ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 3, 1996 TAG: 9606030149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Bill McGuire should have known Sunday would be a strange day even before the Salem Avalanche lost 5-4 to the Frederick Keys.
The evening began with Avalanche designated hitter Brian Culp's surprising retirement after two months of struggling at the plate. Culp met with McGuire, Salem's manager, shortly after arriving at Memorial Stadium and told him of his decision and his hope of latching on with another club.
``I kind of knew something was going on,'' said McGuire. ``His body language hasn't been good the last couple of days.''
Culp became the fourth Salem player to become deactivated in the past week - outfielder Pookie Jones went on the disabled list, second baseman Elvis Pena hasn't played since falling ill at Prince William and pitcher Luther Hackman's nose was broken by a line drive Friday - and the Avalanche lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Certainly, Culp had not had the kind of season he expected. A guy who has batted around .300 in three seasons in the minors, Culp was spending a second year in Salem hoping to find a position to play in order to have a future in the Colorado Rockies organization.
Instead, he was hitting .198 and had not played in this homestand.
``I did my best to keep him in the lineup,'' said McGuire. ``When you're a one-tool player and that tool is hitting, it can be tough to go through a slump. He got to play 36 games and get 121 at-bats. That's more than a lot of guys would have given him. If I know Brian Culp, he'll go somewhere where it is competitive.''
McGuire said he mentioned the Northern League as a possible destination but that Culp ``sort of wrinkled his nose'' at the suggestion.
Culp's retirement began an up-and-down day for the Avalanche, which lost a one-run lead, rallied to tie and watched the winning run score in the eighth inning on Luis Colmenares' wild pitch.
Before that, Salem (30-26) had two runners thrown out at the plate and lost Frederick runner Lincoln Martin on a botched rundown, although McGuire contended Martin ran out of the baseline when third baseman Chan Mayber tried to apply a tag. That Martin, a pinch-runner for Eric Chavez who had earlier singled off reliever Jeff Sobkoviak (1-2) was the guy who scored the winning run did not sit well with the Avalanche skipper.
``Basically, it came down to one play,'' said McGuire. ``The umpire said he wasn't [out of the baseline]. Actually, the rundown was run properly. There was another element [the call] that turned things around.''
The game also turned around when Frederick reliever Alvie Shepherd (2-4) entered the game. Shepherd, a 6-foot-7 University of Nebraska product who was the Baltimore Orioles' No.1 draft selection in 1995, allowed one hit and struck out four in three innings.
``That was one of my better outings,'' said Shepherd, who had struggled recently. ``That's the hardest I've thrown all year. I came into the season having not done the extra work I needed to do. Now, my physical strength is there and my mental strength with it. It took an attitude adjustment.''
Salem took a 1-0 lead by scoring a run in the third, but got nothing more despite having runners on second and third with none out. John Fantauzzi opened the frame with a single, moved to second when Chan Mayber walked and scored when Frederick pitcher Julio Moreno fielded Keith Grunewald's bunt and threw wide of third.
Moreno got out of that jam and Frederick tied the score in the fourth when Eric Chavez scored on Doug Walls' wild pitch. The Keys made it 3-1 with two in the fifth on an Eric Chavez RBI single and a Harry Berrios run-scoring fielder's choice - a grounder that could have resulted in a double play but Salem shortstop Kyle Houser fumbled momentarily.
Salem tied it in the bottom of the inning with three straight hits: Keith Grunewald's lead-off double, Houser's RBI triple and John Giudice's run-scoring single.
Houser finished with a double and a triple and Giudice had two hits.
SNOWBALLS: Salem hosts Wilmington tonight a 7 p.m. The Blue Rocks have moved into first in the Southern Division. ...
Doug Million's one-hitter in Saturday's 4-0 win was Salem's fifth shutout of the season.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines KEYWORDS: BASEBALLby CNB