THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280625
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIMBALL CROSSLEY, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PAWTUCKET, R.I. LENGTH: 51 lines
On only his second night on the job, Norfolk manager Bruce Benedict found out what every veteran manager already knows: sometimes it's just not your night.
The Tides played poorly in every aspect of the game Tuesday, dropping a 7-1 decision to the Pawtucket Red Sox.
``I didn't think many good things happened to us,'' said Benedict, who was managing his second game for the Tides after taking over for Bobby Valentine Monday. ``It could've been just one of those nights.''
Among the things that went wrong for the new skipper were some wildness by his starter, a couple of errors, and some angry hitters who let the umpiring affect their play.
The Tides got their only run of the night in the first inning, as Jason Hardtke and Matt Franco had consecutive singles and Benny Agbayani hit into a run-scoring forceout.
Pawtucket's John DeSilva, 3-3, shut Norfolk down after that. After allowing an infield hit to Franco in the third, DeSilva retired 17 of the next 18 batters he faced. He left the game after allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out four over eight innings.
``I think we let the umpire upset us,'' said Benedict. ``We lost our concentration a bit.''
Norfolk fell behind for good in the second inning, when spot starter Pedro Martinez (4-4), walked the first two batters of the inning and then was victimized by errors by Hardtke at second and Franco at third. Franco's error was the most damaging, as Jose Malave's potential inning-ending grounder went through his legs, bringing in the second and third Pawtucket runs.
Then Jim McCready came on in the fourth, and the Tides finally got to see what all the fuss is about, as Pawtucket's potent offense woke up. The PawSox, who set a new International League record for homers this season, smashed three home runs off the righthander over the next three innings to up their record total to 203.
McCready is coming back from off-season arm surgery, and had pitched well moving up the organizational ladder this season.
``He's come a long way from surgery,'' said new pitching coach Rick Waits, who was coaching in the Gulf Coast League, where McCready began his comeback earlier this year. ``This was the only bad outing he's had in two months.''
NOTES: Tonight at 7:05 in the series finale Mike Fyhrie (14-6, 3.00) will start against the PawSox's Jeff Pierce (2-0, 3.97). ILLUSTRATION: BOX SCORE
STANDINGS
[For a copy of the charts, see microfilm for this date.] by CNB