THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250819
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
You wouldn't call Jimmy Williams' homecoming to Harbor Park on Thursday a total success. Not unless you consider Williams having the stereo stolen out of his truck the night before a good thing.
``I was visiting a friend,'' said Williams, the former Norfolk Tides lefthander who, now working for the Rochester Red Wings, beat the Tides, 8-2. His vehicle remained in Norfolk last week when he was traded. ``I came out and my back window was all over the ground.''
His music vanished, but the slipperiness with which Williams captured 11 victories for the Tides was very evident in Thursday's contest.
Williams mostly survived the first 6 2/3 innings, yielding eight hits, two walks, a balk and pitching with at least two men on base in five of his innings. He was only burned in the second, however, when a single and walk preceded Ed Alicea's RBI-single and Rey Ordonez's triple high off the leftfield wall that scored Alicea.
Otherwise, Williams earned his 12th win, most in the International League, against five losses simply by getting outs at the most critical moments. That was in contrast to his first start with Rochester last week, when he did not get out of the first inning.
``I was pretty much hyped-up,'' said Williams, whom the Baltimore Orioles selected to complete the Bobby Bonilla-Alex Ochoa deal. ``I tried not to let my emotions get the best of me out there. But it was different, pitching against guys you've been with all year.''
Williams, who struck out six, foiled his ex-teammates' third attempt to break the 30-games-over-.500 barrier. Also, the Tides (81-52), remain five wins away, with nine games left in the regular season, from tying their franchise record of 86 victories set in 1975.
``It looked like Jimmy,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah said. ``We've seen him pitch like that before. In the meantime, he gets him another W.''
He was well on the way when the Red Wings (67-66), who stayed 1 1/2 games behind first-place Pawtucket in the East Division, tagged Tides starter Eric Ludwick (0-1) for four hits, including three doubles, and three runs in the first inning.
The Tides' two-run second closed the gap, but Russ McGinnis boomed a three-run home run in the third to make it 6-2, with two more to come in the fourth. Four innings of one-hit relief by Joe Crawford stymied the Red Wings, but the Tides couldn't break through against the 6-foot-7 lefthander.
``We hit a couple balls hard with runners in scoring position, but they caught them. That's the way the game goes,'' outfielder Jay Payton said. ``It was probably a little uncomfortable for him pitching against us, more than us facing him. We had to look at him as another pitcher and go out and do our job.''
NOTABLE: The final game of the homestand is tonight with Chris Roberts (6-12, 5.60) pitching for the Tides vs. Rocky Coppinger (1-0, 1.31). . . . Today is the final day for season ticket holders to reserve their seats for the playoffs. The first game at Harbor Park is Sept. 6. by CNB