DATE: Thursday, August 14, 1997             TAG: 9708140624

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   63 lines

TIDES' LOSS IS UNTIMELY AS COLUMBUS DRAWS CLOSE NORFOLK'S LEAD OVER THE CLIPPERS IS DOWN TO 1 1/2 GAMES.

It has come to the point in the season when terms such as ``magic number,'' and ``division title'' and ``possible playoff pairings'' are thrown about.

Which made the Norfolk Tides' 7-6 loss to the Columbus Clippers Wednesday night at Harbor Park that much harder to swallow.

The Tides let a 6-2 lead slip away, then lost in the ninth when Columbus' Matt Howard drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk on four pitches from reliever Jimmy Myers.

Myers had come on with one out in the inning. The Clippers loaded the bases on an infield single by Mike Lowell that short-hopped Scott McClain at third, a single to right by Clay Bellinger that barely eluded the glove of hard-changing Ramon Espinosa and a grounder by Mike Figga that Roberto Petagine booted after Bellinger, running at first, shaded the ball until the last possible moment.

The Tides nearly escaped when second baseman Jason Hardtke leaped to snag a liner by Homer Bush, but was a split-second late in doubling off Figga at first.

Norfolk (69-56) went in order in the bottom of the inning, on three pitches from Danny Rios and groundouts by Kevin Morgan, Hardtke and Petagine. Their lead in the International League West Division has shrunk to 1 1/2 games over the Clippers (67-57).

As for that magic number, it's 17 for the division title. Or 16 for a playoff berth, which goes to the top two teams in the division.

``What next?'' asked a despondent Tides manager Rick Dempsey. ``Now we get runs and can't hold anybody. I thought this was a breakthrough game for us, and then we stopped hitting.''

The Tides got six extra-base hits, more than they had in the past week combined. The biggest was a two-run home run by Morgan in the fourth for that 6-2 lead.

The Clippers started battling back with a leadoff home run from Lowell in the fifth. Columbus scored again in the sixth when Tim Barker drew a one-out walk off reliever Barry Manuel, advanced to second on a groundout by New York Yankee Darryl Strawberry, who is rehabbing with the Clippers after knee surgery, and came home on Shane Spencer's single to left.

The Clippers tied it in the eighth. Bush led off with a home run that barely cleared the wall and stayed fair in left. Barker nearly repeated the feat, but ended up with a triple off reliever Yorkis Perez when the ball eluded a leaping Steve Bieser. Strawberry, who also had a two-run homer in the first, followed with a sacrifice fly to center.

As for the game-winning RBI, Howard said he was looking for a pitch in his zone and that his zone kept shrinking with every ball Myers threw.

``His second and third pitches were really close,'' Howard said. ``But I got the calls.''

As did Barker, who took what looked like strike three in the eighth.

``Our pitcher threw some good pitches but didn't get the call,'' Dempsey said. ``Then he triples.''

While the Clippers are right in the Tides' rear-view mirror, Charlotte and Toledo are also within earshot at 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 games back.

``We've got to be optimistic,'' Hardtke said. ``We didn't necessarily lay down tonight.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER

After tagging up on a fly ball to centerfield, the Tides' Ramon

Espinosa beats the tag of the Clippers' Mike Figga.

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