THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120635
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM LEO, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Norfolk manager Toby Harrah gave Jason Isrinhausen the ultimate compliment after the rookie pitcher held Syracuse scoreless on four hits for 7 2/3 innings.
``That's the closest I've seen to Nolan Ryan in a long time,'' said Harrah, after the Tides posted a 2-0 International League victory over the Chiefs Thursday at MacArthur Stadium.
Harrah played against Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher, throughout his playing career in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the first-base coach when Ryan pitched for the Texas Rangers from 1989-91, then managed Ryan for part of the '92 season after the Rangers fired 1994 Tides manager Bobby Valentine.
``The kid kind of reminds me of Nolan,'' Harrah said. ``He's throws the ball hard, has a great curveball and a good changeup. He's got three excellent pitches.''
And like Ryan, Isringhausen, who was promoted to the Tides from Double-A Binghamton Saturday, throws the ball more than 90 mph.
``I just couldn't pull the trigger,'' said Syracuse centerfielder Rich Butler, who was hitless in three at-bats. He struck out twice looking.
``I was looking fastball and he threw a curveball. I just froze,'' Butler said.
``He threw the breaking ball a couple of times behind the count,'' said Chiefs third baseman Joe Lis, who also was hitless. ``You don't see many power pitchers doing that.''
Isringhausen, who was 2-1 with a 2.85 earned run average in six starts at Binghamton, finished with nine strikeouts and one walk. The 6-foot-3 right-hander made 28 starts last season for Class-A Port St. Lucie and Binghamton, and had a combined 11-8 record and 2.61 ERA. He led the Mets' organization last year with eight complete games.
``He's one of better pitchers we've seen this year,'' Syracuse coach Hector Torres said.
Isringhausen, 22, was a 44th-round draft pick by the Mets in June of 1991. He was the 1,157th player selected in the amateur draft.
``I just tried to work hard and keep the ball down,'' he said. ``I was throwing a two-seam fastball a lot of the time, and it had a lot of movement on it. It was coming in on the righties and going away from the lefties.''
Relievers Don Florence and Pete Walker preserved the shutout. Florence struck out the only batter he faced, pinch-hitter Jason Townley, to end the eighth inning.
Walker pitched the ninth to earn his third save.
The Tides scored both their runs in the top of the eighth against Syracuse reliever Dennis Gray (1-1). Butch Huskey began the inning with a long home run to left-centerfield, his fifth of the season.
Tracy Sanders drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on Jarvis Brown's double and scored on a wild pitch.
The win improved Norfolk's record to 21-12, which leads the IL West Division. by CNB