THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505180860
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
For one night, at least, the superb pitching that has lifted the Norfolk Tides to the top of the International League fell flat. Lefthander Chris Roberts, battling for consistency in his first Triple-A season, was beaten up by the Syracuse Chiefs and the Tides' season-best winning streak was stopped at seven Wednesday at Harbor Park.
Syracuse's 7-6 victory, however, was pulled from a raging ninth-inning fire by reliever Paul Gibson, who worked the same kind of magic for the Tides two years ago. The Tides had the tying run on third and the winner on second with no outs before Dave Wainhouse retired Omar Garcia on a bouncer to third.
Gibson, a 35-year-old lefthander, entered and coaxed a pair of pop-ups to leftfield from Derek Lee and Carl Everett to thwart the kind of late, sudden uprising that has already won a few games for the Tides (26-13).
``When you have your three, four and five hitters up and you don't score, you give credit to the other team,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah said. ``I thought we were going to do it, but their pitchers did a good job.''
The loss temporarily cooled off a club that has won 17 of its last 22 games, and which has allowed more than five runs in only three of those contests. Roberts (4-3) was victimized in a stint that matched his shortest of the season, 4 1/3 innings, in which he gave up 10 hits and six runs.
His demise came in the fifth, more than an inning after he took a line drive off his left hand in a 2-2 game. Roberts easily got through the fourth, but got only one out in the fifth, by which time the Chiefs had hit two home runs to go up, 6-2.
Felipe Crespo led off the fifth with a home run to left, and John Ramos followed four batters later with a three-run shot to left that ended Roberts' night and further tainted his dismal stats at Harbor Park. Roberts has started at home four times and has an 8.49 earned-run average - 22 runs in 23 1/3 innings - compared to a 2.36 mark in four starts on the road.
Still, the Tides nearly took Roberts off the hook by scoring two runs in the eighth, to make it 7-5, off Duane Ward, the Toronto Blue Jays' closer assigned to Syracuse on a medical rehabilitation assignment.
Then in the ninth against Wainhouse, Jarvis Brown reached first on an error and Ed Alicea and Rey Ordonez followed with singles. Ordonez's hit scored Brown, and when leftfielder Rich Butler misplayed the ball, Alicea and Ordonez advanced to third and second, where they were stranded.
The Chiefs, though, needed a sliding catch by Butler on Lee's blooper that the strong crosswind to left nearly let plunk in.
``I thought it was a hit,'' said Gibson, a Tide for a couple months in 1993. ``I was watching Butler. He got a good jump on it, but I didn't think he'd get there. I think the wind helped us out there and held it up for him.''
Lee had worked Gibson to a full-count before being retired, but Everett then jumped on Gibson's first pitch and popped to Butler to end it.
``I was looking for a fastball and got it,'' said Everett, who is 4 for 9 in two games since joining the Tides from New York. ``I didn't do what I was supposed to with it.''
Which meant the Tides left Harbor Park losers for just the fifth time in 16 games.
NOTEWORTHY: After the game, Mets executive vice president Joe McIlvaine hinted that struggling Mets lefthander Jason Jacome, who didn't make it out of the fourth inning Wednesday in Houston, could be bound for Norfolk with a veteran, presumably Mike Birkbeck, in line to take his place.
McIlvaine said he'd be inclined to take Birkbeck over a youngster like Bill Pulsipher or Jason Isringhausen, but was reserving judgment. ``I want to see him pitch first,'' McIlvaine said. Birkbeck will pitch Saturday against Toledo. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Norfolk shortstop Rey Ordonez is too late as he tries to pick off
Syracuse's Willie Canate at second in second inning Wednesday
night.
BOX SCORE
STANDINGS
[For a copy of the charts, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB