Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
No.1: Salem pitcher Jamey Wright is not bothered when his throws lack their usual ferocity.
No.2: Teammate John Giudice should not be antagonized with pitches that invade his personal space.
No.3: When right-handed reliever John Salamon says he's changed his ways, he means it.
Wright and Salamon hooked up to yield one earned run and eight hits (none by Salamon), and Giudice tripled twice and scored three runs as Salem won for the sixth time in seven games in front of a somber crowd of 1,115 at soggy Municipal Field.
Wright blanked Durham for the first five of his six innings after receiving some bad news when he arrived at the ballpark.
``It was raining,'' the 6-foot-5, 204-pound right-hander said. ``I was frustrated. Last year [at Asheville] I was the rain man. I got rained out 10 or 11 times. I had to get that out of my mind.''
Not as easy as it would seem.
``I didn't have my good fastball like I did the last two games,'' he said. ``So I used my two-seam fastball, and I was able to put it where I wanted to. I got a lot of ground balls [12] out of that.''
He also earned some respect from his pitching coach.
``You know a young pitcher is arriving when he knows he doesn't have his good stuff yet he still gets them out,'' Billy Champion said.
Giudice gave the Bulls a fit. It all started when he was hit by a Del Mathews pitch, then exchanged views with the left-hander on the way to take his base in the second inning. Giudice eventually traveled around the bases to score his first run.
He added two more runs that were remarkably similar. Both started with triples that apparently so unhinged Bulls fielders that each time a throwing error by the cutoff man sent him home.
``The pitcher wasn't trying to hit him, but that sure seemed to light a fire under him,'' Salem manager Bill Hayes said.
The observant eyes of catchers Matt Carpenter and Randy Snyder made Salamon's change for the better possible.
``Last year, I was throwing 90-92 miles per hour,'' he said. ``This spring, I've been feeling great, but I've only been throwing 85-87. It's been driving me crazy until Carpenter and Snyder noticed that I was throwing better three-quarters instead of over the top.''
Salamon had adjusted his motion to go over the top to compensate for a sore arm in winter ball in Australia. This week, he started working with Champion on the three-quarters delivery.
``I was up to 87-89 tonight and I'm going to throw harder than that once I adjust to the new mechanics,'' he said.
EXTRA BASES:The Bulls were managed by hitting coach Brian Snitker. Manager Matt West was in Durham recovering from a broken nose sustained in batting practice Thursday. ... Giudice, Snyder, Keith Grunewald, and Mike Higgins - the sixth through ninth batters in the order - were a combined 7-for-14 with seven runs scored.
NOTE: PLease see microfilm for scores.
by CNB