THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 31, 1995 TAG: 9507310117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Norfolk Tides first baseman Omar Garcia, speaking modestly after the Tides' 11-3 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens Sunday night at Harbor Park, noted that any one of the Tides could have started a rally.
Sunday night, it took two.
Garcia, 5-for-5 in the game, and third baseman Butch Huskey, 3-for-5, got things going as Norfolk rallied from 2-0 down to take a lead they never relinquished.
``With the kind of team we have, anybody can start a rally,'' Garcia said. ``It really doesn't matter who it is. Tonight it was me and Huskey, but day in and day out, it's someone different.''
Things fell apart for Mud Hens starter Kent Bottenfield (4-7) and came together for Norfolk in the fourth inning. With Toledo leading, 2-0, Garcia led off the bottom of the inning with a double and Huskey blasted a two-run home run down the leftfield line and off the roof of the concession stand to tie the game at 2-2. John Orton and Jay Payton each added two-run doubles in the inning, and Bottenfield got the boot after allowing seven runs.
``He really got us ignited,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah said of Huskey, who has hit seven of his league-leading 23 home runs against Toledo. ``A hit like that really picks up a team. There's no doubt about it.''
Between them, Garcia and Huskey tallied two doubles, one home run, four runs scored and five RBIs. And that was good news for Tides starter Chris Roberts (6-9), who had lost his last four starts and six of his last seven decisions.
``I was due for one,'' said Roberts, who pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. ``My fastball was really working for me tonight, and that's the key for any pitcher.''
Roberts got himself out of a couple of jams Sunday night. Toledo loaded the bases with one out in the second but did not score, and the Mud Hens stranded runners on first and third in the sixth.
``Chris really battled and kept the ball down when he needed to,'' Harrah said. ``He made them put the ball in play, and that's what you have to do.''
Roberts got some defensive help from leftfielder Ricky Otero, who cut off potential Toledo rallies in the second and third innings.
With the bases loaded in the top of the second, Otero crashed into the wall to catch Kevin Baez's long flyout to end the inning. In the third, Toledo rightfielder Joe Hall tried to score from second when Terry McGriff singled, but Otero's throw beat him home for the third out.
``It was frustrating,'' said Toledo manager Tom Runnells. ``I think the whole tempo of the game changed with Kevin Baez - if he hits the ball 5 feet more in the air, we're ahead, 4-0, and it's a completely different ballgame.''
The Tides added one run in the sixth and three in the eighth as the Mud Hens shuffled four relief pitchers in and out of the game.
The two teams open a three-game series in Toledo Wednesday night. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Lawrence Jackson, Staff
Chris Roberts...
Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, Staff
Tides catcher John Orton unsuccessfully tries to tag Milt Cuyler as
he scores one of the Mud Hens' three runs Sunday night. The two
teams open another three-game series Wednesday in Toledo.
by CNB