Gwynn Stings Royster and the Reds, 9-4 : His Home Run Wins Bet, Helps Padres Stay One Up in Battle for Third

The setup:

In Dodger Stadium Tuesday night, Padre second baseman Jerry Royster boasted to Tony Gwynn that he would take Dodger reliever Carlos Diaz downtown in a ninth-inning at-bat.

Royster, who flashes occasional muscle and has hit five out this season, popped out to end the game. Gwynn won five dollars.

The bet:

In San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Thursday afternoon, Gwynn, who at the time shared Royster’s total of five homers, said he would bet Royster double or nothing that the Padre right fielder would connect for a homer against Cincinnati. The sting:

After Tim Flannery walked to open the Padre first, Gwynn hit a Jay Tibbs fastball deep over the right-center field fence to tie the game, 2-2, and double the amount of Royster’s loss.

The Padres went on to beat Cincinnati, 9-4, in front of a season-low crowd of 8,698 Thursday to maintain their one-game lead over Houston in the race for third place in the National League West.

“I figured I’d been taking too many pitches lately,” Gwynn explained. “I thought about it (the bet) and told myself that if Tibbs tried to get a quick fastball by me, I was going to give it a go.”

To Royster’s displeasure, Tibbs delivered a fastball down the heart of the plate and Gwynn hit a home run the distance of which is normally reserved for sluggers like Dale Murphy or Mike Schmidt.

“That’s as deep as I’ve seen him hit one,” Padre Manager Dick Williams said. “He’s got some pop in that bat, but he’d probably have to give up some average to hit more long balls.”

After his home run, Gwynn singled twice to give him 193 hits for the season and raise his average to .317. He also extended his current hitting streak to nine games.

“I’m hoping to get to that 200 mark,” Gwynn said. “But whatever happens, I’ll be satisfied with my performance this year.”

He should be. After hitting a league-leading .351 a year ago, Gwynn has had to overcome the loss of speedy Alan Wiggings batting ahead of him and a sore wrist to keep his average up.

“There’s no way we could have expected him to hit .350 again,” Williams said. “He’s adjusted very well to not having Wiggins ahead of him, and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him this season.”

While Gwynn was swinging for 200 hits, Padre pitcher Andy Hawkins was busy mowing down the Reds after Dave Parker’s two-run homer (his 32nd) in the first inning.

Hawkins, who won his first 11 decisions this year, went the distance in his final 1985 appearance to finish the season with an 18-8 record.

“I guess I’m a little happy and a little disappointed,” Hawkins said. “I’m happy to get 18 wins, but I’m disappointed that we didn’t make the playoffs and I didn’t get the 20 wins.”

Like Hawkins had said in early June after win No. 11, everything had been going well for the right-handed Texan.

He pitched well in August and September, but things simply didn’t work out for him. After going four starts without a win, Hawkins finally picked up No. 18 Thursday, the fourth-highest total in Padre history. Randy Jones won 22 games in 1976 and 20 in 1975. Gaylord Perry was a 21-game winner in 1978.

Padre Notes Tim Flannery provided some excitement Thursday without ever putting the ball in play. Flannery walked four times to tie a Padre record and had the crowd buzzing during his fifth at-bat in the eighth inning. After fouling off two pitches to stay alive, Flannery finally struck out against Reds reliever Mike Smith. . . . Carmelo Martinez homered and singled Thursday, driving in four runs. . . . Dave Parker’s two-run homer gave him a league-leading 123 RBIs for the season. Reds rookie outfielder Paul O’Neill drove in the first run of his major league career with a second-inning single.