DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997                 TAG: 9704070464

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD 

        STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y.                    LENGTH:   41 lines

AVECEDO TAKES TIDES TO 3-0 START

Most of the Norfolk Tides' preseason attention focused on pitchers Bill Pulsipher and Jason Isringhausen, young major leaguers who have come down from the New York Mets to rehabilitate surgically repaired arms.

When the Tides' pitching rotation was set, Juan Acevedo found himself sandwiched between the two.

The 26-year-old righthander pitched five perfect innings Saturday before tiring in the sixth as the Tides beat the Syracuse Sky-Chiefs 11-3 at P&C Stadium to remain perfect this young season at 3-0.

Acevedo gave up three hits and two runs in the sixth - Sandy Martinez lined a 2-1 pitch into right for a leadoff single to break up the no-hitter - but by then Acevedo was working with a 10-0 lead.

And he'd had to sit in the dug-out during a 35-minute Tides' half of the sixth.

Acevedo came out after the sixth inning after throwing 83 pitches, 53 for strikes, walking one and striking out three.

Sixty-five of those pitches were fastballs and 45 were strikes.

``I spotted the fastball real well,'' said Acevedo, who pitched for Colorado in 1995 before coming to the Mets organization in the Bret Saberhagen trade. ``The key was that I was working in and out.''

It was a reversal of fortune for Acevedo, who was 4-8 with a 5.96 ERA last season with the Tides. His season began on a major-league rehab assignment for a hamstring pull and he struggled.

Matters were compounded by nagging injuries throughout and his season ended in late July due to a stress fracture in his tibia.

``I was a little anxious to get out there and pitch in a real game,'' he said. ``It has been a while. I had to calm myself before the game. But I'm ready to prove to myself and to the team that Juan Acevedo is ready to come back.''

Notes: The Tides, looking for a sweep of the four-game series, will throw RHP Isringhausen against Syracuse LHP Huck Flener today at 2. Norfolk begins a four-game series at Scranton-/Wilkes-Barre Monday.

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