DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250151

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   74 lines

TIDES DROP INTO SECOND-PLACE TIE NORFOLK DROPS SIXTH STRAIGHT, 13TH IN LAST 16

If open fires were allowed at Harbor Park, the Norfolk Tides might burn a couple bats prior to tonight's game as a sacrifice to the baseball gods.

Anything to change the run of bad luck they are in.

The Tides got one of those hard-luckers again Sunday night when a liner off the bat of Roberto Petagine, a ball that would have been a game-tying home run, missed clearing the wall in left by about an inch in the eighth inning of a 6-5 loss to the Richmond Braves at Harbor Park.

The defeat dropped the Tides (71-63) into a tie for the second playoff spot in the International League with the Charlotte Knights, 6-5 winners over Scranton.

Spectators in the picnic area beyond left confirmed that the ball hit the white line atop the padded wall before bounding back to leftfielder Brad Tyler. So did footage taken by Channel 3's Ted Alexander.

And so did Tyler.

``It hit the very edge of the top of the white line and popped back to me,'' Tyler said. ``Anything more, even a little top-spin maybe (and it goes out). That was probably the difference in the game right there. That's a big, big hit for them. If that ball goes out they've got the momentum.''

What would make those on hand think it was a home run is the 18-inch high fencing atop the wall, positioned to protect picnicking spectators. More than a few homers have bounded off the fence and back into the field.

So Tides manager Rick Dempsey went out to contest the call with home plate umpire Mark Facto while third base coach Tom Lawless debated with third base umpire Mark Wegner in leftfield.

Facto took a look at the ball, saw no strange marks on it and Petagine's 360-foot, one-run single was in the books.

Shortly thereafter, the Tides' sixth consecutive loss, and 13th in their last 16 games, was also recorded.

``It was nice to see us come back tonight,'' Dempsey said. ``But that's the breaks we've been getting.''

The Tides spotted Richmond a 5-0 lead after five innings as starter Jeff Tam gave up 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. Richmond's biggest hits were a two-run homer by Robert Smith in the fourth on an 0-2 pitch that Smith golfed over the wall in left and a two-run triple to the corner in right by Tyler.

Norfolk got a run in the sixth to cut it to 5-1, but should have gotten more. The Tides loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Petagine, McClain and Wes Chamberlain as Dean Hartgraves had immediate control problems after relieving for starter Tommy Harrison.

But Kevin Morgan popped the next pitch to first baseman Randall Simon in foul territory. Simon threw the ball home and bounced it over catcher Fausto Tejero's glove, allowing Petagine, who wasn't tagging on the play, to score. Charlie Greene then popped to second and pinch-hitter Ramon Espinosa grounded out to end the threat and strand two of what would be 12 Tides runners left on base.

The Braves added a run in the seventh on a bloop double by Tyler to left, a sacrifice bunt by Damon Hollins and a run-scoring single to right by Smith.

The Tides scored three times in the seventh as they patched together a walk and five singles, including singles by pinch-hitters Tate Seefried and Steve Bieser. But when Dempsey went to a pinch hitter a third consecutive time, Alberto Castillo struck out on a full count with the bases loaded.

In the Tides' eighth, Carlos Mendoza was hit by a pitch, went to second on a single by Shawn Gilbert and moved to third when Benny Agbayani grounded into a double play, setting the stage for Petagine.

``Unbelievable,'' Dempsey said, shaking his head. ``Petagine doesn't even get a double out of it.''

NOTES: Tides Talk with Dempsey and Tides president Ken Young will air at 6 tonight on WTAR 850-AM. Dempsey and Young will each field questions for a half hour. . . . The New York Mets recalled 2B Jason Hardtke and optioned LHP Joe Crawford to Norfolk. . . . Sports comic Myron Noodleman will be at Harbor Park tonight. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

Norfolk catcher Charlie Greene waits for the throw as the Braves'

Tommy Gregg scores on Brad Tyler's triple in the fifth inning.

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