Padres Are Blown Away in a Wild One at Chicago, 12-8

In a Chicago wind, dreams and baseball teams can be blown away, and the Padres, knowing this, certainly will check the weather reports when they rise bright and early this morning for another big day at Wrigley Field.

Saturday had been too big of a day, which, in other words, means there had been much too much wind, wind that gusted to 25 m.p.h.

It blew straight out from behind home plate, too. Balls hit straight up carried into shallow portions of the outfield. Balls hit to shallow portions of the outfield carried into the bleachers.

But the ultimate difference in this game, won by the Chicago Cubs, 12-8, was pitching. Some pitchers would get balls up in the strike zone and would inevitably be hit for home runs. Steve Garvey, Graig Nettles (twice) and Garry Templeton hit homers for San Diego, and Ron Cey, Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston (the first in his major league career) hit homers for Chicago.

But some pitchers kept the ball down better than others, kept the ball in the strike zone, kept the ball from getting popped up and blown over the fence. Those were mostly Chicago pitchers. Padre pitchers, superb this entire season, became unnerved. Worried perhaps that they’d give up home runs, they walked 11 batters, 10 unintentionally.

But the worst part was this: After the Padres had trimmed a 9-5 Cub lead to 9-8 in the eighth inning, Tim Stoddard walked four batters in the ninth inning. Two of those walks came with the bases loaded.

Stoddard had come into this weekend hoping to do well. He had left the Cubs this winter, free agency taking him away from the town he’d grown up in. In the top of the ninth, he had become the Padres’ fifth pitcher of the day, and he quickly got two outs.

He would’ve gotten a third out, too, but shortstop Templeton mishandled a Davey Lopes ground ball for an error. Lopes stole second, the 32nd consecutive time he’d stolen without being thrown out. Then Leon Durham was walked intentionally and Keith Moreland singled, scoring Lopes.

Then, after Stoddard had an 0-2 count on Jody Davis, he threw 12 straight balls, although Manager Dick Williams claims Stoddard threw a third strike to Davis, which was never called.

Consequently, a 9-8 Cub lead became 12-8. The Padres could not score off reliever Lee Smith in the bottom of the ninth, wind or no wind.

And Stoddard, when asked if it bothered him that this had happened in Chicago, said: “I don’t want it to happen anywhere. I don’t care if it’s in Iowa or Oregon. What’s the difference? The sun’s going to rise tomorrow.”

Padre batting averages already have risen, as a result of Saturday’s game. They had 12 hits, and Tony Gwynn broke an 0-for-11 streak with three hits. The problem with Gwynn probably was that he’d been on the road, where he couldn’t analyze his swing with his video cassette recorder. When he struggles at home, he just goes and watches TV.

“I called my wife for reports,” Gwynn said. “She said it looked like I was swinging fine, but that I didn’t look confident.”

The Padres were ruined by two four-run innings--the third and fourth. Cey’s and Sandberg’s homers came in the third, after Padre starter Mark Thurmond had retired the first six Cubs. Greg Booker replaced Thurmond in the third, and gave up the homer to Dunston in the fourth.

Dunston, a rookie who has replaced veteran Larry Bowa in the starting lineup, is very hyper, and sprinted to second base before he realized he’d hit a home run. But he’s fast. He scored three runs on Saturday.

Another dream to be blown away on this day was Steve Garvey’s, who again was booed viciously. Apparently, the Chicago fans have not forgiven him for hitting last year’s famous playoff home run, and they chant “Garvey stinks” when he approaches home plate.

He came to the plate in the first inning on Saturday, and they booed. A bleacher bum in left field held up a sign that said: “Geek.”

Garvey then hit a home run to left field.

As he crossed home plate, he tipped his batting helmet. Then, as he approached the dugout, Williams spread his arms and hugged him, just as Garvey had hugged Williams once last year when Garvey had homered here.

“Good timing,” Garvey said of his home run, his fourth this season. “That was fun.”

