THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220534
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 66 lines
Norfolk Tides first baseman Matt Franco has been ripping Pawtucket pitching all season. Wednesday night was no different.
Franco went 4 for 5, including his International League-leading 37th double, and drove in four runs at Harbor Park as the Tides concluded a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with a 9-4 victory.
Despite being 18 games over .500, it was the Tides' first sweep of a three-game series this season. It also pulled Norfolk (74-56) within two games of IL West Division leader Columbus.
Franco is hitting .488 against Pawtucket and went 9 for 14 with six runs batted in and four doubles for the three games.
``I'm hitting .488 against Pawtucket?'' Franco said. ``I had no clue. They just seem to come up on the schedule when I'm hitting the ball good.''
Franco's night at the plate barely overshadowed Gary Thurman's play in centerfield. Thurman made an over-the-shoulder, warning-track grab of a shot to straight-away center by Nomar Garciaparra in the third inning that drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 9,979.
In the ninth it was more of Thurman as he made a sliding catch of a sinking line drive in the gap in right by Arquimedez Pozo.
``He's saved our pitching staff so many times this season,'' said Rick Trlicek, who pitched the ninth. ``It's hard to watch him make those catches all the time and rationalize why he's not in the big leagues with somebody. He doesn't hurt you with the bat at the plate and the guy robs teams of two-run innings all the time.''
Thurman supplied two of the Tides' dozen hits, which gave pitchers Mike Gardiner, Pedro Martinez, Bob MacDonald and Trlicek more than enough run support. Gardiner cruised through the first five innings, but was pulled after facing two batters in the sixth when his elbow stiffened.
Those two batters, Dwayne Hosey and Alex Cole, doubled and singled and eventually scored. After Pedro Martinez came on in relief, Garciaparra walked to load the bases and Hosey scored when Rudy Pemberton grounded into a double play. Bo Dodson singled to center for the other run.
The Tides struck for three runs in the first when Thurman walked, Jason Hardtke bunted for a single, Franco followed with a run-scoring single to right and Jay Payton tripled to the gap in right with two out to plate two runs.
Norfolk added another run in the third when Hardtke led off with a single to right, went to third on Franco's second single of the night and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Benny Agbayani for a 4-0 lead.
A bases-loaded single by Franco in the fourth plated two more runs.
The Tides led 6-2 when Jeff Pierce came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth and was welcomed when his first pitch was driven over the leftfield wall by Luis Rivera. After Hardtke walked with two out, Franco doubled off the wall in left, then came around himself on Agbayani's bloop single to right.
Pemberton's home run in the eighth, his 26th of the season, was the PawSox' 196th of the season, an International League record on which they keep building. But it was only Pawtucket's second home run of the three-game series and Pawtucket's pitching was absent.
``We got smoked,'' said Pawtucket manager Buddy Bailey, whose team was outscored 21-7 in the three games. ``We got 13 innings out of our starting pitchers and they threw 280 pitches. That's about 25 an inning and that's too many.
``And we definitely had trouble getting Franco out. I'm sure he hopes we weren't leaving town.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
L. TODD SPENCER
Jason Hardtke slides home with one of the Tides' nine runs Wednesday
night. Hardtke scored three runs in the Tides' victory. by CNB