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Padre Offense Still Missing in Action, 3-1

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<i> Times Staff Writer</i>

While most of the others were watching some measly golf tournament on television, LaMarr Hoyt sat drinking a beer, his right leg propped against the clubhouse wall. He looked at no one.

And as much as he’d have liked to have hid, Hoyt was quite noticeable there, looking depressed, distressed and perplexed. Teammates Tony Gwynn and Tim Flannery, obviously not golf fans, noticed this and offered soothing words. Flannery said the Padres, who had just lost 3-1 to Rick Mahler and the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, owed Hoyt some runs.

Gwynn, in between french fries, said: “I promise we’ll get you runs.” And he went on to say that he never breaks a promise.

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But this is much more easily said than done because the Padres have done nothing to prove they can become an offensive powerhouse. But, though they know this, there is relief on the way, because Carmelo Martinez and Alan Wiggins, who have missed the first five games with injuries, should be back tonight for the home opener. There is, however, more doubt about Wiggins’ health than Martinez’s.

And with the Padres apparently regaining their health, there was no pouting around the office Sunday. The Braves had indeed taken two of three from the Padres this weekend, a feat important at Atlanta, but of little consequence at San Diego. The Padres (2-3) just think it’s much better to judge them when they’re home and healed.

“When we went on the road trip, we figured if we were 3-2 or 2-3 we’d be happy,” Manager Dick Williams said. “We had two guys out . . . We gave one (of the Atlanta games) away.”

Gwynn, in between french fries again, said: “We’re 2-3, and under the circumstances, we have to feel good. . . . And we opened on the road, too. It’s so much tougher than playing at home.”

Catcher Terry Kennedy, who had snuck away from the golf tournament, said: “It’s so early. I’m not concerned about it. If we lost three out of five in July, I’d be concerned.”

Still, all this concerns Hoyt, who naturally wants to excel with his new team. He sat motionless, even though he’d given up five hits and three runs in four innings.

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It wasn’t a horrendous outing, and Williams even said so. Hoyt had just thrown one bad pitch, a high fastball that Dale Murphy hit over the fence in left field. It was Murphy’s third home run in the series and fourth in four days, so Hoyt should not have been ashamed, even though he was.

Said Kennedy of Murphy: “He’s in heat . . . He’s not fishing for anything. Every mistake we make, he drills. . . . The lucky guy is Brad Komminsk (who hits just ahead of Murphy). Anyone can hit .300 hitting third on this team. I’d give back half my salary to hit third ahead of Murphy. . . . Right now, that is.”

Because right now the Padres can’t score enough runs. Gwynn, bothered by sore ribs, is 0 for his last 12 at-bats and has an undignified .136 average (3 for 22). Kennedy is hitting .200, Graig Nettles .125, Garry Templeton .176. And if this wasn’t harsh enough, the Padres on Sunday had to face Mahler, whose breaking balls sink faster than Padre averages.

Mahler, whose ERA is 0.59, allowed six hits, but neither statistic is as impressive as this one: Mahler got 17 Padres to ground out. Second baseman Glenn Hubbard had 12 assists, tying a major league record. And this is important only because it’s a testament to his sinker, to his ability to juggle his pitches.

Mahler’s motion for his fastball and breaking ball is the same, which makes it difficult for hitters to understand him. Also, he has three different speeds on his fastball, according to Templeton.

Steve Garvey, who collected two hits against him, said Mahler also has different speeds on his breaking ball, and all these Padres added up all these pitches and decided that Mahler has seven or eight pitches to throw at them.

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“Don’t forget his knuckle curve,” Kennedy said. And there are others, unnamed of course, who think he throws a spitter.

So Hoyt, and any other Padre pitcher, inevitably had to waste his afternoon, for San Diego had little chance of scoring many runs. Templeton had the lone RBI on a double to right, scoring Flannery. Hoyt left after the fourth, after Murphy’s home run, and Greg Booker entered.

And this basically showed us where Williams’ priorities lie, because he went to Booker way before high-priced Tim Stoddard.

Booker, General Manager Jack McKeon’s son-in-law, went three innings, yielding one hit and no runs. He says he learned last year that throwing strikes and throwing hard will rarely get you in trouble. It is sound advice to give yourself, especially when it works.

Booker, meanwhile, still isn’t sure about his spot on the roster, now that Martinez is coming off the disabled list, and this performance only made him more comfortable, he said. Williams praised him, and McKeon, in town for the series, came over to shake his hand.

There were more handshakes on the Atlanta side, though, because the Braves think this is the first step toward regaining pre-eminence in the National League West. Secretly, Manager Eddie Haas viewed this series as imperative, figuring it was important to beat the Padres early, scare them early. They beat them (although the Padres beat themselves on Saturday, blowing a 5-2 lead in the ninth), but they didn’t scare them apparently.

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The Padres just aren’t afraid of the Braves, not even of reliever Bruce Sutter and his 0.00 ERA. Sutter entered after Mahler gave up a one-out, ninth-inning single to Kennedy, and Terry Forster, in relief of Mahler, walked pinch-hitter Kurt Bevacqua.

Catcher Bruce Benedict told the other Bruce to get it over with, and Sutter did, getting only a minor scare from Kevin McReynolds, who flew out to deep left. Sutter notoriously gets batters to swing at bad pitches, but the Padres know this and aren’t concerned.

“I make him throw strikes on me before I even think about swinging,” McReynolds said. “And I’ve got to look for the split-fingered fastball. I just figure if the ball starts low, it’ll always be a ball. And if it’s up, it’ll end up around my knees.”

And since he’d solved riddle of Bruce, McReynolds felt it was OK to go watch the silly golf tournament. Life goes on.

Padre Notes

Second baseman Alan Wiggins will see a doctor today about his knee injury to determine whether he will play in the home opener tonight against the Giants. . . . Left fielder Carmelo Martinez has fully recovered from his hand injury and is expected to start tonight. . . . Tony Gwynn says his ribs will be X-rayed today. “It’s not even major, it’s minor,” he said. “It’s nagging pain, but it’s not like I can’t lift my arm.”

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