ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Chandler Martin's infatuation with zeroes continued.
Zero losses with Asheville and New Haven. Zero wins with Salem. Zero runs Thursday night.
That last one now nullifies the second one. Martin no longer is 0-for-Salem. His four-hit shutout gave Salem a 3-0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium and gave Chandler his first Carolina League win in eight decisions.
``Chandler Martin needed that outing something fierce,'' said Bill McGuire, Salem's manager.
The Avalanche completed the sweep with a 3-2 victory in the nightcap decided by Kyle Houser's two-out, two-strike single in the bottom of the seventh and final inning.
The Avalanche achieved a three-game sweep of the Hillcats and did its best to keep Lynchburg from having a winning record in the second half, although the Hillcats are three games over .500 (27-24).
It would be a cruel irony to Salem if Lynchburg posted a winning half as a farm club for the Pirates. Salem had 13 losing halves as a Pirates affiliate from 1988-94 before hooking up with the Colorado Rockies. At 20-30, the Avalanche still is on track to post the 17th consecutive losing half by a Salem ballclub.
There was no talk of that, though, on a night of a doubleheader sweep in which Martin become the biggest winner of all.
``It's good to finally get that zero off my record,'' said Martin, a 22-year-old right-hander.
Two months ago, such a statement from Martin would have been preposterous. His last victory, which came June 19, made him 9-0 for the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists of the South Atlantic League. He won his only start in an emergency call-up for the Class AA New Haven (Conn.) Ravens, giving him a combined 10-0 record at the time of his promotion to Salem on June 20.
Since then, he couldn't wait to get that zero off his record.
Two months ago, ``I would've wondered what zero they were talking about,'' he said. ``It seemed like forever since I had a win. Heck, it had been forever.''
Actually, Martin had gotten victories in Salem before, only that was back in his hometown of Salem, Ore. He was a big, fat doughnut-hole-for-seven in Salem, Va., though. Heading into Thursday, he was 0-7 with an ERA that resembled a Richter scale reading of a major earthquake (7.98).
It got so bad, the public-address announcers at Memorial Stadium were refraining from any mention of his record before his starts.
``They haven't done that in awhile,'' Martin said, ``which is nice. I think they were still showing it on the board, though.''
Chandler got on the board, too, by weaving through a four-hit, five-strikeout, four-walk performance. In the process, he lowered his ERA to 6.88.
The walks have been a bane in the past (38 in 51 innings), but he wriggled out of trouble after walking the leadoff man in the first, second and fifth innings.
``I've been trying to nibble too much,'' he said. ``I was giving hitters too much credit. I would try to be perfect on the corner, and my control isn't good enough to do that.''
Salem pitching was top-notch all night. Luther Hackman pitched well in the nightcap, giving up six hits and two runs in six innings while striking out eight, but Todd Genke (6-7) got the victory with one inning of scoreless relief.
The Avalanche starters held Lynchburg to two runs and 10 hits in a combined 13 innings. Houser won it with a single off tough-luck Lynchburg starter Kane Davis (10-9) in the bottom of the seventh that scored pinch-runner Elvis Pena from third.
``We've been getting some good pitching and just enough hitting to get by,'' McGuire said. ``Earlier in the month, we weren't getting that.''
Salem backed Martin with seven hits and scored runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings.
In the first, Pena drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Houser's single. That's all Martin needed, although the additional two runs didn't hurt. Chad Gambill - fresh off his 3-for-4, five-RBI night Wednesday - had two hits, including an RBI single in the fourth, and Pookie Jones doubled and scored on Pena's groundout in the fifth.
Gambill had four hits on the night. Nate Holdren had three hits, including two doubles.
Martin went seven innings for the second consecutive outing. This time, it counted as a complete game since Carolina League teams play two seven-inning games during doubleheaders.
``You know, I felt a lot better going into the seventh inning,'' Martin said. ``Since I knew since it was a seven-inning game, I could go hard from the beginning. I think I had been trying to pace myself too much.''
Certainly, his early pace with Salem was slow. Now, with possibly three starts remaining in the season, he's back on stride.
``Hopefully, I can build on this,'' Martin said.
SNOWBALLS: Ramon Martinez, the player of the year for the Salem Buccaneers in 1991, is back with the Pirates and playing for Lynchburg. After being released by the Florida Marlins this season, Martinez hooked up with the Hillcats during a tryout in May when Lynchburg was playing here. ... Lynchburg is 0-6 in Salem this season. ... Avalanche middle reliever Bill Eden was assigned to New Haven of the Eastern League. ... Right-hander David Lee joined Salem from short-season Portland (Ore.) of the Northwest League.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 linesby CNB