Home Run Costs Show and Padres : Clark’s Two-Out Blast Gives the Giants 3-2 Victory in 10 Innings

Sitting slumped in front of his locker Saturday night, Padre catcher Terry Kennedy looked like he had been the losing pitcher.

Instead, Kennedy was simply bemoaning the luck of Eric Show, who was the losing pitcher.

Show and the Padres had just been beaten by San Francisco in 10 innings, 3-2, on Will Clark’s two-out homer in the top of the 10th.

It ruined what had been an otherwise memorable night for Show and a season-high crowd of 53,748 on Cap Night. Show struck out a career-high 13 batters, the National League high this season.

“I feel sorry for him,” Kennedy said. “That guy threw the manure out of the ball.”

If ever there was a vintage Show performance in two ways, this was it.

He was as overpowering as ever, breaking by two his previous strikeout high set last April against the Giants.

But, then, there also were those home-run balls.

Show gave up two more Saturday night, his third and fourth of the season. Bob Brenly had hit a two-run shot into the left-center field bleachers in the second.

“That was his one bad pitch,” Kennedy said. “After that, it was lights out.”

The Padres never could get their offense in gear. Their only runs came on a two-run homer in the fourth by Graig Nettles, his second of the season and second in two nights.

Nettles has 370 career homers, tying Gil Hodges for 29th on the all-time list.

Clark only has 367 to go to catch Nettles and Hodges.

Clark, a rookie, hit his game-winner Saturday on a 1-and-2 pitch.

But his most noteworthy accomplishment of the season came on opening night. He hit a home run off Nolan Ryan in his first major league at-bat.

Just making the Giant roster was most unexpected for Clark, a non-roster player this spring. Clark, less than a year out of college, played for Class A Fresno last year.

He proved he could hit home runs in places like Fresno and Modesto, so now he is proving he can hit in San Francisco and San Diego as well.

“The kid’s a good hitter, and that’s obvious,” Padre Manager Steve Boros said. “He has a knack for getting the big hit at the right time.”

According to Kennedy, Show threw a good pitch to Clark. It was an inside slider, just where it was supposed to be.

Clark just wasn’t supposed to hit it out of the park.

The game certainly had a familiar script, but the ending was different this time.

The Padres had played extra innings in four of their seven previous home games, winning each game by one run. All of the home games had been one-run decisions with the Padres winning six of the first seven.

There have been bizarre endings such as the night before when relief pitcher Craig Lefferts won the game with his first major-league home run.

And there had been the night when Bruce Bochy beat the Dodgers with a homer when he could hardly run. So, he only had to jog around the bases after his game-winning hit.

But even the home team loses sometimes in scripts such as Saturday night’s.

Though Show wasn’t around to talk after the game, he has made his thinking known about giving up home runs. He would rather give up one home run than four singles, but he would rather not give up game-winning homers in the 10th inning to rookies.

“I guess that (giving up home runs) has been his history,” Boros said. “But when you give up three runs in 10 innings, you ought to walk away a winner.”

Roger Mason, the Giant starter, helped prevent Show (0-2) from winning for the fifth straight start. Mason pitched the first six innings, allowing the two runs on Nettles’ homer. Otherwise, the Padres did not get a runner past first base against him.

Mark Davis was perfect in relief in the seventh and eighth.

Jeff Robinson struggled in the ninth, allowing a leadoff single to Kevin McReynolds and two-out intentional walk to Nettles. However, he escaped when right fielder Chili Davis made a good running catch on Garry Templeton’s fly ball in the alley.

Robinson pitched a perfect 10th, making his season record 2-0.

Though Show was the loser, the Padre bullpen certainly considered him a winner. Everybody available had pitched the night before in relief, and the bullpen needed a break.

Show gave the bullpen what it wanted. The Padre offense just didn’t give Show what he needed--a few runs.

“That was an excellent effort on the part of Eric,” Boros said. “He just seems to lack the runs he needs to win. He has done the pitching.”

But when the game was on the line Saturday, Will Clark did the hitting.Padre Notes When pitcher Craig Lefferts hit a home run in the 12th inning Friday night to beat the Giants, 9-8, it was his first home run since his sophomore year of high school. It was also his first RBI in the major leagues. Lefferts did himself a favor in more ways than one because he was the last pitcher available in the Padre bullpen. “He was going to go as long as he could,” Manager Steve Boros said. “If we went 17 or 18 innings, Lefferts was going to be pitching unless he couldn’t get his arm up or had a serious injury.” The alternatives after Lefferts? Boros said he would have pitched Dave Dravecky, today’s scheduled starter, or Andy Hawkins, who had pitched Wednesday in Cincinnati. “Both would have been bad choices,” Boros said. “I didn’t want to use either of them.” . . . Craig Nettles had led off the 12th with a game-tying homer off losing pitcher Greg Minton. Garry Templeton grounded out before Lefferts homered on a two-strike pitch. “If Nettles goes out and Templeton goes out, Lefferts still hits,” Boros said. “You would’ve heard the boos in San Francisco. Nettles was my hero. He really got me off the hook with his home run.” . . . Boros said the last time he saw a pitcher hit a game-winning homer in his team’s last at-bat was in 1963 when he played for the Chicago Cubs. Lindy McDaniel hit the home run for the Cubs, who were then managed by Bob Kennedy, Terry Kennedy’s father. . . . Carmelo Martinez was a late scratch from Saturday’s game when the tendinitis below his left knee acted up again. “I had him written in the lineup until he came to the park,” Boros said. “It’s still tender. If it’s sore today (Saturday), it’d be tough for me to see him back in the lineup tomorrow (today))” According to Boros, Martinez will probably have a bone scan taken of the injury. . . . Before Saturday’s game, San Francisco Manager Roger Craig talked at length about the split-fingered fastball he has taught his pitchers. “It really has the action of a spitter, but it’s not,” Craig said. “I’ve been accused of teaching a spitter. Gaylord Perry threw both pitches when I was here (managing the Padres in 1978 and 1979). One game we had here, Gaylord was getting hit hard so I told him to throw more spitters. He said, ‘Every pitch I’ve thrown has been a spitter.’ ” . . . When Craig managed the Padres, he did not teach the split-fingered fastball. He said he did not learn how to teach the pitch until 1980, when he became Detroit’s pitching coach. “If I knew it when I was with the Padres, I’d probably still be here,” Craig said. . . . Add Giant Name Changes: Outfielder Jeff Leonard said earlier he wanted to be known as Jeffrey because that’s what his mother calls him. Now, rookie second baseman Rob Thompson wants to be known as Robby because that’s what he was called before he made the major leagues. . . . Dravecky (1-1) will pitch against San Francisco’s Mike Krukow (3-0) in the series finale today at 1:05 p.m.