THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 30, 1995 TAG: 9508300666
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JOE ROSSI, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PAWTUCKET, R.I. LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The Norfolk Tides continued their dominance over the International League with a 9-1 victory over the Pawtucket Red Sox on Tuesday night.
The Tides (83-55), four shy of a franchise record for wins in a season, have won the first two games of the four-game series and have won four of five at McCoy Stadium against a PawSox team that owns the league's best home record.
Norfolk righthander Eric Ludwick scattered two hits through six innings to earn his first win in three Triple-A starts.
``My fastball was down a little more than it had been in the first two starts,'' said Ludwick. ``I just had the slider working, and I could go to it when I needed to go to it.''
The Tides collected 14 hits, including two home runs by Derek Lee. Jay Payton and Rey Ordonez also hit home runs.
After falling behind, 1-0, the Tides answered with two runs in the second against losing pitcher Jeff Suppan (2-3). Lee led off with his 16th home run to tie it 1-1. Omar Garcia followed with a triple and scored on Aaron Ledsema's groundout for a 2-1 lead.
``We go out and try to win the first couple of innings,'' said Lee, who hit his other home run in the eighth inning. ``We try to put them up against the wall, and that's what we did tonight.''
Norfolk scored three more runs in the third. Ricky Otero smacked a leadoff triple, and Payton, in a 3-for-27 drought, followed with an RBI-single. Two consecutive walks loaded the bases. Garcia's groundout made it 4-1. Ledesma reached on a fielder's choice to score the final run of the inning.
Payton's home run in the fifth was his third of the season. Ordonez's two-run shot came in the sixth inning.
Norfolk will try for its third win in a row against Pawtucket tonight. The scheduled starter for the Tides is Chris Roberts (6-13). The PawSox will counter with Brian Barnes (7-4). by CNB