Kennedy Gets to McWilliams as Padres Rout Pirates

In the 1985 Elias Baseball Analyst, Pirate left-hander Larry McWilliams names Padre catcher Terry Kennedy as the hitter he loves to face the most.

And Kennedy lists McWilliams as the pitcher he hates to face the most.

But on a cool Wednesday evening at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, a crowd of 25,770 saw Kennedy hit a three-run double off McWilliams to send the Padres and undefeated Andy Hawkins (6-0) on their way to an easy 12-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After McWilliams retired 9 of the first 11 hitters, the Padres, trailing 1-0, jumped on the Pirate left-hander in the fourth.

Steve Garvey, who has seven hits in his last two games, has hit .441 in his last eight games, and leads the National League with 38 hits, laced a leadoff single to left. It was the first of his three hits, including his fifth home run.

McReynolds followed with a single to center. Graig Nettles grounded to first, which was as effective as a sacrifice bunt as the runners advanced.

McWilliams then walked Carmelo Martinez intentionally to face the left-handed Kennedy, and set up a possible double play situation.

Kennedy entered the game hitting .063 (1-16) against McWilliams, and that included 10 strikeouts. No. 10 came in the first inning.

But Kennedy got to McWilliams in the fourth.

Kennedy laced a 1-0 pitch down the left-field line for three runs, and a 3-1 lead.

“One reason I dropped Terry to seventh in the batting order was because of his record against McWilliams,” said Dick Williams, Padres manager. “But Terry got the big hit for us.”

Kennedy drove in four runs in the Padres’ 12-2 win (sound familiar?) over St. Louis Tuesday, and has driven in nine runs in his last six games.

He is not the only hot Padre hitter.

Nettles and Hawkins were the only Padre starters not to drive in a run on Wednesday.

Royster had two doubles and an RBI, Gwynn and Garvey had two RBIs, and McReynolds, Templeton, Martinez and pinch-hitter Mario Ramirez had one each.

The beneficiary of the Padres second straight hit parade was Hawkins who has won all six of his starts this season.

Hawkins allowed nine hits in eight innings, gave up single runs in the first and seventh, struck out three and did not walk a batter. Luis DeLeon pitched a scoreless ninth to get some work, but not a save.

“I felt really good from the start,” said Hawkins, who added that it has taken him a couple of innings to get going in previous starts.

Last season, Hawkins posted a 6-8 record. But by May he already has matched his win total of 1984.

“If at the start of the season,” Hawkins said, “someone had told me I’d be 6-0, I’d have told them they were talking about the wrong guy.”

Now, the talk is about Hawkins’ consistency, confidence and his cut fastball.

“I’m as confident now as I’ve ever been since I’ve been in the big leagues,” Hawkins said. “And the cut fastball has made all the difference in the world. It keeps the hitters guessing. A hitter can’t sit on it.”

Not like the Padres were sitting on the Pirate pitchers.

After Kennedy’s double in the fourth, the Padres added two more runs on doubles by Templeton and Royster.

In the fifth, Garvey led off with a towering home run to left off McWilliams. It was Garvey’s fourth career homer off McWilliams, and his fifth homer of the season. He didn’t hit No. 5 until July 17 last year.

Garvey’s HR finished McWilliams. The Padres added two runs on a triple by Gwynn and single by Garvey in the sixth off Cecilio Guante.

Padre Notes The Padres close out their two-game series against the Pirates this afternoon at 1:05. Mark Thurmond (0-2) is scheduled to pitch against right-hander Mike Bielecki (1-1). . . . In honor of Mother’s Day, Padre Owner Joan Kroc will appear on This Week in Baseball, which is shown locally on Saturday, May 11, at 4 p.m., or immediately following the Game of the Week. . . . Tony Gwynn broke an 0-for-11 streak when he lined a run-scoring triple to right-center in the sixth inning. . . . Garry Templeton went 2 for 4 on Wednesday night to raise his totals for the last six games to 12 for 25. That includes two doubles, two homers and six RBIs.