Show Wows ‘Em : He Strikes Out 11 and Shuts Down Giants on 4 Hits

His left sleeve up, his right sleeve down, Eric Show showed ‘em on Wednesday.

It was the bottom of the ninth, a time when he’s usually in the bathroom blow drying his hair. But there he was, pitching against Dan Gladden of the San Francisco Giants.

The count was 2 and 2. Show selected a fastball, and struck out Gladden.

Next was Manny Trillo. First came a fastball, then a curve, and the count was 0 and 2. Next came a curve ball, and Trillo singled. Around the corner, Goose Gossage pounded a ball into his glove, perfectly ready to come in to save the game. But Show stayed in. Chili Davis, who likes to think he knows how to hit Show, bounced into a double play and it ended, Show running into a Terry Kennedy handshake.

Padres 3, Giants 0.

Afterward, Eric Show would not say this was redemption. He’s much too smart to do that. Yet, in a way it was redemption, only because this was Show’s first regular-season appearance since his disappearance in last year’s postseason (12.38 ERA).

He struck out a career-high 11 batters on Wednesday, and some of his teammates even said he was overpowering, which is quite a heavy statement to make about such a control pitcher. But Show threw fastballs 70% of the time and threw first-pitch strikes to 26 of the 30 hitters he faced.

Naturally, members of the media crowded around his locker, praying he’d say it was redemption and finding he would not cooperate.

Show, whose IQ is probably much higher than the velocity of his pitches, has a standard line about this now, saying it will take another World Series for him to redeem himself, that if he finally does redeem himself, the media will just say he’s matured, that he does not wake up in a sweat at night, reliving the Series. This is his standard line, and the world just better get used to it.

Secretly, though, he really has shown people that he is a pitcher first and intellectual second, and it took so long for people to think this way because they’ve always had such a deranged perception of him and his vocabulary.

“I don’t know,” Show said of this perception. “I think they probably think I’m a little strange.”

But now his pitches also are strange because hitters have no clue what he will throw. On Wednesday, he threw mostly fastballs in the first three innings, and then threw mostly breaking balls in the next three. By the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, he was mixing his pitches.

And Gladden, expecting that Show would tire in the later innings, was also expecting a breaking ball in that ninth-inning confrontation, a pitch that turned out to be a fastball. It was Show’s 102nd pitch (he threw 107), and it only Gladden’s sixth strikeout since spring training began. Gladden actually struck out twice on Wednesday.

“You get Gladden out like he did, and you’re second only to Superman,” teammate Jerry Royster said.

So after all this, the Padres simply needed one run to win this game, an unearned run that came in the first inning. Rookie Jerry Davis led off with a single (he ended with three of them), but advanced to second only when Giant shortstop Johnnie LeMaster botched a potential double play by never stepping on second base. LeMaster tripped over Davis instead, and after Steve Garvey popped out to LeMaster, Kevin McReynolds drove in Davis with a single to left.

Later, the Padres botched some scoring chances, and it was becoming more and more apparent that their offense was soft, perhaps something that could become a problem. Through their last 49 innings (prior to Wednesday’s ninth inning and including spring training), they’d scored a total of eight runs. Also, they hadn’t had an extra base hit in regular-season play.

Finally, in the ninth, Garvey and McReynolds (who also had three hits) had consecutive singles, and Royster hit a two-run double to left-center. And it was at that point that Show figured he’d stay in and pitch the ninth for the Padres.

Show had his guitar with him at his locker on Wednesday because the Padres were flying immediately to Atlanta, where they face the Braves this weekend. Naturally, the guitar would make the trip with Show because it is a vital part of his life.

“It (playing guitar) is a passion with me,” he said. “Music is an end in itself with me. It relaxes me.”

During spring training in Yuma, Ariz., a leader of a local band had come to Show at the batting cage one day, asking him if he’d play guitar at their club. Show agreed. When he was through playing, the band members were quite impressed.

And music critics are the only kinds of critics he cares to listen to.

Padre Notes

The Padres were 0-1 coming into Wednesday’s game, the first time they’d been under .500 since Sept. 29, 1983. . . . When Eric Show nearly hit third baseman Chris Brown with an inside pitch, the organist played “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” . . . Carmelo Martinez, who had hand surgery not long ago, took batting practice again on Wednesday and impressed the coaching staff. He should play in the home opener, April 15. . . . Manager Dick Williams probably will decide today whether second baseman Alan Wiggins will play in Friday night’s game against Atlanta. Wiggins, who is out with a knee injury, also took batting practice on Wednesday and looked fit. The Padres unveiled brown mesh pullover warmup shirts that go nicely with their pinstripe pants. . . . San Diego is off today, but will work out this afternon in Atlanta.

PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard FIRST INNING Padres--Jerry Davis singled, went to second on Giant shortstop Johnnie LeMaster’s error and scored on Kevin McReynolds’ single. Padres 1, Giants 0.

NINTH INNING Padres--Steve Garvey singled, as did Kevin McReynolds. Jerry Royster doubled, scoring both. Padres 3, Giants 0.