THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507170124
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Paul Wilson's Triple-A pitching debut for the Norfolk Tides was transformed from a dream-come-true into a nightmare in the space of one third of an inning Sunday at Harbor Park.
Riding a 5-0 lead after six near-flawless innings, Wilson tired in the seventh, in which Richmond scored six runs, and he ended up taking the loss in a 6-5 Braves' victory.
Wilson, the first pick overall in the 1994 June draft, struck out nine (including three in the first), retired 12 in a row in one stretch and allowed just one hit in his first six innings. The 6-foot-5 Florida State pitcher mixed his fastball with a generous portion of changeups and breaking balls to confound Richmond's hitters.
``He's a big league pitcher,'' said Richmond reliever Rod Nichols, who notched his 20th save. ``With that fluid motion and his live arm, he's definitely going to the big leagues.''
But the Orlando, Fla., native wilted in the 85-degree heat and high humidity in the seventh, however,
Richmond shortstop Jose Munoz opened the inning by belting a home run against the rightfield scoreboard to begin a rally aided by several Norfolk mistakes.
A throwing error by third baseman Butch Huskey allowed Juan Williams to reach first. After Wilson struck out Richmond's Kevin Krijak, the next three Braves singled to score another run and load the bases.
Wilson then walked in a run when he missed on a full-count changeup to Kevin O'Connor. He was then yanked in favor of reliever Bryan Rogers with the score 5-3.
``He pitched great, he pitched just great,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah said of Wilson. ``You couldn't ask that kid to pitch better. He just got tired. He was sweating bullets.''
However, the Richmond onslaught continued after Wilson left, as Eddie Perez singled to drive in a run, then Rogers walked in another. Finally, Williams hit into a ground ball, fielders choice that scored O'Connor and gave Richmond a 6-5 lead.
Harrah was unhappy with the loss, apparently because of the mistakes and his bullpen's uneven performance. Two of the base hits in the seventh might have been caught by nearby infielders and the error and two walks all led to runs.
Poor luck also appeared to hurt Norfolk. Munoz's home run came with the wind uncharacteristically still. Two innings later, when Norfolk shortstop Rey Ordonez poled a drive deep to left, it was held up by a breeze blowing in from the harbor and caught on the warning track.
But said Harrah: ``There wasn't any bad luck that contributed to losing that game, believe me. That's just one game I want to try to forget about. The sooner I forget about that game, the better I'm going to feel.''
Wilson wasn't feeling well, either, in spite of his impressive performance.
``The heat was bad, but that's not any excuse,'' he said. ``It's just one of those things you have to overcome. I'll be more prepared for it next time.''
He discounted the role of mistakes by his teammates.
``Errors are going to happen and you just have to play your way through that,'' he said. ``It's going to happen everywhere. I pitched six good innings but didn't pitch a good seventh inning. That's the bottom line. All of those guys who scored shouldn't have been on base.
``I came here to help these guys win and get a (championship) ring for myself. And it ain't going to happen pitching like that.''
NOTES: The Tides depart today for a week-long trip to New York. Norfolk is in Rochester for three games, then four in Syracuse before returning to Harbor Park on July 24 against Columbus for a three-game series. Darryl Strawberry might play in Norfolk for the Clippers, though he has not been traveling with Columbus and could be called up this week by the New York Yankees. ... Jason Jacome (2-3, 3.20 ERA) will start tonight against Rochester, which will counter with Kevin McGehee (7-4, 5.97). ... Reid Cornelius (5-1, 1.90) will throw Tuesday and Chris Roberts (5-7, 4.76) on Wednesday for the Tides. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BETH BERGMAN
Tides pitcher Paul Wilson tired in his seventh inning, in which
Richmond scored six runs.
Photo
Carl Everett of the Tides, left, is safe at second base Sunday night
after beating the tag by Richmond second baseman Jose Olmeda.
by CNB