ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997 TAG: 9704230081
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES
Chandler Martin pitches well again, but errors and lack of offense doom the Avalanche to another defeat.
It's OK to lose a baseball game, although it does stink. The best teams usually lose at least 60. But it's not OK to lose one like this, and its definitely not OK to lose it like this with Chandler Martin on the mound.
For the sixth time this season, the Salem Avalanche lost a one-run game. This time, it came at the hands - and bats - of the Winston-Salem Warthogs, who edged the Avalanche 4-3 on Tuesday night before a crowd of 1,056 at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.
``It's nice to win a one-run ballgame instead of losing it,'' said Mike Heath, Winston-Salem's manager.
The Warthogs (6-11) began the day a half-game behind the Avalanche (6-12), in fourth place in the Carolina League Southern Division. That changed.
But Martin can't be blamed. He won his first nine decisions of the 1996 season and had a 2.20 earned run average. Since then he is 3-11 and can be recognized as the CL's official hard-luck pitcher. Martin took the loss Tuesday even though none of the runs on his watch was earned. The Warthogs' first two runs were the product of two Avalanche errors.
``We did not help him defensively at all,'' said Bill ``Moose'' McGuire, Salem's manager. ``He pitched a very good game.''
Martin threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and three walks but no earned runs. He retired the side on seven pitches in the fourth and set down the Warthogs in order in the fifth. A one-out error by third baseman Clint Bryant in the sixth opened the door for two runs and a 3-2 Winston-Salem lead. Martin didn't finish the inning.
``I was upset when it was over, but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was,'' he said. ``I felt great for the first five innings, then my mechanics just fell apart on me.''
Pitching coach Bryn Smith met with Martin on the mound, but when Martin reached the 28-pitch mark of the inning on a walk to Ryan Topham, he was pulled.
``He kept us in the game,'' Smith said. ``That's all you can ask of anybody.''
The relief tandem of Lariel Gonzalez and Bobby Bevel was fabulous, but once again, Salem's bats could not keep the Avalanche ahead. After five hits in the first three innings, Salem had three the rest of the game.
``We're not getting the hit,'' McGuire said. ``It's frustrating on one side, but it's very exciting on the other side that we're even in games. At least we're in the games, because I've been with teams that aren't even in games, and that's really no fun.''
Salem's biggest hit of the night came in the second inning, when catcher Ben Petrick catapulted a 2-1 pitch by Warthogs starter Carlos Chantres over the left-field wall. The homer that gave Salem a 2-0 lead was Petrick's first of the season, the Avalanche's second at home and the team's third of the season.
But as everything has been with this team, the success was tempered by a setback. Petrick did not play after the top of the seventh inning because he hyperextended his left index finger while going after a loose ball. He is not expected to miss any more playing time.
Chantres got the victory because he started getting his pitches lower in the strike zone later in the game. Chad Bradford pitched the final two innings and earned his third save.
McGuire learned late Tuesday that relief pitcher Lloyd Peever was being promoted to Class AA New Haven. Peever was in Salem trying to build up his endurance. He was a standout in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1995, but missed all of 1996 after right shoulder surgery.
When Peever proved he could pitch long relief on two days' rest, it was time to move up. He was 0-0 with a 3.27 earned run average and 10 strikeouts in 13 innings. NOTE: please see microfilm for statistics
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. Winston-Salem's Ramonby CNBGomez slides safely into third after advancing from first on errors
during Tuesday night's 4-3 victory over Salem. The Avalanche's Clint
Bryant awaits the throw. color. 2. Winston-Salem's Darren Baugh
runs down Salem's Elvis Pena between second and third on a pickoff
play Tuesday night.