Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 2, 1993 TAG: 9305020205
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Lynchburg Red Sox scored all but one run in the first four innings and relievers Todd Miller and Joe Hudson held off Salem the rest of the way for an 8-6 Carolina League baseball victory Saturday night before 2,429 at Municipal Field.
This time, the limp pitching came from down-on-his-confidence Dennis Konuszewski, who was tagged for eight hits (two home runs) and seven runs (four earned) in 3 1/3 innings. The painful product was his fifth defeat in as many starts.
"His fastball is up and so is his slider," Bucs pitching coach Dave Rajsich said. "He has to get it down in the zone and stop trying to muscle it past people. He's pressing because he's 0-5."
In the past six games, five of which Salem has lost, Gary Wilson has been the only starter who has been particularly effective. Wilson pitched seven shutout innings in the Bucs' 11-4 victory over Lynchburg on Friday night. No other starter has gone longer than 4 innings during this stretch, and four of those outings have resulted in defeats - Konuszewski twice.
"I've seen him last year at Augusta, I saw him in instructional league, I saw him in spring training," Rajsich said. "I know he can pitch. Right now, he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. But he's going to be all right."
Nothing wrong with the bats. Salem had 12 hits, giving it 24 in its past 18 innings. Mike Brown hit his third home run in as many nights, this one another howitzer shot to right, and Chance Sanford and Trace Ragland each hit his first. Marty Neff and Keith Thomas each doubled. Tony Womack tripled and extended a hitting streak to five straight at-bats before grounding to third in the sixth.
"I thought we were going to win the ball game with all the hits we had," Ragland said.
Brown actually creamed two balls, the first coming in the third and appearing to be a sure two-run double before center fielder Ron Mahay made a sensational diving catch in the grit of the warning track and Brown had to settle for a sacrifice fly with two on. The Bucs had to settle for one run instead of a potential big inning.
"I can't believe the guy caught that ball," Salem manager Scott Little said. "That might have saved their tail right there."
Another savior for Lynchburg was Miller, who allowed one hit in 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Scott Bakkum.
"He pitched well," Red Sox manager Mark Meleski said. "That was his best outing of the year."
Added Ragland: "He was throwing to spots real well. He wasn't necessarily throwing hard, just well."
\ BUCSHOTS: Jon Farrell, tied for the league lead in homers starting the night, is out for two to three weeks with a broken finger. Farrell took a foul tip off the last joint of his right ring finger in the eighth inning of Friday's victory. . . . The Salem bullpen again was solid. The committee of Matt Ruebel, Kevin Rychel, Jason Christiansen and Jeff McCurry allowed one run (Christiansen's) and three hits in 5 innings. The relievers faced the minimum for 4 innings, with part of the credit going to the Bucs' two double plays. . . . Pittsburgh Pirates farm director Chet Montgomery will conclude his visit to Salem today before flying home. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB