It's official. The baseball gods hate the Camden Riversharks.

Chad Gambill hit the first pitch from reliever Jimmy `` Slim'' Williams over the center-field wall with two out and one on in the top of the eighth to give Lehigh Valley the tying and go-ahead runs in a 6-2 win over the Sharks Sunday at Campbell's Field.

For the second consecutive game, a Sharks reliever entered the game and gave up a home run on his first pitch. On Saturday, Ted Silva gave up a grand slam that tied the game at 6.

``It's like `Groundhog Day,''' third baseman Brad Strauss said. ``I've never been associated with anything like this.''

The final score belies the fact that the Sharks played a solid game and had an outstanding effort by starter Derek Root. Root went 7 2/3 innings with three strikeouts and allowed only three hits. Root was in control the whole game but once his pitch count surpassed 100, his day was all but over.

``My stuff continues to feel great,'' Root said. ``( Lehigh Valley) helped me out with some mistakes today. I could have had some pitches go either way. I just tried to go as hard as I can for as long as I can.''

In the eighth, Lehigh Valley's P.J. Williams hit a one- out single. He stole second, but with the count at 3-0, Root picked him off. It looked like Root would get out of the inning, but he walked Victor Gutierrez, only his third of the game, and Root was pulled.

Williams came into face Gambill whose two-run home run put Lehigh Valley up 3-2. Williams got out of the inning after that but continued to struggle in the ninth as he gave up three runs on three hits.

``I'd put the ball in Jimmy's hands every day,'' Root said. ``I made a bad pitch to start that inning. I was ahead of (Williams) 1-2 and I left the fastball up and he did what he was supposed to do. I felt like it was my fault. He shouldn't have been out there, but I picked him off and then I was 3-0 to (Gutierrez). I should have left the plate clean for Jimmy to come in in the ninth.

``I'm not singling anybody out. You know, we're just not playing as a team right now. One day we'll have hitting and the starting pitching will stink like my last start. The next pitching with no hitting. When the two are together we can beat anybody in this league. It just hasn't been together consistently all year."

The Sharks (25-47, 1-8) 8) manufactured single runs in the first and sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead before the eighth.

In the first, the Sharks loaded the bases with no one out but Guillermo Garcia hit into a double play that scored one run and Dan Held grounded out to second to end the threat. In the sixth, Andres Duncan hit the last of three singles to drive in Jacob Brumfield, but that was all the scoring the Sharks could manage.

From the Shark Tank

•Live and Local: Haddon Township graduate Brad Strauss extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the first inning.

Strauss has proven to be nothing if not versatile as he has played all but two positions this season. While he is listed as an outfielder, Strauss has been filling in for the injured Kim Batiste at third and has looked strong in the field during his 12 appearances. Whether or not he plays all of the positions (he hasn't played shortstop or catcher yet) remains to be seen.

``I know one thing,'' Strauss said. ``I'm not catching. I would love to play short. But seriously, we need to win first. I don't care where I play.''

•Those present: Sunday's crowd of 3,265 raised the weekend attendance to 15,052 for the Sharks' three-game series with Lehigh. That total was the highest three-day total of the season for the Sharks, who are third in the Atlantic League with an average attendance of 3,895. The franchise's previous high was opening weekend, when the Sharks drew 14,265 for Lehigh. Long Island leads the league with 6,124 each night and Somerset is second with 4, 855.

•The road less traveled: Starting Tuesday, with a night game against Nashua, the Sharks embark on the toughest stretch of the year, as they will play 12 of their next 15 games on the road. For a team that has gone 0-6 at home during the second half, the road may hold the key to a turnaround. Neither the road nor home has been particularly kind to the Sharks this year.

They are 13-26 at home and 12-21 on the road. After the second road trip, the Sharks schedule features 27 home games over the next 36 games.