THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 TAG: 9507110393
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Good time for a break it seems. The work of Ottawa's Kirk Rueter on Monday embellished the perception that a couple days off could do the Norfolk Tides some good.
Whether weary or just run down by savvy pitching, the Tides, in their final game before the Triple-A All-Star break, got just two hits in a 4-0 loss to Rueter and the East Division-leading Lynx (48-40).
Singles by Ed Alicea in the first and Alberto Castillo in the second and one walk were the entire take against Rueter (7-3), who faced just one batter over the minimum, thanks to a pickoff and a double play, in his finest outing of the season.
After walking Castillo with one out in the fifth, Rueter retired the final 13 Tides to secure Ottawa's third victory of the four-game series and send the teams into the break in a tidy two hours and one minute.
``I'm glad it was quick. It wasn't as painful,'' said Tides manager Toby Harrah, whose team has won two of its last six games and has scored just seven runs in the last four. ``That's one of the best games I've seen pitched against us. I think that kid just overmatched us. No contest.
``I'm glad we're done with this team. I think they finally figured us out, but a little bit late.''
Ottawa's four-run sixth inning off Jason Jacome, who only got two runs of support in his last start, was the difference. Chris Martin lashed a run-scoring double after a leadoff walk, Mark Grudzielanek added a sacrifice fly and Julian Yan drove a two-run home run deep into the leftfield picnic area to account for the scoring.
The Tides did test Rueter a few times. Some lashed line drives right at fielders, and Tracy Sanders had his bid for a ninth-inning home run knocked down by the wind. But mostly, Rueter kept the Tides guessing by moving his fastball in and out and complementing it with plentiful changeups, a nemesis of the Tides, who collectively like to jump on first-pitch fastballs.
``Those are the nights you go good, when the balls they hit hard go at people,'' said Rueter, who has a 15-5 big-league record but was sent down from the Montreal Expos in May after working only 7 2/3 innings. ``When I'm successful I go in, go out, use all three of my pitches, use both sides of the plate. With this team, if you go to one area, they're going to pound you. I tried to go in as much as I could and then get it away, and it worked.''
Rueter, a 25-year-old lefthander, is the guy who went 8-0 for the Expos in 1993, then followed up with a 7-3 season a year ago. His Expos' ERA was 10.57 when he was demoted, but that number with Ottawa dropped to 2.19 after his fourth career shutout and first since he was in Double-A in 1993.
``I see his big-league record is (15-5) and I'm saying to myself he shouldn't even be here,'' said Tides outfielder Carl Everett.
Rueter will second that.
With Montreal, ``I had two starts, we were still on pitch counts, and they just said the long strike, the layoff hurt you,'' Rueter said. ``I needed that long spring training to get my stuff together. They just told me they wanted me do come down here and treat it like a spring training. But I've been down here for a while, so I don't know what's going on now.''
NOTABLE: Butch Huskey was named the International League's batter of the week, hitting .417 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. ... Jason Isringhausen, called up to the Mets on Sunday, still will start for the National League in Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star game. He will join the Mets on Thursday and is expected to make his big-league debut Monday night against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. ... In a phone interview with New York reporters Monday, Isringhausen said, ``Some people think I'm ready (to go up), some people don't. I'll just go up there and find out. My pitching coach, Bob Apodaca, he wishes I could stay here the whole year so he can work with me a little more on everything, not just my pitching but the whole aspect of pitching.'' ... Reliever Phil Stidham was demoted to Double-A on Monday. Stidham was 2-1 with one save and a 4.80 ERA. ... Harrah said new outfielder Jay Payton will play centerfield and bat leadoff when he arrives Thursday. ... Tickets for the USA-Chinese Taipei exhibition game July 23 go on sale today, not July 22 as previously reported. ILLUSTRATION: The Tides' Alberto Castillo scores points on his dive back to
first base, but the pickoff throw to Ottawa's Julian Lan got there
before he could.
OTTAWA 4
NORFOLK 0
BOX SCORE
STANDINGS
STATISTICS
SCHEDULE
[For a copy of the charts, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB