THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 22, 1995 TAG: 9506220656
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Another night at Harbor Park, another pitching gem.
This one, however, came from the out-of-towners.
Ottawa's Ugueth Urbina, the hottest pitching prospect in the Montreal Expos' farm system, limited the Norfolk Tides to a third-inning bloop single by Alberto Castillo, faced one over the required number of batters, and posted a 1-0 decision Wednesday night.
The 21-year-old Venezuelan relied heavily on well-placed changeups and stretched his string of scoreless innings to 24 1/3, breaking the year-old Lynx team mark of 19 2/3 innings set by current Tides pitcher Jimmy Williams.
``That's why a lot of kids are in Triple-A - their inability to adjust to a good changeup,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah said.
The Tides had appeared capable of adjusting to anything in the last week. In averaging eight runs in its previous five games, Norfolk had upped its team batting average to an International League-leading .269. It fell to .267 after an overload of Urbina.
But Norfolk's lead in the IL West didn't shrink. The Tides (45-29) remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the Richmond Braves, 5-2 losers to Rochester on Wednesday.
``He wasn't overpowering,'' Tides rightfielder Butch Huskey said of Urbina, who improved to 4-1. ``But he threw it in good spots. When you change speeds like that, you've got a chance in this league. And he wasn't tipping it off.''
The Lynx was unable to get anything off the Tides' Dave Telgheder, either. A combination of call-ups and injuries had thrust Telgheder into the starting role. He was pitching for the fourth time in eight days and began to tire in the seventh. Bryan Rogers relieved to begin the eighth.
``He'd just thrown three days ago,'' Harrah said. ``It's hard to throw nine innings like that. He was tough, but he was running out of gas.''
Bryan Rogers relieved to begin the eighth. Ottawa's Yamil Benitez welcomed Rogers with a triple to deep center that just escaped the glove of Carl Everett. Shortstop Rey Ordonez's relay throw sailed over third baseman Aaron Ledesma and into the Lynx dugout, allowing Benitez to score.
Speaking through an interpreter, teammate Rafael Diaz, Urbina said, ``I didn't know about the (scoreless-innings) record. I felt real good tonight, and that one run was all I needed.''
Huskey said he hoped the Tides would get another shot at Urbina later in the season. And he didn't feel that the one-night power outage would affect the Tides, who have won seven of their last 10.
``We're playing real well right now,'' Huskey said. ``We shouldn't let this affect us.''
NOTES: The Tides will start righthander Reid Cornelius (1-0, 0.73) vs. Ottawa righthander Barry Manuel (3-4, 4.48) in today's business person's special, which begins at 1:15 p.m. . . . The Tides will give out computer mouse pads to the first 2,500 through the gates. . . . Wednesday marked the third time the Tides have been shut out this season. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Ugueth Urbina walks back to the mound after retiring another Tide,
Edwin Alicea. The 21-year-old Venezuelan used a great changeup.
by CNB