Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 21, 1995 TAG: 9508220039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sunday evening seemed to be a nice time for a walk.
Unfortunately for the Salem Avalanche, those walks turned into runs by the opposition at Memorial Stadium last night.
The Winston-Salem Warthogs turned three consecutive eighth-inning free passes into three runs and defeated the Avalanche 5-3 in Carolina League action in front of a crowd of 2,331 in the final game of the season between the teams.
The Warthogs' (27-29) victory put the teams in a tie for last place in the Southern division.
Salem (27-29), which trailed 5-0 after eight innings, scored three in the ninth to make the game interesting.
``We were in the charity business tonight,'' manager Bill Hayes said.
Matt Aminoff, the third Avalanche pitcher of the night, was Salem's bearer of free gifts in the eighth.
Chad Akers reached on an infield single to start the inning but was picked off heading to second base. However, what should have been a momentum builder was the beginning of disaster for Aminoff.
Salem's save leader walked Donald Broach, Dee Jenkins and Aaron Boone to load the bases. Paul Bako followed with a sacrifice fly to score Broach for a 3-0 lead. Ray Brown then doubled in Jenkins and Boone to give the Warthogs a seemingly comfortable lead. Aminoff retired Ricky Magdaleno for the third out.
Hayes was disgruntled with the eighth-inning scenario, particularly with Broach's walk.
Broach, the first batter in the Warthogs lineup, received consecutive curve balls down and away with two strikes for the walk.
``This is a leadoff hitter and this is a big park,'' Hayes said of Aminoff's inability to pitch Broach a fastball. ``That's pitching scared. I could see if there was a runner on base, but no one was on.''
In the ninth, the Avalanche decided to make the night equally rough for the other bullpen when reliever Scott McKenzie came in for Winston-Salem.
Chris Sexton tripled to lead off the inning. Vicente Garcia popped out to third base but Edgard Velasquez singled in Sexton to put Salem on the board.
Velasquez advanced to second on a wild pitch to Brian Culp, who subsequently grounded out to shortstop.
Keith Grunewald then reached on an error by second baseman Akers which put runners at the corners.
Nate Holdren followed with a double high off the fence in left-centerfield to score Velasquez to make it 5-2 and advance Grunewald to third base.
Grunewald scored on a wild pitch to Forry Wells, who then walked to put runners at the corners.
However, with the tying runners on, Steven Berhardt struck out on three pitches to end the game.
Jason Johnson (0-2), who allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits in his third Salem start, took the loss.
The Warthogs scored on run-scoring singles by Boone and Ray Brown for a 2-0 first inning lead. The Avalanche threatened in the bottom of the inning but failed to produce.
Murphy (1-0) allowed three hits and no runs in seven innings to earn his first victory for Winston-Salem.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB