pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of three Columbus errors to down the Clippers, 5-2, Tuesday before a Harbor Park crowd of 8,494.
It was the fifth victory in the last seven games for Norfolk (62-63), which is chasing Columbus and Richmond for the second playoff bid in the International League's West Division. The Tides are four games behind third-place Columbus (65-58), which closes out a three-game series tonight at Harbor Park. Norfolk is 7 games behind second-place Richmond (68-55), which begins a five-game series with the Tides on Thursday.
``This is the week we've got to do it,'' Valentine said. ``And we're playing pretty well.''
The same could not be said of Columbus, which was the league's hottest team before coming to Norfolk on Monday.
``This was a (bleeping bleep) performance,'' Columbus manager Stump Merrill said. ``This is two nights in a row that we've (bleeped) the bed.
Valentine agreed, to a point.
``They (Columbus) helped us, but we put pressure on them,'' he said. ``The guys swung the bats, walked, bunted well. We pitched well. We did enough to win.''
Clippers miscues were especially damaging in the sixth inning, when Norfolk scored two insurance runs to turn a precarious 3-2 lead into a 5-2 advantage.
Jeromy Burnitz and Omar Garcia began things with back-to-back singles with one out.
Burnitz then took off to third early and was a sitting duck for pitcher Matt Dunbar. However, Dunbar rushed his throw and tossed the ball into the dirt in front of third baseman Russ Davis, who watched it skip into leftfield. Burnitz scored and Garcia went to third. Two pitches later, Dunbar balked Garcia home.
The Tides had taken the lead in the fifth with the help of two errors by rightfielder Jalal Leach, who on Monday robbed two Norfolk players of extra-base hits with brilliant running catches.
With one out, Jim Vatcher bunted a single down the third-base line. Doug Dascenzo followed by singling to right, and Vatcher went to third on a throwing error by Leach. Quilvio Veras singled to right to score Vatcher. Fernando Vina followed by drilling a sharp line drive to Leach, who misjudged the ball and dropped it, allowing Dascenzo to score. The Tides then loaded the bases on a walk to Rick Parker, but the inning ended when Butch Huskey hit into a double play.
Kevin Morton (4-6) pitched well for the Tides in his first start in four weeks, limiting Columbus to three hits and no earned runs in five innings. The Tides' bullpen also pitched well, as Kenny Greer and Mike Cook combined to limit Columbus to four hits in the last three innings. Cook picked up his 16th save.
``Morton hadn't pitched in a while and gave us five good innings,'' Valentine said. ``That was a real plus. And our bullpen has been throwing well. When you're bullpen is doing well, you usually play well.''
And get hot. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by PAUL AIKEN
Tides third baseman Butch Huskey has columbus' Don sparks in a
pickle in the top of the fourth innihng. Columbus was awarded a run
when pitcher Kevin Morton was called for interference on the play.
by CNB