Padres and Aztecs Go 10, but Nothing Is Scored, Decided

There was a dreamlike quality in the air on Friday night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

San Diego State starting pitcher Rusty Elsberry still hasn’t awoken. The 6-8 junior right-hander shut out the Padres on two hits over nine innings in what turned out to a scoreless tie that was called after 10 innings.

If the Aztec locker room scene was any indication, it was a scoreless win for the Aztecs.

“This sure is a thrill for the players,” Aztec Coach Jim Dietz said.

For Elsberry, it was a night he will never forget.

He retired the final 17 batters he faced in what he said was the best game he’s ever pitched. No big surprise there.

“I was floating out there,” Elsberry said. “I thought I could go a couple of innings, but then I got into a groove and kept hitting the spots.”

Relying primarily on a sinking fastball and a slider, Elsberry walked four, struck out four and was in control for the entire game.

Elsberry entered the game with a 1-2 record and 6.35 ERA against college competition.

“I wish we knew what got into him tonight,” Dietz said. “If I knew he’d pitch like that, I’d have saved him for the Hawaii series this weekend.”

Dietz used Elsberry because he wanted to save his top pitchers for the two doubleheaders against Hawaii. The teams play at 5 p.m. today and Sunday at Smith Field on the SDSU campus.

Coming into the game against the Padres, most of the Aztec players couldn’t believe they were actually playing on the same field with the National League champions.

“After the Padres kept hitting the ball out of the park in batting practice,” Dietz said, “a lot of the guys stopped talking about playing pro ball. They started talking about the value of a college education.”

For the Padres, Friday night was an annoying dream. After 25 exhibition games, many of the players found it difficult to believe they were actually suiting up to play another one.

And then to have the game go into extra innings . . . the few players who were left in the clubhouse after the game had San Francisco on their minds. That’s where the Padres open the season against the Giants on Tuesday afternoon.

For the 30,607 fans, a smaller crowd than the teams drew last year and a much smaller crowd than expected, it was also a dreamlike evening.

Just about the time the fans got over the shock of having entered a major league ballpark without paying, they saw things they had never seen before.

There was the Fish & Chip concession stands, a dazzling new scoreboard that dwarfed the old one and grass that really looked green.

So as not to shock the fans too much, the Padres wore their old uniforms and held off using their new Diamond Vision until the home opener on April 15 against the Giants.

If the Diamond Vision had been in operation, it could have been used extensively to show replays of the pregame home run hitting contest between brothers Tony and Chris Gwynn. Chris plays for the Aztecs.

In a scene that could have been out of the movie, “The Natural,” the Gwynn brothers took turns blasting a souped up baseball into the right-field stands.

Never relinquishing his serious game-face, Tony came from a 5-1 deficit and outblasted his younger brother, 6-5, in a four-inning game. Every swing that didn’t result in a home run was counted as an out.

Wearing an Aztec sweatshirt and cap, Dietz lobbed pitches from inside the mound. Tony used a wood bat, and Chris used an aluminum bat, but the results were basically the same.

The players were able to hit the ball approximately 50 feet farther than usual because of its souped-up condition.

Ironically, just hours after the homer-hitting contest, the teams battled for 10 innings without getting so much as one extra base hit.

Give six Padre pitchers and Elsberry credit for that.

“Pitching like this against the Padres is the top,” Elsberry said. “It is definitely like a dream.”

Padre Notes

LaMarr Hoyt pitched three scoreless innings, Luis DeLeon and Greg Booker pitched two apiece and Craig Lefferts, Goose Gossage and Tim Stoddard each pitched one on Friday night. . . . The only two Padre hits came on singles by Terry Kennedy and Tony Gwynn. Aztec first baseman Mark Grace went 3 for 5. Chris Gwynn went 0 for 2 before being removed early in the game. . . . The Padres host the Minnesota Twins tonight at 7:05 and Sunday at 1:05 in their final exhibition games of the season.