Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504210134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK BULLOCK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Baseball fans take note: In a few years you might say you knew Bartolo Colon when he was mowing down hitters in the Carolina League.
Colon, a right-hander who has not yet turned 20, turned in his third straight strong pitching performance of the season Thursday night as Kinston beat the Salem Avalanche 6-2 at Municipal Field.
The Avalanche, in losing for the sixth straight time, didn't stand a chance against Colon. The hard-throwing Dominican struck out 13 in eight innings, scattered six hits and walked none. He raised his record to 3-0 and surrendered only his second earned run in 21 innings of work.
Colon (pronounced Col-LONE) was clocked in the mid-90s on the radar gun in the seventh inning and struck out the side in the eighth by throwing just as hard as when the game started.
``That's a pretty good young pitcher right there,'' Salem manager Bill Hayes said after watching the Avalanche finish 1-6 in the season's first home stand.
Kinston manager Gordy MacKenzie was quick to agree.
``He has an outstanding arm,'' MacKenzie said. ``Maybe the best in our organization. He mixed his pitches well and threw all of them for strikes. When you do that, you're going to strike people out with the fastball he has.''
Opponents were batting .143 against Colon coming into the game, and the Avalanche did little to change that with the exception of center fielder Edgard Velasquez and designated hitter Brian Culp, who collected five of Salem's six hits.
Velasquez doubled in the first inning and singled twice, hitting the ball hard every time up. Culp drove in a run with a second-inning double and later singled.
``They showed line-drive capability,'' Hayes said. ``That was a bright spot.''
The other bright spot for the Avalanche was a solid pitching performance by starter Keith Barnes (0-1). He gave up only three hits in 61/3 innings and trailed 3-2 after being touched for solo home runs by Bruce Aven and Robin Harriss and yielding a sacrifice fly to Richie Sexson.
Other than those transgressions, Barnes pitched well enough to win on most any other night. He faced no more than four batters in any inning and was victimized by Municipal Field's short porch in left field.
``Barnes did a good job keeping us in the game,'' Hayes said. ``But then we couldn't keep it close.''
A two-run homer by third baseman Todd Betts in the eighth inning off Salem reliever Jeff Sobkoviak gave the Indians a cushion as they swept the four-game series and won their sixth straight road game. Kinston's winning streak comes on the heels of losing three straight to the Avalanche last week in Kinston, N.C.
``We didn't hit the ball at home and we didn't pitch that good [in Kinston],'' MacKenzie said.
All that changed when the Indians arrived in Salem. Aven raised his average 100 points in four games and Betts improved to .389 by wearing out Avalanche pitching. Kinston produced 37 runs in the series.
``We just ran into a buzzsaw,'' Hayes said. ``They swung the bats well and they pitched pretty well.''
Salem has done little of either during its losing streak. The Avalanche team batting average has dipped below .250 during the skid, and the pitching staff ranks last in the league in earned run average (5.51 before Thursday).
The team embarks today on a seven-day road trip for three games in Winston-Salem and four in Durham.
EXTRA BASES: Salem's second run came on a solo homer just inside the right-field foul pole by shortstop Chris Sexton in the third inning. ... Avalanche left fielder Mark Wells prevented a run in the seventh inning by making a fine throw to the plate to nail Aven, who was trying to score from second on a base hit. ... Doug Million (0-1, 2.35 ERA) pitches tonight for Salem against Chris Reed (1-0, 1.64). ... Right fielder John Giudice and catcher Mike Higgins each struck out three times against Colon.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB