THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507140570
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
By the second inning Thursday, new Norfolk Tides centerfielder Jay Payton had two singles, one stolen base, one run scored and one run driven in.
Payton, a former first-round draft choice out of Georgia Tech, debuted in Triple-A as if he'd never left Double-A. Which is impressive, considering that Payton batted .345 in the Eastern League and has enough plate appearances to win the batting title in absentia.
Fueled by Payton's spark from the leadoff spot and another brilliant effort from righthander Reid Cornelius, the Tides thumped the Richmond Braves, 6-0, in each club's return from the All-Star break.
The Tides scored all their runs in the first three innings as they opened a 10-game lead over the second-place Braves (48-43) in the International League's West Division.
The immediate eruption was welcome, in that the Tides (59-34) had scored seven runs in their previous four games. Of course, those were played without Payton, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound righthanded hitter with good speed and a short, quick batting stroke.
``It does help to have that hit early and not have to press for your first hit later in the game,'' said Payton, who mostly batted third for Double-A Binghamton and in college. At leadoff, ``I'm not going to change anything. I've never been one to walk much. They haven't said they want me to be more selective, but I might try to take a couple more pitches and work the count a little more.''
Payton ``swings the bat and plays hard. That's what I like to see,'' said Tides manager Toby Harrah, who said he'd like his team to score early more often. ``He gave us exactly what we were looking for.''
One caveat was that the Tides went off against one of their favorite foils, Richmond righthander Chris Brock. In his three innings, Brock yielded nine hits and six runs. That left Brock raked for 22 hits and 14 runs in 13 innings against the Tides, with a 9.69 ERA.
Against the Braves' bullpen, though, the Tides managed only one hit, and Payton was blanked in his final three at-bats. But as a starting place, .400 isn't bad.
``He's a great hitter,'' said pitcher Paul Wilson, who was promoted from Binghamton with Payton and, as a star at Florida State, faced Payton in the Atlantic Coast Conference. ``He had a lot of success against me. He was one of the best hitters I faced in college.
``He can beat you different ways. He has power, but he can also put it on the ground and beat it out. I'd rather see him on my side than have to face him.''
For Brock, that description fit the entire Norfolk lineup. Payton singled to start the game, stole second and went to third on catcher Scooter Tucker's throwing error. Carl Everett drove in Payton with a single, which was followed by Omar Garcia's second home run of the season.
Payton laced a two-out RBI-single in the second inning to make it 4-0, and the Tides posted two more in the third on singles by Derek Lee and Ed Alicea and a double by Rey Ordonez.
In Cornelius' hands, that lead was golden. Cornelius (4-0), who lowered his ERA to 0.73, extended his scoreless inning streak to 18 by yielding four hits in seven innings, walking two and striking out three. Pete Walker, back from the Mets, handled the last two innings.
``What a great job by Reid,'' Harrah said. ``He's just been money in the bank.''
As has Payton in his 152 pro games, despite facing the lofty expectations that come with being a first-round draft choice.
``That doesn't bother me,'' Payton said. ``I go out and do what I can do. What the result is is what the result is.''
So far, so fine. by CNB