THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240148
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARY BUMP, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ROCHESTER, N.Y. LENGTH: 52 lines
There was no hanging of heads in the Norfolk Tides' clubhouse after Sunday's 5-4, 11-inning loss to the Rochester Red Wings which snapped a three-game winning streak.
``Obviously we hate to lose, but we played four real good games here. We won one game where we were behind 8-3,'' pointed out Tides second baseman Jason Hardtke, whose two-run home run in the eighth inning made Sunday's extra innings necessary.
``It's one in the books,'' said Norfolk manager Bobby Valentine. ``We'll be out there tomorrow (in Syracuse) trying to get another, and get another three-game streak going.''
The Tides arrived in Rochester on the heels of a loss, then won three in a row before falling short Sunday. And despite that loss, they still have the International League's best record (43-30) and lead the West Division by 5 1/2 games.
``We had a nice comeback,'' Valentine said. ``We only had a couple of chances to score, and we took advantage of them.''
Rochester starter Oscar Munoz kept the Tides off balance for 7 2/3 innings. But with two out in the eighth and the Red Wings leading 4-2, Matt Franco lined one of his three singles. That brought up Hardtke, inserted into the cleanup spot Saturday after the Mets called up Alex Ochoa.
``I was a little bit surprised,'' Hardtke said of his new role in the lineup. ``I'm not used to hitting there; I've only done it a couple of times in my career. I'm definitely not a home run hitter; the most I ever hit was 12.''
Sunday he needed only one home run (his second in 133 at-bats as a Tide) to tie the score.
``I had two strikes. I was just trying to battle, and put the ball in play. He threw me a fastball, and I took advantage of it.
``The guy (Munoz) was throwing a great game. He has an above-average fastball that he spots pretty well. He had a real good split or forkball, and a slider and changeup. When you're pretty effective with four pitches, you're going to get good results.''
Hardtke had two strikeouts and a single before hitting his home run against Munoz. Other than Gary Thurman, who singled and scored an unearned run in the first inning and blasted his fifth homer in the third, the Tides had little luck against Munoz until the eighth inning.
Meanwhile, the Red Wings scored in four of the first six innings against Tides starter Juan Acevedo.
``Acevedo stayed away from the big inning,'' Valentine said. ``And our bullpen was excellent. You can't ask for any more than they did. They gave us a chance to score a run and win the game.''
However, Norfolk's batters couldn't produce a run even with runners at second base to end the eighth, 10th and 11th innings. by CNB