Wladimir Sutil was adamant. He demonstrated, taking his stance, then making a short shoulder turn, but no move with his arms.

"I didn't swing," he said.

Sutil's manager, Jim Pankovits was even more emphatic.

"There's no doubt in my mind, he didn't even come close to swinging," Pankovits said.

The umpires disagreed. Home plate umpire Matt Arcovio ruled, and then base umpire A.J. Johnson affirmed that with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning, Sutil swung at a pitch in the dirt that rolled nearly to the backstop.

So instead of the tying run coming home on a passed ball, the Avalanche suffered a 6-5 Carolina League loss to the Kinston Indians on Tuesday night at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Pankovits took his vociferous argument all the way to the visitors' dugout as the umpires left the field. He bumped Arcovio, but said "he made contact with me as much as I made contact with him. He was just as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than I was."

As angry as he was over the call, Pankovits admitted that the Avalanche should never have put itself in the position to need a call in the 12th inning.

Salem scored five runs in the first inning, with only one ball leaving the infield on the fly.

Greg Buchanan's double off Kinston starter Carlton Smith got the Avalanche started, then five runs came home on three infield singles, a double by Mark Ori that bounced off the first-base bag and into right field, and an error by second baseman Jerad Head.

The Avalanche did not plate another run. It stranded 11 batters and managed just four hits from the second through the 11th inning.

"We shut it down," Pankovits said. "You've got to tack on and put teams away. A good team tacks on."

The Indians chipped away at the lead, getting a run in the first and two more in the fourth.

Salem starter Corey Bass pitched into the seventh. But Niuman Romero reached on an error by Torres and Cirilo Cumbertbatch followed with a single. Erick Abreu came on to relieve Bass, then Brian Juhl laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third.

Head then doubled down the left-field line to tie the score at 5.

Salem had runners at first and second with one out in the 11th inning, then Buchanan lined a ball toward right field. But first baseman Romero reached up and caught the line drive and threw to second for the double play.

Avalanche reliever Josh Appell walked Head to lead off the Kinston 12th and then Head took second on a passed ball by Justin Tellam. Appell struck out Jason Denham, but Head took third when Beau Mills grounded out.

Jared Goedert then singled up the middle to bring Head home for the lead.

Torres flied out to start off the Salem 12th and then Jordan Parraz grounded out. But Ori singled and was replaced on base by Cesar Quintero. Quintero went to third when Van Ostrand singled and Orlando Rosales drew a walk from Kinston reliever Jim Deters to load the bases.

Sutil took one strike and fouled off another. Deters' third pitch bounced inside and rolled away from catcher Juhl. But Arcovio ruled that Sutil had taken a swing and Juhl ran down the ball and threw to first for the out.

How the runs were scored

Salem first: Buchanan doubled. Torres singled, Buchanan scored. Parraz singled, Torres to second. Ori doubled, Torres scored, Parraz to third. Van Ostrand singled, Parraz scored, Ori to third. Rosales reached on an error by Head, Ori scored, Van Ostrand to second. Clemens reached on a fielder's choice and went to second on an error by Rivero, Van Ostrand scored. Avalanche 5, Indians 0.

Kinston second: Two outs. Martin walked. Cumberbatch doubled, Martin scored. Avalanche 5, Indians 1.

Kinston fourth: One out. Weglarz singled. Rivero doubled, Weglarz to third. Weglarz scored and Rivero to third on a passed ball by Tellam. Martin doubled, Rivero scored. Avalanche 5, Indians 3.

Kinston seventh: Romero reached on an error by Torres. Cumberbatch singled, Romero to second. Abreu relieved Bass. Juhl sacrifice bunted, Romero to third, Cumberbatch to second. Head doubled, Romero scored, Cumberbatch scored. Avalanche 5, Indians 5.

Kinston 12th: Head walked and went to second on a passed ball. Denham struck out. Mills grounded out, Head went to third. Goedert singled, Head scored. Indians 6, Avalanche 5.

KINSTON SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Head 2b 5 1 1 2 Buchanan 2b 6 1 2 0

Denham cf 4 0 2 0 Torres ss 5 1 1 1

Mills dh 6 0 0 0 Parraz cf 6 1 1 0

Goedert 3b 6 0 2 1 Ori 1b 6 1 2 1

Weglarz lf 5 1 1 0 Quintero pr 0 0 0 0

Rivero ss 5 1 2 0 Van Ostrand lf 6 1 2 1

Martin 1b 1 1 1 1 Rosales rf 5 0 0 1

Romero 1b 3 1 0 0 Clemens dh 4 0 2 0

Cumberbatch rf 5 1 2 1 Sutil dh 1 0 0 0

Juhl c 3 0 0 0 Tellam c 3 0 0 0

Florentino 3b 4 0 1 0

Totals 43 6 11 5 Totals 46 5 11 4

Kinston 010 200 200 001 -- 6

Salem 500 000 000 000 -- 5

E--Head 2 (5), Rivero (8), Torres (4). DP--Kinston 1, Salem 4. LOB--Kinston 8, Salem 11. 2B--Cumberbatch (4), Rivero (7), Martin (4), Head (3), Buchanan (5), Ori (7), Clemens (6). S--Juhl, Tellam. SB--Head (2), Denham (1). CS--Clemens (2).

IP H R ER BB SO

Kinston

Smith 5 5 5 4 0 2

Wagner 2 2 0 0 1 1

Tomlin 2 1 0 0 2 1

Perdomo W, 1-0 2 1 0 0 1 0

Deters S, 1 1 2 0 0 1 1

Salem

Bass 6 7 5 4 3 1

Abreu 2 3 0 0 0 0

Dominguez 2 0 0 0 1 0

Appell L, 0-1 2 1 1 0 1 4

WP--Tomlin. HBP--Juhl (by Dominguez). PB-- Juhl (3), Tellam 2 (2).

Umpires--Arcovio, home; Johnson, bases.

T--3:38. A--1,197.