Padre Errors Force Their Fall From First Place : Cardinals Give Them Enough Rope in Loss

Dick Williams thought it appropriate that he not shower before his postgame radio talk show Saturday night.

“We might as well make the whole (Padre) network stink,” he said.

And, with that, the Padre manager left the room, a room filled with uncommon silence. His team had lost another Saturday night game, this time by a score of 7-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Finally, and it had become inevitable, San Diego fell to second place in the National League West, a half-game behind the Dodgers, who had played and won on national television Saturday in a game most of the Padres had watched.

“(Cub pitcher) Larry Gura kept hanging sliders,” Tony Gwynn said, shaking his head four times in the Padre dugout.

And then the Padres proceeded to hang themselves, for it was nothing that the Cardinals did Saturday.

Each team had eight hits, and the Padres probably hit the ball harder off of winner Danny Cox (11-4) than the Cardinals did against loser Ed Wojna (1-2). In the second inning, for instance, Kevin McReynolds and Terry Kennedy hit balls out to the warning track, but Willie McGee, proving that speed helps more than just on the basepaths, made catches on both.

The Padres only caught hell.

For the second time in three nights, they committed multiple errors. On Thursday night, it was five, and this time it was three. The Cardinals scored two unearned runs (four runs overall) in the third, and one more unearned run (three runs overall) in the fifth. That was the game.

Garry Templeton left the game in the fourth inning with a twisted ankle (X-rays later proved negative). Tony Gwynn sat out his second straight game with a sore left wrist. And Williams hinted afterward that there could be lineup changes in either left field for Carmelo Martinez, in center field for Kevin McReynolds or, gulp, at first base for Steve Garvey.

“Let’s not leave him (Garvey) out,” Williams said. “He’s one of the players. It’s not just the outfield. Let’s say it like it is . . . It (resting them) is a thought. If it’s hot tomorrow, maybe we will. I won’t say we will. We’re playing very poorly, and we know it. We all know it.”

Garvey, who is in a 2-for-15 slump and now has a .264 batting average, said, “It’s his (Williams’) prerogative. I’m just an employee. He’s the manager. I’ve hit it hard a couple times a game, but I’ve not been managing to hit it where they aren’t. After 15 years, you’d think I’d have learned that by now.

“But McReynolds has done that, and Carmelo, too. It gets to be mental sometimes. We live with each other so much that we tend to slump together.”

Apparently, though, there isn’t a state of depression on this team, even though it has fallen so far so fast. After the first game of the current road trip on July 4 (a 9-1 win in Pittsburgh), the Padres had a five-game lead. Now, on July 13, they trail by one-half game. They’ve lost 7 of 11 road games.

“I’m not thinking about it all the time, but I won’t say it isn’t a big deal,” Terry Kennedy said. “If we play like this for two more weeks . . . Well, let’s worry about that in two weeks.”

Williams said he is not concerned, that injuries worry him more. Pitcher Andy Hawkins, who now says his right index finger is almost healed, has missed a start, and now Gwynn and Templeton are ailing. Templeton, who had been playing in with Cardinal runners on first and second, fielded Cox’ bouncer up the middle and twisted his left ankle as he threw.

At first, X-rays were taken at the stadium here, and when the pictures dried, doctors noticed something that Williams said they didn’t like. So he was taken to Jewish Hospital here for more sophisticated X-rays, but they were negative.

Why all the negative results on the field? Gwynn mentioned that it’s possible that the Cardinals are just plain good. Here in St. Louis, owner Gussie Busch, age 84, announced on Saturday that Manager Whitey Herzog had been given a three-year extension on his contract. When you’re hot, you’re hot.

But Gwynn also mentioned that maybe, just maybe, the Padres had begun to look ahead to the All-Star break that starts after today’s game. It comes at a perfect time for them to recuperate and reflect.

“All in all, we’re due for a little valley,” Garvey said. “We’ve been consistent for over a year, and you’ll have a couple of lulls. You just have to keep them from being too deep.

“But this might be good timing with the All-Star break. I’ve seen it rejuvenate teams, and this one is about ready to have its battery charged. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.”

Still, just so it’s known, here were Saturday night’s bloopers and blunders:

First inning--Tim Flannery leads off the game with a double. He’s stranded on second.

Second inning--Cardinal outfielder Andy Van Slyke was walked by Wojna and balked to second. He stole third and apparently scored on Terry Pendleton’s sacrifice fly to left, but he left third too soon and was called out. Lucky Padres.

Third inning--Ozzie Smith singled. Tom Nieto walked on four pitches. With runners on first and second, the infield was in against pitcher Cox. Cox grounded to Templeton, but he threw it away, Smith scoring. Later, runners were on second and third when Willie McGee grounded again to Templeton, who threw to the plate. Kennedy, the catcher, let the ball get by him and didn’t hustle to get it. He was charged with an error as two more runs scored.

Fourth inning--The Padres finally scored a run, and with two outs, had Martinez on second and McReynolds on first. Cox threw a pitch that got away from Nieto, and Martinez started toward third. McReynolds, seeing Martinez moving, started toward second. But Martinez had stopped to go back to second, and McReynolds suddenly was caught in a rundown. He was out. The rally ended.

Fifth inning--With one out, Vince Coleman reached on a ground ball that Jerry Royster, Templeton’s replacement, couldn’t stop. He was balked to second. McGee bunted to move him to third, and Wojna bobbled it, allowing McGee to reach safely. Error on Wojna, Coleman going to third. Tommy Herr than followed with an RBI single, and Jack Clark followed with a two-run double.

By this time, it was 7-1.

Williams held his nose.

Padre Notes Rumors were that National League President Chub Feeney had talked Cardinal pitcher Joaquin Andujar into attending the All-Star Game even if he wasn’t starting. Actually, Feeney had talked to Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog about it. Andujar still said: “I no go.” . . . Padre Manager Dick Williams on Met pitcher Ron Darling, Andujar’s replacement: “Excellent selection.” . . . Carmelo Martinez on his recent 0-for-13 slump: “I have opportunities to drive in runs and I’m trying too hard. I’m getting under the ball.”