Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406100027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A pitching duel, a defensive battle, a Carolina League quickie. Call it what you will, but it definitely was fast Wednesday night at Municipal Field in Salem.
But for the Salem Buccaneers, it meant defeat just came that much quicker.
Salem fell to the Wilmington Blue Rocks 4-1 in the Bucs' shortest home game of the season - 1 hour, 54 minutes. It was Salem's second loss in as many nights.
The Bucs had won five of their past seven games before Wednesday, inching toward the top of the league's Southern Division standings heading toward the first-half home stretch. The loss dropped the Bucs 21/2 games behind first-place Winston-Salem, which beat Frederick 7-4.
Kris Ralston (7-3) went the distance for Wilmington, leader of the Northern Division, and earned the victory. Ralston gave up five hits, striking out nine and walking one.
The Bucs' loser was Marc Wilkins (4-3), who gave up all four runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.
``We got beat by a good, solid team,'' said Trent Jewett, Salem's manager. ``There were no errors. It was just two good pitchers locking heads, and that made for a quick game.''
The first two innings flew by with neither team reaching base until Felix Martinez singled for Wilmington in the top of the third. Leadoff hitter Johnny Damon tripled in Martinez to put the Blue Rocks on the board.
Wilmington added one run each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Ryan Long hit his fifth home run of the season in the fifth inning and added No.6 in the seventh. Damon scored for the Blue Rocks in the sixth on a single by Andy Stewart after advancing to second on a sacrifice fly by Ramon Martinez.
Salem scored its only run of the game in the seventh when Danny Clyburn lifted a first-pitch curve ball over the wall in left-center field. It was the 11th home run of the season for Clyburn, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound designated hitter from Lancaster, S.C.
``I just went after it,'' said Clyburn, who has 10 RBI in his past four games. ``Usually the best pitch I get is the first pitch, so I try not to let those get by.''
Players on both teams did a lot of swinging on the first pitch, which helped account for the game's lively pace. The fact that both teams have tomorrow off also likely had something to do with it, although no one would admit to it.
``A good pitcher just shut us down tonight,'' Jewett said.
BUCSHOTS: Second baseman Chance Sanford was 0-for-4 with one walk, a pop-out and two strikeouts. The performance ended a 15-game hitting streak for Sanford, who hit a two-run homer against the Rocks on Tuesday. ... Shortstop Eddie Brooks from the University of Kentucky started started his career with a bang. Brooks, playing in his first professional game, was 1-for-2 with a single in the sixth inning. Defensively, Brooks had two assists. ... Salem begins a three-game home series with Durham on Friday. After a day off, the Bucs will wrap up the first half of the season with series' at Prince William and Lynchburg.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB