THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 14, 1996 TAG: 9608140500
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 46 lines
The Norfolk Tides beat the heavy rain and the Richmond Braves Tuesday night, scoring in the bottom of the seventh in a game that was called after seven innings.
Alberto Castillo's single past diving first baseman Kevin Grijak scored Kevin Flora from second with one out, giving the Tides a 6-5 lead. Flora was running for Joel Chimelis, who had doubled to left off Braves reliever Mark Lee.
The victory pulled the Tides (69-53) within 2 1/2 games of International League West Division leader Columbus, which dropped a doubleheader at Charlotte.
The Tides struck for a run in the first when Gary Thurman reached on a bunt, moved up on fly balls by Shawn Gilbert and Matt Franco and scored on Benny Agbayani's double to left.
The Braves took a 2-1 lead on two unearned runs after second baseman Jason Hardtke dropped a pop-up to shallow right by Andruw Jones. Grijak doubled to right to score Jones and Grijak scored on a two-out single to left by Darron Cox.
Norfolk retook the lead with four runs in the second as they batted around on Richmond starter Carl Schutz, who five days prior had shut down the Tides for seven innings in a 2-0 Braves victory.
Terrell Lowery led off with a double, and Chimelis walked. After a double steal, pitcher Rick Reed lifted a sacrifice fly to left with one out to score Lowery. Gary Thurman followed with a triple to center, scoring Chimelis. Gilbert doubled to left, moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Franco's infield single up the middle.
The Braves cut the advantage to 5-4 in the sixth on a two-out, two-run home run by Jones.
Richmond tied it in the seventh. Reed hit Cox with the first pitch of the inning, then struck out pinch-hitting pitcher Chris Brock, who bunted foul on the third strike. Pablo Martinez doubled down the rightfield line, chasing Reed.
Tides reliever Pedro Martinez then came on and got pinch-hitter Steve Pegues to ground to short, but Cox scored on the play. The inning ended on Raul Rodarte's groundout to second.
TIDAL WAVES: The Tides, in appreciation of fans who showed, will honor all ticket stubs from Tuesday night's game next Monday when Norfolk plays Pawtucket. Ticket stubs can be exchanged in advance or on game day. by CNB