THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407100247
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM LEO, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y. LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
A day after combining for 11 errors and eight unearned runs, the Norfolk Tides and Syracuse Chiefs played flawless baseball Saturday night until the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Chiefs won, 2-1, thanks to an unearned run after centerfielder Doug Dascenzo dropped a fly ball in right-centerfield off the bat of Syracuse's Rich Butler.
Dascenzo, who appeared shaded to left-center, had a long run, seemed to catch up to Butler's drive about 10 feet in front of the warning track, but dropped the ball for a three-base error.
Butler scored what proved to be the winning run on Alex Gonzalez's ground-ball single up the middle against a drawn-in infield.
``I think you can watch him play for the next five years and you won't see that happen again,'' Tides manager Bobby Valentine said of Dascenzo's drop. ``That's kind of like the 100-year floods; it just happens once in a great while.''
The outfield at MacArthur Stadium was wet due to pregame rainfall that delayed the start of the game an hour and six minutes. Although the area where Dascenzo dropped the ball appeared dry, Valentine said field conditions may have contributed to the error.
The play ruined an otherwise sterling effort by Tides starter Dave Telgheder, who allowed only five hits in eight innings, with six strikeouts and no walks.
Telgheder (6-6) had won four of his last five decisions, but now has lost two straight.
``I'm sick about that,'' Valentine said. ``To pitch that good, that long and not get a win. This game isn't always fair.''
The Chiefs (39-49) scored their other run in the first inning on an RBI single by Carlos Delgado. That extended Delgado's consecutive-game hitting streak to 12. Delgado, who's batting .368 since his demotion from Toronto a month ago, singled again in the seventh.
Norfolk scored its only run in the fourth off Chiefs starter Joe Ganote. Jeromy Burnitz singled, advanced to third on two infield outs and scored on Joe Kmak's infield single.
The Tides (43-47) visit Rochester at 2 p.m. today. by CNB