THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100602
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM LEO, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Norfolk manager Toby Harrah wasn't sure, but he believed his three players who insisted that Eric Brooks' sixth-inning double down the leftfield line was foul.
``There was no question it was foul,'' said Tides third baseman Greg Graham. Norfolk catcher Alberto Castillo and pitcher Mike Birkbeck also thought Brooks' ground ball past third base was in foul territory.
The Tides already were trailing by two runs, but Brooks' RBI double ignited a five-run inning that led to an 8-1 International League victory for the Syracuse Chiefs on Tuesday night before a paid crowd of 2,409 at MacArthur Stadium.
The loss dropped Norfolk's record to 19-12 - still one game ahead of Toledo in the IL West. Syracuse is 11-16, fourth in the IL East. The two teams meet again tonight at 7 when Norfolk's Bill Pulsipher (4-2, 2.40 ERA) is scheduled to pitch against Syracuse's Huck Flener (2-2, 7.97).
Brooks' double scored Willie Canate from first base and gave Syracuse a 4-1 lead. Brooks later scored on Rich Butler's single, which chased Birkbeck, who allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Birkbeck (4-3) entered the game with an IL-best 1.18 ERA. It's now 2.49.
``He was getting his fastball up a little bit, and they were hitting it,'' Harrah said. ``Still, the big play was the ground ball down third. But then again, that was just one play.
``We had one run, six hits and four errors. That's not going to win you too many ballgames.''
Syracuse's starter was Virginia Beach native Jeff Ware, who made his first appearance against the Tides. He didn't last long.
Ware, 24, allowed two hits and one run in 1 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out none. Ware was forced to leave the game after Omar Garcia lined a shot off his right arm to lead off the second inning.
Ware stayed in the game long enough to allow an RBI double off the leftfield fence by Butch Huskey. But three batters later, with a 3-0 count on Graham, Ware was pulled by Syracuse coach Hector Torres, who was filling in for manager Bob Didier. Didier was on a mandatory five-day vacation supplied to all managers, coaches and trainers in the Toronto Blue Jays' farm system.
Torres said Garcia's liner hit Ware between the biceps and armpit. He said it wasn't believed to be serious.
``He had a little bruise,'' Torres said, ``but we don't think it's going to be as bad as we first thought.''
Ware, a graduate of First Colonial High School and an All-American at Old Dominion, came into the game with a 1-0 record and a 5.14 ERA. The win came last week in Toledo and was Ware's first since he was 5-3 with Class-A Dunedin in 1992, his first professional season. Ware missed all of 1993 with a sore shoulder and was 0-7 last year at Double-A Knoxville.
Syracuse's 15-hit attack was led by Brooks, who went 4 for 4 in his first Triple-A game. He was called up from Knoxville earlier in the day. by CNB