THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180690
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Eight pitches. Three runs. One game all but over.
After Juan Castillo had thrown eight times Wednesday at Harbor Park, the Columbus Clippers had a three-run lead. Walk. Home run. Home run. It's no way to stoke your team's faint playoff hopes, nor is it the suggested beginning to a rare cable TV appearance in the New York City metropolitan area.
People, baseball-starved Mets fans, could get the wrong impression, which might have occurred when Castillo and the Norfolk Tides were clubbed, 6-2, by the Clippers - affiliated with that other New York team.
Castillo is a highly regarded 24-year-old righthander whose third start for the Tides (62-64) was a disaster. He lasted just 3 1/3 innings, gave up eight hits, four walks and six runs in an outing that would have been worse had he not somehow escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first.
By that time, though, Derek Jeter and Don Sparks had hit their back-to-back home runs - Dave Silvestri's home run was to come in the third - and the Clippers had a lead that grew to 6-0 before the Tides scored.
The defeat, on the eve of their critical five-game series with the second-place Richmond Braves, dropped the Tides to 7 1/2 games behind idle Richmond in their hunt for a postseason bid.
``They got me today,'' said Castillo, who was 11-2 with a 2.59 ERA at Double-A Binghamton. ``I feel pretty strong today, but when you don't throw strikes, it don't matter how good you are. They'll get you.''
In a half-inning that lasted 16 minutes, Castillo, now 1-2 with the Tides, walked Mike Humphreys on five pitches to start the game. Jeter followed by drilling the first pitch to him into the leftfield picnic area for a 2-0 lead. Sparks batted next, took a ball, then found the picnic area, too, to make it 3-0.
The troubles only continued. Silvestri walked, but was thrown out trying to steal second. That helped, because Chito Martinez, Lyle Mouton and Jalal Leach singled in succession, but without a run scoring.
As Mark Carper (8-6) held the Tides to four hits through six - he got hitless three-inning relief from Andy Cook - Silvestri continued Castillo's woes by hitting one out to right against the wind to start the third inning.
The long-ball attack pushed the number of home runs yielded by Castillo to five in 17 innings. In Castillo's 111 1/3 innings in Binghamton, opponents homered just six times.
``He was overmatching the league in Double-A. The last 24 innings he didn't give up a run,'' pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. ``Now he's pitching in a league that's comprised of men, guys who are on the way or coming back. So this is going to be a better barometer as to how close he is to the major leagues.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photos by Paul Aiken
Above: Tides pitcher Juan Castillo sits alone in the dugout after
being relieved after 3 and one-third innings. He gave up eight hits
and six runs, including back-to-back home runs in the first inning.
Left: Columbus Clippers shortstop Derek Jeter jumps over the Tides'
Jim Vatcher, who attempts but fails to break up a double play in the
third inning.
by CNB