THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140743
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY AARON PORTZLINE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: COLUMBUS, OHIO LENGTH: 44 lines
Compared to two near-perfect outings against Columbus, in which the Norfolk Tides hiked their IL West lead to four games, Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Clippers was downright ugly.
The Tides fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, blew a golden opportunity to score in the fourth, then committed two errors and lost their manager in the middle of the eighth inning. It all added up to a night they'd rather forget.
``Let's just say we're eager to get back home,'' Tides' manager Bobby Valentine said.
Take the fourth inning, for instance. Columbus relief pitcher Matt Dunbar, just up from Double-A, walked leadoff hitter Shawn Gilbert on four pitches and two outs later walked Alex Ochoa and Jason Hardtke to load the bases.
At that point, Dunbar had thrown 19 pitches, 14 for balls.
But Brian Daubach swung at the first pitch and grounded out weakly to second base, keeping Columbus in front 3-0.
Norfolk scored its only run in the seventh inning when Alex Ochoa doubled to center, moved to third on Hardtke's groundout to second and scored on Daubach's sacrifice fly.
An inning later, Valentine and the rest of the Tides hit the boiling point.
The problem, they complained, were calls by home plate umpire Pat Connors. In the eighth, Gilbert and Andy Tomberlin each struck out looking to end the inning.
Tomberlin took exception, arguing briefly with Connors before Valentine joined the fray from a distance.
Valentine kept arguing as Columbus prepared to bat in the eighth. When Connors tossed him, Valentine charged toward the plate and argued feverishly for about two minutes before leaving the field slowly.
``The players were complaining most the game about his calls, but that one to Tomberlin I got a good look at,'' Valentine said. ``It was a horrible call. So I had to say something.''
Juan Acevedo (2-5), winless since May 19, overcame a rough start to pitch effectively for the Tides.
He surrendered three runs and needed 34 pitches to escape the first inning. Two of the runs came on a home run to centerfield by Columbus designated hitter Ricky Ledee.
After that, Acevedo allowed only a run in the sixth, his final inning of work. by CNB