And Williams even hugged Templeton and grabbed Nettles lightly after their home runs, which had made the score 4-0.

That’s 2 1/2 half hugs, total.

“Last year was a three-hug year (for Williams), so I knew it would be a championship year,” Garvey said.

But the wind did the Padres in. Once, there’d been a popup around the plate, and second baseman Tim Flannery said he felt there was no chance it would come out to him. It did. Flannery caught it, falling on his rear end.

“I woke up this morning (Saturday), and looked out my window, and said it would be a wild game,” Flannery said. “I knew four runs wouldn’t be enough to win . . . I mean, I can look at the scores of Cubs home games in the paper, and can tell by the score how the wind was. If it’s low scoring, the wind was blowing in. If it’s high scoring, the wind was blowing out.”

Padre Notes

The Padres gave Goose Gossage (seven saves) the day off. . . . Graig Nettles on his two home runs: “I’m a streaky hitter, and I’m on a pretty good streak right now. The first one was helped by the wind, but the second (to deep right) was legitimate.” . . . Prior to this game, Padre pitchers had given up just 42 walks, tied for fewest in the league.

PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard FIRST INNING Padres--With two outs, Garvey homered to left, his fourth. Nettles walked. McReynolds flew to right. One run, one hit, one left.

SECOND INNING Padres--With two outs, Templeton homered to right, his second. Thurmond grounded to second. One run, one hit, none left.

THIRD INNING Padres--With one out, Gwynn doubled to left-center. Garvey struck out. Nettles homered to left-center, his third. McReynolds flew to center. Two runs, two hits, none left.

Cubs--Cey homered to left, his third. Dunston doubled to left. Woods, batting for Sanderson, singled to right, Dunston taking third. Dernier flew to center, Dunston scoring. Sandberg homered to left, his third. Lopes grounded to first. Durham walked. Booker took the mound. Moreland walked. Davis struck out. Four runs, four hits, two left.

FOURTH INNING Cubs--With one out, Dunston homered to left, his first. Sorensen walked. Dernier walked. Dravecky took the mound. Sandberg popped to first. Lopes walked, loading the bases. Durham singled to center, Sorensen and Dernier scoring with Lopes taking third. Moreland singled to left, Lopes scoring, Durham taking second. Davis grounded to the shortstop. Four runs, three hits, two left.

FIFTH INNING Padres--With Sorensen pitching. With two outs, Nettles homered to right, his fourth. McReynolds was hit by a pitch. Kennedy grounded out to second. One run, one hit, one left.

Cubs--With one out, Dunston walked. Sorensen sacrificed, Dunston taking second. Dernier tripled to right-center, Dunston scoring. Sandberg flew to right. One run, one hit, one left.

SIXTH INNING Padres--With one out, Templeton doubled down the line in right. Brown struck out. Flannery singled to right-center, Templeton scoring. Gwynn doubled to left, Flannery taking third. Garvey grounded to third. One run, three hits, two left.

SEVENTH INNING Padres--With Fontenot pitching, Nettles reached first on Durham’s error. McReynolds walked, Nettles taking second. Kennedy struck out. Martinez singled to center, Nettles scoring, McReynolds taking second. Templeton grounded into a double play. One run (unearned), one hit, two left.

EIGHTH INNING Padres--With Smith pitching and one out, Flannery doubled down the line in left. Gwynn singled to center, Flannery scoring. Garvey struck out, Gwynn stealing second on the third strike. Nettles walked. McReynolds struck out. One run, two hits, two left.

Cubs--With Stoddard pitching and two outs, Lopes reached on Templeton’s error. Lopes stole second. Durham walked intentionally. Moreland singled to left, Lopes scoring, Durham stopping at second. Davis walked, loading the bases. Cey walked, Durham scoring. Dunston walked, Moreland scoring. DeLeon replaced Stoddard. Smith struck out. Three runs (all unearned), one hit, three left.