THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The Norfolk Tides are unaccustomed to blowing leads, of any size. Thursday, though, their early four-run cushion vanished under the wheels of the Syracuse Chiefs, who, once they started coming back, didn't stop until they had rolled to a 9-5 victory.
The Chiefs, downright pitiful the night before in a 13-inning loss, turned serious after they fell behind, 5-1, after three innings. They scored eight unanswered runs against Robert Person and Joe Crawford, who were pitching in Double-A last week, while Syracuse's Mike Timlin checked the Tides with three no-hit innings in relief of Wally Whitehurst.
A four-run eighth off Crawford did the big damage and assured an even split of the four-game series. Tides manager Toby Harrah seemed content to concede that prize afterward, simply relieved that he required only three innings from his fatigued bullpen.
``We just had Crawford and (Jim) McCready,'' Harrah said. ``I'm glad it didn't go into extra innings.''
Carlos Delgado, with four hits, including a home run, and three RBIs, Robert Perez, with three hits and two RBIs, and Joe Lis, with two hits, two RBIs and three runs scored, guaranteed only a nine-inning evening.
Though Person, a hard-throwing righthander making his Triple-A debut, struck out the side in the first inning on the way to fanning nine, he began to crack in the fifth.
The lead the Tides handed him, the last three runs coming on Derek Lee's huge home run to right, dwindled to 5-4 that inning. Person, a 25-year-old from St. Louis, worked into but never got out of the seventh, which, Harrah said, Person would never have seen were the Tides full-strength in their bullpen.
``Robert was missing by an awful lot, not be inches but by feet at times,'' Harrah said. ``Syracuse has a lot of good hitters. They'll catch up to you.''
Regardless, said Person, ``normally when you get five runs you should hold the lead.
``Once I got over the jitters, I tried to do too much and left a lot of pitches up in the zone. . . . I tend to give up hard hits, but I'm not used to giving up so many at one time.''
Person, 5-4 with a 3.11 ERA and as well as seven saves in Binghamton, allowed eight hits and three walks in six-plus innings. Crawford, a 25-year-old lefthander who took the loss, yielded four hits and four runs in 1 1/3 innings.
``I know they've taken some pitching away from Toby. He's a little short in the bullpen,'' Syracuse manager Richie Hebner said. ``That's part of the minor leagues. No use crying about it, but it affects you.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BETH BERGMAN/Staff
Tides catcher John Orton is too late applying the tag on the Chiefs'
Robert Perez as he slides home safely in Syracuse's 9-5 victory
Thursday night.
by CNB