THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505070276
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BUMP, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ROCHESTER, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
The Norfolk Tides' visit to Silver Stadium Saturday afternoon was supposed to be a learning session.
But a lesson not learned came back to bite them Saturday night as the Rochester Red Wings pushed across three runs in the third inning for a 3-1 victory, handing the Tides their second consecutive loss.
``I just wanted to get the guys familiar with this ballpark,'' manager Toby Harrah said of his afternoon workout. ``We worked on cutoffs and relays, took some extra batting practice, some extra ground balls.''
And what about infielders covering bases, in the wake of second baseman Edwin Alicea's late arrival at first base on a bunt hit Friday night?
``We worked on that, too, Harrah said.
Perhaps, but not enough.
Centerfielder Jarvis Brown's throw home sailed wide of the plate. Also, Alicea was again late in covering first base in what proved to be the winning run crossing home plate.
Without Brown's poor throw, the game would have been tied with runners at first and second and one out. Then Mark Smith's fly ball would have been the third out instead of a run-scoring sacrifice fly.
From such little things are games won and lost. Which is why Harrah had his team out early. ``One bad inning, that's all it takes,'' he said.
His own team had precious few scoring opportunities against Rick Krivda (1-1) and relievers Frank Seminara and Joe Borowski. The Tides also scored in the third inning on a walk and singles by Alicea and Chris Jones. Derek Lee then grounded out to end that threat, and start a string of 10 consecutive Norfolk batters were set down by Krivda.
The Tides' only other scoring opportunity came in the seventh against Seminara, when Butch Huskey singled and advanced to third on a wild pitch and a groundout. Rey Ordonez then hit a grounder up the middle, but was thrown out.
``It was a good-pitched game by Chris Roberts (seven innings, two earned runs), and Phil Stidham (three batters, three strikeouts) did a good job,'' Harrah said.
``They've got real good pitching too, and good pitching gets mediocre hitters out. Our hitters have been better, but haven't been that good lately. Pitchers have done a good job on them.''
Borowski earned his first save this season by getting disputed third strikes on the final two batters, Huskey and Tracy Sanders.
Huskey indicated to plate umpire Scott Potter that his third strike was a foul tip into the dirt. The argument fell on deaf ears. Then Sanders told Potter he had checked his swing on an inside pitch that became a third strike without an appeal to the third base umpire.
Harrah's only comment was a terse. ``I thought the umpire called a great game,'' he said. by CNB