THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090552
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The difference between victory and defeat for the Norfolk Tides Wednesday night came down to about 2 inches.
Tides rightfielder Alex Ochoa, in trying to snag a sinking line drive by Richmond's Damon Hollins, misplayed a single into a two-base error that eventually cost the Tides two runs in a 4-3 loss to the Braves at The Diamond.
``I only missed it by a little,'' said Ochoa, holding his index finger and thumb inches apart. ``I got a so-so jump on the ball, an all right jump. I was thinking about getting it and throwing.''
The Braves, who came in losers of five straight, had runners on first and third with one out. Hollins ended up at third after the ball snuck under Ochoa's glove and ran to the wall.
``Alex just missed it,'' Tides manager Bobby Valentine said. ``It's not a routine play and if he'd have caught it that guy at third wasn't going to score.''
Hollins then scored on Joe Ayrault's sacrifice fly to center for a 4-0 lead.
The Braves' other run had come in the first inning on an infield single by Tony Graffanino and a run-scoring double by former Tide Omar Garcia.
Graffanino had just come down from the Atlanta Braves, as had shortstop Mike Mordecai, who is on a rehabilitation assignment after fracturing his right wrist last month. Mordecai made the hard plays look routine, including lunging for a Matt Franco grounder up the middle and wheeling and throwing with time to spare to open the seventh.
In four of Rick Reed's last five starts, the Tides have lost by one run. The other was a two-run loss.
``If Rick keeps pitching the way he has, he'll get his wins,'' Valentine said. ``We came back with three runs of our own, but three wasn't enough.''
Reed (1-3) still maintained a sub-3.00 earned run average, leaving after five innings with a 2.98 ERA, but little else to show for his efforts.
The Tides cut into the lead in the fifth when Roberto Petagine's double to the opposite-field gap in left plated two runs.
Norfolk inched a run closer in the sixth on Gary Thurman's one-out single and a pinch-hit double by Trey McCoy.
Thurman was 3 for 3. Franco also had a three-hit night and Andy Tomberlin, added to the Tides' roster at the beginning of this seven-game trip, went 2 for 5 and is hitting .393.
The Tides, who went 3-4 on the road swing, could only manage single runners aboard in the eighth and ninth innings as Richmond's Rod Steph and Carl Schutz closed out the victory for Chad Fox, who went five innings for his first win of the season.
NOTES: Juan Acevedo is scheduled to start at 7 tonight against the New York Mets in the Tides' annual seven-inning exhibition game with the parent club at Harbor Park. The Mets are expected to pitch reliever Jerry Dipoto and will likely bring in Joe Crawford and Toby Larson, who are coming up from Binghamton for the evening. by CNB