ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180086
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DENVER
SOURCE: Associated Press
Jamey Wright, the Colorado Rockies' top pitching prospect, is only 21 years old. But he's savvy enough to know when to ask for help.
With the Rockies trailing by one run in the seventh inning Wednesday, Wright was lifted for pinch-hitter Vinny Castilla with a runner on third.
``He asked me if I was going to take care of him,'' Castilla said. ``I told him, `I got you, buddy.'''
Castilla rapped a game-tying RBI single and scored the go-ahead run when Eric Young followed with a triple. The Rockies added an insurance run in the eighth and posted a club-record eighth straight win, 4-3 over the short-handed San Francisco Giants.
Rookies Wright and Osvaldo Fernandez staged a rare pitching duel at Coors Field with Fernandez carrying a 2-1 lead into the seventh.
Jeff Reed led off with a double. Pinch-runner Quinton McCracken was sacrificed to third by Jason Bates and scored on Castilla's single. Young tripled to left-center field.
Wright (1-0), who was making his third major-league start, went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He pitched last season for the Salem Avalanche before being promoted to Class AA New Haven at the end of the Carolina League season.
Bruce Ruffin got three outs for his 15th save. He allowed one run on a wild pitch but struck out Kim Batiste with a runner on second to end the game.
Wright said earning his first-major league win ``wasn't my main concern today. I just wanted to keep the team in the game and keep this winning streak going.''
When he left the game, Wright said, ``I was just hoping for a no-decision. Vinny said he was going to take care of me. I went over and thanked him after the game.''
The Rockies, 7-0 since the All-Star break, completed the first unbeaten homestand involving more than one opponent in their history. They earlier swept four games from San Diego.
Fernandez (4-11) lasted 61/3 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits. He has lost 11 of his past 12 decisions, including five in a row.
The Giants, who were playing without five regulars in their starting lineup, have lost 20 of their past 24 games.
San Francisco's Matt Williams, playing first base instead of third because of a jammed right shoulder that limits his throwing, hit a solo homer in the fourth, his 19th. Besides playing Williams out of position, the Giants were missing Stan Javier, Robby Thompson, Shawon Dunston and Dave McCarty from the starting lineup.
``We had to mix up the lineup,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. ``Osvaldo pitched a very good game, but we got some untimely double plays and untimely strikeouts. We had the tying and winning runs on base in the eighth. We had the tying run on in the ninth. Ruffin struck out a couple of guys, and we came up a run short.''
The Giants took the lead in the fifth, due to a throwing error by Wright on Tom Lampkin's dribbler to open the inning. Steve Scarsone followed with an infield single, and Lampkin scored from third on Steve Decker's double-play grounder.
Base-running mistakes hurt the Rockies in the second and third. The Rockies had three hits in the second, but leadoff batter Dante Bichette, who had doubled, was thrown out trying to steal third.
Wright led off the third by doubling for his first major-league hit and, after an infield hit by Young, Walt Weiss hit an RBI single. Later in the inning, however, Young was caught in a rundown between third and home on a grounder back to the mound.
The Rockies posted their 100th consecutive sellout - a major-league record. Both the paid crowd (48,453) and total tickets distributed (50,207) were Coors Field records.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB