THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505210200
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
On the occasion of Bat Night at Harbor Park, where a season-high sellout crowd of 12,067 gathered Saturday to take in the torrid Norfolk Tides, Toledo's Terry McGriff swung the most potent stick in the place.
Lugging a .205 average into the game, McGriff earned a measure of redemption for himself and the Mud Hens by rapping three hits and driving in two runs in Toledo's 3-2 victory.
The 31-year-old veteran, who batted .219 with the St. Louis Cardinals last season, singled off loser Paul Byrd (2-3) to drive in the second run in the Mud Hens' two-run sixth. Then in the eighth, with two outs, he doubled off Bryan Rogers to drive in Rob Lukachyk to snap a 2-2 tie and end his team's three-game losing streak.
The loss was just the sixth for the Tides (28-14) in the last 25 games.
``It feels good to contribute,'' said McGriff, whose effort bumped his average to a more respectable .250 after 48 at-bats. ``We've got the (second-best) ERA in the league but we haven't been scoring a lot of runs. Yesterday was just one of those games. We know if we score a couple runs our pitching is going to keep us in the game.''
Four pitchers combined on a four-hitter as Toledo (20-20) rebounded from a horribly pitched and played 14-2 loss Friday. The Hens rode Pat Ahearne's one-hitter and a 2-0 lead into the seventh, but Carl Everett hit his second home run in as many nights to start the inning. Then Rey Ordonez doubled and eventually scored on Derek Lee's sacrifice fly.
Byrd had already given up 10 hits in seven innings - including five in the sixth - and had pitched with men on base in every inning, but Tides manager Toby Harrah sent him out for the eighth. He walked Lukachyk to start the inning, then Tony Clark ripped a line drive that shortstop Ordonez leaped to grab.
That convinced Harrah to summon Rogers, whose inside slider McGriff drove into the leftfield corner for the winning hit.
``He had to make tough pitch after tough pitch,'' Harrah said of Byrd, who has gone at least six innings in all eight of his starts. ``I probably could've gotten him before that, but after we tied it in the seventh, I wanted to give him the chance to go out and get the win.
``I felt comfortable bringing Bryan in, he's done the job in that situation before. Their guy hit it right down the line. Give him credit.''
Ryan Thompson nearly brought the Tides even again when he led off the eighth with a deep drive to left. But the ball died at the warning track, as Lukachyk pulled it in a step from the wall.
Omar Garcia extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a ninth-inning single, and Everett also added a single, while throwing out a runner from rightfield in the sixth. Everett has been down from the Mets for five games, in which he is hitting .400, but he remains the National League leader in outfield assists with five. by CNB