Morrison’s Homer and Padres’ Hopes: Gone With the Wind

Enough with the abuse being heaped upon the suddenly ineffective Padre bullpen.

Maybe it’s time to fault somebody other than the relief pitchers for their collapse of late.

Why not blame Mother Nature? She was the one accused Sunday of causing the Padres to lose to Pittsburgh, 5-2, as the Pirates completed a three-game sweep.

Until Mother Nature entered the picture, the Padres and Pirates were tied, 2-2, with two out in the top of the ninth.

Relief pitcher Craig Lefferts then threw a pitch where he wanted it, on the outside corner of the plate. Jim Morrison of Pittsburgh hit it where he had dreamed of hitting it, over the right-field wall.

But according to those who witnessed the game-winning home run, Mother Nature had more to do with it than Morrison.

“I noticed the flag was blowing out (toward right field),” Padre Manager Steve Boros said. “He got it up in the wind and over the fence. It’s hard for me to believe it went over the fence, but it did.”

Right fielder Tony Gwynn, who just missed an attempted leaping catch, also was amazed.

“When he hit the ball, I put my shades down,” Gwynn said. “I thought it was just a fly ball. The ball kept on going and going and going . . . I had backed into the fence. I don’t know if I would have caught it if I had climbed the wall.”

When Morrison hit the ball, which was his second homer in as many games, he didn’t think Gwynn would be thinking about climbing walls.

“I thought it was going to be a deep fly ball,” Morrison said. “Mother Nature, I’m sure, helped it by at least 10 feet. I saw Gwynn set up on the warning track, then I was praying.”

If the Padres could make a confession, it would be that they blew the game on their own after Mother Nature blew Morrison’s ball out of the park.

Although the Padres trailed by just one run after the homer, they soon trailed by three because of their shoddy pitching and defense.

Sammy Khalifa followed Morrison by reaching base when Garry Templeton was charged with an error for failure to field a hard grounder. Lefferts then walked Lee Mazilli, and Boros walked to the mound to get Lefferts out of the game.

Lance McCullers walked in from the bullpen, only to walk R. J. Reynolds and load the bases. Joe Orsulak followed with a two-run single to center.

“Those two walks hurt us,” Boros said. “I sure would have liked to have kept the score at 3-2. I thought we would have had a good chance at tying it up.”

Considering how the Padre bullpen has pitched lately, the team’s chances at winning close games has diminished.

The relievers have a combined earned-run average of 3.91 over their last six games. Goose Gossage has lost two games in that time and Lefferts lost Sunday.

“If I go out 60 times a year with the stuff I had today, I’ll do pretty well,” Lefferts said. “Unfortunately, one ball was hit pretty well and ended up going out. I don’t think anything is wrong with our bullpen just because we’ve had a couple of bad days.”

LaMarr Hoyt, making his second start for the Padres, had a so-so day on the mound. He threw 62 pitches in five innings (13 fewer than the Padre coaching staff would have allowed him if he were going good), giving up two runs on seven hits before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.

Rick Rhoden, Pittsburgh’s starter, pitched longer than Hoyt (7 innings) but had similar statistics. Rhoden also allowed two runs on seven hits.

Since last season, Rhoden has made it well known that he wants out of Pittsburgh. Although Rhoden said the overall situation in Pittsburgh is much better this year, he still wants to leave because of the town’s lack of support for the Pirates.

He was encouraged to see 21,727 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Sunday.

“I like to play at a place like here (San Diego) where you have fans and enthusiasm,” Rhoden said. “We just don’t draw well in Pittsburgh. I’m not going to be here (with Pittsburgh) through the season. You can bet on that. If I have to start being an idiot, I won’t be here all season.”

Rhoden wouldn’t argue if he finished the season with the Padres.

“I’ve always liked it here,” he said. “I liked it here even when they had bad teams. Now, they have a good team.”

Jim Leyland, Pirate manager, knows he has a good thing in Rhoden.

“Everybody in baseball knows what we have,” Leyland said. “That’s why there is so much interest in him. We’re no fools. We know what we have here. He’s a LaMarr Hoyt type who knows how to work on hitters and get them out. That’s what makes him so special.”

In pressure situations Sunday, there was nothing special about the Padres’ hitting.

They left the bases loaded in the fifth when Kevin McReynolds weakly popped to first against Rhoden. They left the bases loaded in the eighth when Graig Nettles hit into a fielder’s choice against winning pitcher Jim Winn. And they left the tying runs on in the ninth when McReynolds struck out against Winn.

Last week, Boros benched McReynolds for two games because of a lack of production. But Sunday, Boros was defending McReynolds by blaming his lack of output on good pitching.

“Rhoden pitched him very tough,” Boros said. “And the last pitch Winn threw him was low and away on the black (of the plate). You don’t expect the pitch to be low and away when the count is 3-2 and you’re the tying run.”

Nor does one expect to hear Mother Nature get blamed for losing a game, but that’s the kind of Sunday the Padres experienced.

Padre Notes

Steve Boros on LaMarr Hoyt’s performance: “He threw the ball well. He’s not as sharp (as he can be) as far as getting his breaking ball and off-speed pitches over. His velocity and break on the breaking ball tell me it’s all there. He certainly pitched well enough to win.” . . . Tim Stoddard pitched two perfect innings in relief of Hoyt, striking out four of the six batters he faced. Craig Lefferts had retired five straight before Jim Morrison’s game-winning home run. . . . Pittsburgh Manager Jim Leyland on the possibility of trading Rick Rhoden: “To me, that’s (General Manager) Syd Thrift’s job. I’ll support whatever he does. Naturally, from a selfish standpoint, there probably isn’t one of 26 managers in baseball who wouldn’t want Rick Rhoden in his starting rotation. And I’m one of the 26 managers.” . . . Tony Gwynn was 3 for 4 Sunday, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Gwynn is batting .462 over that period. . . . The Padres are off today before beginning a two-game series Tuesday night in St. Louis.

“If I go out 60 times a year with the stuff I had today, I’ll do pretty well. Unfortunately, one ball was hit pretty well and ended up going out. I don’t think anything is wrong with our bullpen just because we’ve had a couple of bad days.”

CRAIG LEFFERTS

‘When he hit the ball, I put my shades down. I thought it was just a fly ball. The ball kept on going and going and going . . . I had backed into the fence. I don’t know if I would have caught it if I had climbed the wall.’--Tony Gwynn