THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606270543
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM LEO, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y. LENGTH: 56 lines
Mike Gardiner didn't feel well. His elbow hurt. His allergies were acting up. "My whole body ached,'' he said.
You never would have known it by the way he pitched Tuesday night against the Syracuse Chiefs.
The only clue was when Gardiner, who allowed only one run on Shannon Stewart's solo home run in the third inning, was removed from the game after five innings. Norfolk relievers Jason Bullard and Derek Wallace held on for the Tides' 4-1 International League victory. The win was Norfolk's second straight over Syracuse and improved its record to 45-30. Syracuse slipped back to .500 at 36-36.
Gardiner, who allowed six hits, improved his record to 8-1 and maintained the league lead with a 1.48 earned run average. He struck out six and walked two against Syracuse, which marked only the second time in 14 starts he's walked more than one batter in a game.
``Everything's a little tender, my whole body. . . .,'' Gardiner said. ``I was exhausted. I felt drained. I worked too hard in the first inning to get out of that jam, which was my own fault in the first place.''
Syracuse left the bases loaded in the first inning on two singles and a walk. Rich Rowland popped out to end the threat.
Norfolk catcher Alberto Castillo said Gardiner was in constant pain from tendinitis in his right elbow.
``He really gutted it out tonight,'' he said. ``He was in pain, but he kept making good pitches and hitting his spots.''
``It's unbelievable,'' Gardiner said. ``We're scoring runs every time I pitch.''
Norfolk manager Bobby Valentine says Gardiner should give himself a little more credit.
``He's modest,'' Valentine said. ``He doesn't get to see it. We're watching it while he's doing it, and it's no surprise to us. On a good night, he has four pitches that he throws for strikes (fastball, curveball, slider, changeup), and he has command of all of them.''
The Tides were led offensively by Shawn Gilbert, who hit a solo homer in the first off Syracuse starter Derek Brandow, then later added a double and bunt single.
Gary Thurman doubled to lead off the third and eventually scored on Jason Hardtke's sacrifice fly to give the Tides a 2-0 lead. Stewart's long homer to left, his first of the season, made it 2-1 in the bottom of the third.
Norfolk's Benny Agbayani led off the fifth with a solo homer to right to make it 3-1. The Tides tacked on a run in the seventh off Syracuse reliever Brian Bohanon when Thurman doubled, went to third on Gilbert's bunt single and scored on Matt Franco's double-play grounder.
The Chiefs staged a mini-rally in the bottom of the eighth when Rich Rowland and Miguel Cairo singled off Bullard. With two outs, Tides manager Bobby Valentine called for Wallace, who got out of the inning when Cairo was out at second trying to advance on an errant pitch that bounced away from Castillo.
Wallace pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 14th save, which ties him for the league lead. by CNB