THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608170537
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH CANNON SPECIAL, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FORT MILL, S.C. LENGTH: 76 lines
The Charlotte Knights' largest crowd of the 1996 season was boosted Friday night by a post-game concert by a Christian music group.
So maybe it was fitting that the Knights and the Norfolk Tides spent the game preceding it propelling baseballs heavenward.
Kevin Roberson's grand slam in the sixth inning was the biggest of five home runs in the game, sparking the Tides (70-55) to an 8-4 victory over the Knights before 12,578 fans at Knights Castle.
``We had a few homers tonight,'' Knights manager Sal Rende said. ``But solo home runs don't hurt you. It's the walks and the other things you give up around them that do.''
Lou Lucca hit a solo home run for the Knights (55-71) and Jerry Brooks closed in on the International League lead in homers with his 31st of the season.
But the Tides got more mileage out of their round trips, which also included a two-run blast by Gary Thurman and a solo homer by Matt Franco.
``Home runs have been hurting us. Tonight they helped us,'' said Norfolk manager Bobby Valentine, whose team had lost four of its previous five games.
But it wasn't anything like a ``must'' win, even though the Tides are in the chase for a playoff spot.
``It just happens,'' Valentine said of his team's turnaround. ``We played baseball and got a grand slam with two outs. When you do that, sometimes you win.''
Roberson's grand slam gave the Tides a 5-2 lead which they never gave up.
The Knights got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Brooks muscled an inside fastball from Norfolk starter Mike Gardiner (11-3) off his bat handle and over the fence for a two-run homer. It scored Russ Morman, who had just missed a homer as the previous batter, banging a triple off the right field wall.
But the Tides got the runs back in the seventh on a two-run homer by Gary Thurman. And Thurman gave Norfolk an insurance run in the ninth with an RBI double for the 8-4 final score.
Relief pitchers Bryan Rogers and Rick Trlicek blanked the Knights on two hits over the last three innings.
``Our bullpen did a great job for us,'' Valentine said. ``They've been a strong point all year.''
The Knights had started strong, picking up single runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.
Lucca hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot over the left field wall, in the second inning. Then with two outs in the third inning, Jose Olmeda singled and Morman drove him in with a double into the leftfield corner.
Meanwhile, Knights starter Chris Seelbach (6-11) retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced.
But the Tides managed to get to Seelbach's season-long weakness, the home run ball.
Franco made the score 2-1 with a solo home run with one out in the fourth. It was his fifth homer of the season.
In the sixth, Norfolk loaded the bases on a walk to Shawn Gilbert, a single by Franco and a walk to Jason Hardtke.
Then Roberson launched his fifth homer of the season over the right field fence.
It was the 24th home run Seelbach has given up this season. He leads the league in that category.
Rende said that Seelbach's woes in that area are at least a little bit mental.
``It's the kind of thing where, if things are going well for us, a batter will foul those off,'' Rende said. ``When it's not going so well, you get a pitch up and they don't miss it.''
Whether it's the cause or the effect, the result was another loss in which the Knights hit reasonably well. They outhit the Tides, 11-10.
``We didn't get a lot of opportunities to score, but we did string together some hits,'' he said. ``If we keep our opponent at one or two runs it becomes a little different ball game.''
NOTES: The Knights' Tommy Gregg, who hit the game-winning home run in Wednesday's 7-6 victory over Columbus, missed Thursday's game with a knee injury he described as ``a flareup of some tendinitis.'' Rende said he will not play in tonight's game but may play in Sunday afternoon's series finale. by CNB