THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090477
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The Norfolk Tides added a little extra-inning excitement to their modest winning streak Monday night.
Trailing 2-1 and down to their last out, Roberto Petagine hit an opposite-field home run that stayed just inside the leftfield foul pole in the ninth inning.
And in the 10th inning, Shawn Gilbert drove home Luis Rivera with a two-out single that barely eluded the glove of a diving leftfielder Marc Marini.
The result: a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Clippers that pushed the Tides' record to 3-1.
``We were thinking on the bench, `Roberto came up with the big hit, now we've got to make it count,' '' said Gilbert, who has hit safely in all four games. ``I just hit a slider off the end of the bat that fell in for me. I thought he was going to catch it. I really did.''
Rivera had singled up the middle to open the 10th, then reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Morgan.
The four-game series continues tonight at 7:15 p.m.
Petagine's home run, the first of the season at Harbor Park, came on a belt-high fastball on the outside part of the plate from Jim Mecir, who had come on in the ninth.
Petagine's last home run of equivalent significance came June 19 of last year while he was wearing a San Diego Padres uniform. His pinch-hit homer that day lifted the Padres to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
``This one was a little easier,'' said the lefthanded first baseman. ``I'd already been to the plate three times. It's a little tougher when you're pinch hitting.''
For the Tides, however, there was nothing easy about this victory.
Before Petagine's heroics, it looked as if Pat Ahearne's efforts would go to waste. The righthanded sinker-ball pitcher had allowed just four hits over seven innings. Three of those, however, had been bunched into the fifth inning.
Kevin Northrup and Marini had back-to-back singles to open the fifth, and both moved up a base on Robert Hinds' sacrifice bunt. Tim Barker drove both home with a single to left.
And Ahearne had received some stellar defensive play behind him, particularly by Gilbert at third, Morgan at second and Gary Thurman in center.
``We deserved to win this, as good as Pat and Derek (Wallace) pitched tonight,'' Tides manager Bobby Valentine said. ``Pat pitched great. He gives up just four hits and some of them were seeing eyes.''
Wallace, in his second relief appearance of the season, wasn't too shabby either, pitching three perfect innings and striking out three.
The Tides' other run came in the sixth. Columbus starter Ramiro Mendoza walked leadoff man Alberto Castillo, and Thurman followed with a single to center. After a sacrifice bunt by Gilbert, Kevin Flora singled to center to drive in Castillo. But Flora got caught in a rundown between first and second, and Thurman was thrown out at the plate while trying to make the rundown count for something.
``We had some opportunities that we messed up with some base-running,'' Valentine said. ``But we got good hits the entire night and eventually made it all pay off.''
NOTES: The Tides' pitching rotation received a bit of a shakeup when the New York Mets announced that Juan Acevedo (hamstring injury) would pitch for the Tides on Wednesday on a major league rehabilitation assignment. Opening-night pitcher Rick Reed (0-0, 0.00) will start tonight and Pedro Martinez is scheduled to start Thursday in the business persons' luncheon game at 12:15 p.m. . . . Pitcher Matt Drews, 21, who starts tonight for Columbus, is the son of Ron Drews, who was Old Dominion's starting center in the late 1960s and still ranks 10th all-time in rebounding (796) for the Monarchs. Ron Drews also played baseball at ODU and is in the school's Hall of Fame. Son Matt, 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, is the second Drews to play in the Yankees' organization. Grandfather Karl pitched for the Yankees from 1946 to 1948. . . Cubs' Triple-A farm team for a player to be named later. Franco is currently on the 15-day disabled list and will be activated Thursday. Reliever Jason Bullard, still bothered by a sore ankle, will likely be placed on the DL to make room for Franco, who split time between Chicago and Iowa last season. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by HUY NGYUEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk's Gary Thurman makes an over-the-shoulder catch of Ruben
Rivera's fly to deep centerfield to end the first inning. The Tides
beat the Columbus Clippers 3-2 at Harbor Park to stretch their
winning streak to three games.
by CNB