DATE: Thursday, June 19, 1997               TAG: 9706190579

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   65 lines

TIDES TALLY 2 IN CRAZY NINTH FOR 6-5 WIN BEHIND CATCHER CHARLIE GREENE'S DEFENSE, NORFOLK SURGES PAST ROCHESTER.

The Norfolk Tides won Wednesday night in a finish that had to be seen to be believed.

Trailing Rochester 5-4 with runners at first and second and one out, Roberto Petagine powered a shot to the warning track in center. The craziness began when centerfielder Lou Frazier dropped it.

Benny Agbayani had retreated to second base to tag up. Meanwhile, Todd Pratt was about to arrive at second. They were so close they could have shook hands.

Instead, they both took off for home.

With both barreling down the third-base line and no more than 10 feet between them, second baseman Francisco Matos took Frazier's relay throw and delivered a knee-high short-hopper to catcher B.J. Waszgis. But Waszgis couldn't hang on, as both scored standing up for a 6-5 victory.

Tides third base coach Tom Lawless said he had no choice but to send both runners around third.

``I couldn't stop Pratt,'' Lawless said. ``He was right on Benny's heels.''

If there had been a collision, it wouldn't have been the first between Agbayani and Waszgis. Agbayani ran him over Monday, although Waszgis held onto the ball, and Agbayani was prepared to do it again.

``If I'd had to do what I did the other night, I'd have been doing it for the team,'' Agbayani said.

``I don't think he could have tagged us both,'' Pratt said. ``We had a 500-pound freight train on the tracks.''

The Red Wings had staked a 5-0 lead in the first three innings. Matos' two-out, two-run double to left highlighted Rochester's three-run second; Waszgis stroked a two-run single down the first-base line in the third.

The Tides got on the board in the third when Agbayani tripled with one out and scored on Angel Jaime's groundout.

Norfolk (44-27) struck for three runs in the fifth when James Martin doubled, Agbayani singled, Jaime doubled and Pratt singled.

The comeback made a winner of reliever Jim Dougherty, who went the last two innings and is now 6-0 out of the bullpen.

The Tides, for all the late craziness, also should be thanking catcher Charlie Greene, who made three outstanding plays in the early innings that kept Rochester's surge from growing.

Greene caught a short-hop throw from Petagine in the first and tagged out Jim Wawruck. In the second, he negated a sacrifice bunt by P.J. Forbes by throwing out the lead runner at third. In the fifth, he was on the tail end of a step-and-tag double play with the bases loaded when Forbes grounded sharply to third baseman Chris Saunders.

``He just made a couple real nice plays there, especially catching and tagging guys,'' Tides manager Rick Dempsey said.

The Tides lost pitcher Juan Acevedo, who was scheduled to start Wednesday night's game. He instead ended up pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon.

Shortstop Kevin Morgan is expected to rejoin the Tides today after a brief stay with the Mets this week.

Also arriving will be reliever Barry Manuel, who has accepted his outright assignment to the Tides from the Mets. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Norfolk's James Martin is forced out at second base Wednesday by

Rochester's Francisco Matos. The Tides beat the Red Wings 6-5 at

Harbor Park.

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