Thurmond and Padres Lose Pair to Giants

If the starter and loser in the first game of a doubleheader were also to lose the second game in relief, it figures it would happen at Candlestick Park.

Strange things happen in this windy yard by the bay.

Remember when Stu Miller was blown off the mound in the 1961 All-Star Game? Of all the parks in the major leagues, it figures that the 1,000,000th run in baseball history was scored here by Bob Watson of the Houston Astros.

Well, on a long Sunday afternoon in front of 24,104, left-hander Mark Thurmond became the first Padre to ever lose both games of a doubleheader.

After allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits in three innings in the Padres’ 7-3 opening-game loss to Mike Krukow, Thurmond was also the loser in a wild and breezy 5-4 defeat in 13 innings in the second game.

After a day like this, the Padres were more than glad to leave Candlestick.

Just ask Thurmond and right-fielder Tony Gwynn. Actually, ask any number of Padres who weren’t sorry to leave the Bay Area after dropping numerous wind-aided fly balls and three of five games to the last-place Giants.

“This was a bad day at the office,” Gywnn said.

That’s more than Thurmond would say. He just sat by his locker with his hands in his head.

With two outs in the 13th, Jeff Leonard hit a fly ball to right. Gywnn was shaded toward right-center for the right-handed hitter when he began his adventure for the ball.

Gwynn, who had misjudged Jose Uribe’s run-scoring triple in the third inning of the second game, missed making a sliding catch of Leonard’s towering and slicing fly ball. The ball bounced behind Gwynn, and Leonard coasted into third.

“I misplayed it,” Gwynn said. “I should have let it drop. The wind held it up and I tried for a catch. The ball got by me and cost us the game.”

Chris Brown, who drove in a career-high four runs in the opener, hit Luis DeLeon’s first pitch to right for a game-winning single. DeLeon, the sixth Padre pitcher used in the second game, came on in relief of Thurmond after Leonard’s triple.

It was quite a series for DeLeon.

He gave up a game-winning homer to David Green in the 11th inning of Friday night’s game. Then, he allowed two runs in two innings, including a homer to Leonard, in the first game Sunday.

Until the ninth inning of the second game, which took 3 hours and 37 minutes, it did not appear that there would be any last minute heroics or excitement.

In the ninth, the lethargic Padres woke up and tied the game by scoring two runs on a key pinch-hit double by Terry Kennedy (1 for 21 when he came to the plate) and a two-out, two-run pinch-hit ground ball single up the middle by Bobby Brown.

On the play, shortstop Jose Uribe got his glove on the ball and deflected it into short center field. Third base coach Ozzie Virgil never hesitated in waving Kennedy around third, and the big catcher scored standing up.

Used sparingly this season, Brown was 2 for 4 right-handed and had only one hit left-handed when he came to the plate against Mark Davis.

In the 12th inning, the Padres took a 4-3 lead when Garry Templeton was hit in the shoulder by a Davis pitch and Tim Flannery lined a run-scoring triple to right-center. However, Flannery was stranded when Gwynn lined to third and Garvey bounced to third.

The insurance run that wasn’t proved to be very important when the Giants tied the game against Tim Stoddard, who was working his second inning of relief after pitching three scoreless innings in the opener.

San Francisco had a good opportunity to win in the 12th, but Dan Gladden made two baserunning blunders. Gladden broke an 0-for-22 spell with a one-out, pinch-hit RBI double to right-center.

On the play, the speedster started jogging after he rounded second. It appeared he thought he had driven in the winning run, and he thought the game was over. Thus, Gladden ended up with a double instead of what probably would have been a triple.

After pinch-hitter Bob Brenly was walked intentionally, Joel Youngblood bounced to third baseman Kurt Bevacqua, who threw Youngblood out at first. When Gladden made a wide turn around third, Garvey threw to Kennedy, who rifled a strike to Templeton covering third. Templeton tagged out Gladden to end the rally and the inning.

“I was trying to make up for the first mistake and I screwed up again,” Gladden said.

The doubleheader loss overshadowed the impressive performance of rookie Ed Wojna, who made his major league debut in the second game and earned the job as fifth starter for this week.

Wojna was involved in a duel with Vida Blue, who allowed only two hits and struck out 10 in seven innings.

Wojna, the slender 24-year-old right-hander with a herky-jerky motion, allowed just three runs (two earned) on seven hits in seven innings. However, he allowed all the runs (two earned) in a snakebitten third inning when he actually got the equivalent of six outs.

“This sure is a tough park defensively to play in,” Wojna said. “Every fly ball is an adventure.”