Dravecky Keeps 11 Phillies on Strike as Padres Win, 7-2

“Well gents,” Dave Dravecky said to a mob of reporters, “what shall we talk about?”

Strikeouts.

Dravecky K’d a career-high 11 Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-2 Padre victory Wednesday night.

Strikeouts.

“I don’t throw ‘em,” Dravecky said.

But he did this time.

“I was lucky,” Dravecky said.

Explain it, then.

“Last night, Eric (Show) had a jazz tape,” he said. “He sat there and listened to it last night before his game and went out and struck out 13 or 14 (actually 12). So, I said to myself: ‘Hey, we’re gonna put that tape on tonight, and you’ll get fired up over that jazz music and you’ll go out and strike out 10 or 11. . . . I kicked back and listened.”

The name of the tape:

“The Monsters Are Here,” Show said.

But the monsters aren’t here, and that explains it. The Phillies, the Whiff Kids, have struck out 43 times in four games and 257 times total this season. That’s an average of 7.34 a game.

Last year, they led the majors with 1,095. That’s 6.76 a game.

These aren’t special Ks. Phillie Manager John Felske is confused.

“We’re striking out close to half the time,” he said. “There are 27 outs . . . so that’s important. You need to put it in play. When you don’t hit, there’s no pressure on the opposing team. You’re not forcing them to make plays. . . . We’re up there trying to do the best we can. We’re just up there striking out. I wish we had the answer.”

Strikeouts.

“Sometimes, in a situation like this,” Felske said, “they’re over-trying. No one walks up there trying to strike out.”

But Dravecky doesn’t go out there trying to strike anyone out.

That’s what is different.

And the Padre power was different Wednesday night.

Most everybody hit.

Graig Nettles--Coming in with a team low .172 batting average, he singled and homered in his first two at-bats. Because he is 41, many people sighed. Poor Jack McKeon keeps answering questions about how he could’ve signed Nettles to a $900,000-plus contract. Incidentally, a few reporters were pestering him about it Wednesday.

Before the game.

Apparently, coach Harry Dunlop helped Nettles out of this slump. When Nettles arrived here in 1984, he told the coaches to see if he was keeping his hands back long enough at the plate.

He asked them to tell him if he wasn’t.

It means he is messing up.

So, Dunlop told Nettles he wasn’t keeping his hands back, and whammo. His home run to right-center was his fifth of the season.

“We’re counting on him for 15-20 home runs and 60 RBIs,” Manager Steve Boros said. “I was glad to see him hit those two (Wednesday night) on the nose.”

Tony Gwynn--Wednesday, like every day, he was out there sweating in the batting cage. It was 4 p.m., long before any former batting champion should have been out in the sun, but that’s him. On this day, he left the cage cursing.

Before the game.

After the game, his batting average had risen to .362.

He went 4 for 4 (all singles).

His baserunning wasn’t bad, either. In the third inning, Steve Garvey had doubled to right field, and Gwynn--starting on first--chugged to third. As the relay came toward second base in an attempt to get Garvey, Gwynn saw that shortstop Steve Jeltz hesitated. Gwynn scored.

“Something like you see Willie Mays do,” Boros said.

Gwynn, dropping his jaw: “That’s completely off key. . . . Willie Mays? You can’t even mention me in the same breath.”

Marvell Wynne--He tripled to right, though he was thrown out by right fielder Glenn Wilson when he tried to score on a fly out.

Tim Flannery--He singled in the game’s first run in the second inning and was credited with the game-winning RBI.

Garry Templeton--His double in the three-run second drove in a run.

Kevin McReynolds and Terry Kennedy--They each hit long sacrifice fly RBIs.

Dravecky--He had a bunt single that drove in Nettles from third.

Padre Notes The smile is back. Bip Roberts, who hobbled off with an apparent groin injury Tuesday night, walked (not limped) around the clubhouse Wednesday and was chirping again. “I’m very optimistic,” he said. Apparently, it is a much less serious injury than at first feared. Trainer Dick Dent called Roberts’ injury an inguinal (in the groin area) ligament strain, and this should heal more quickly. Roberts won’t be in uniform for a few days, but he won’t be going on the disabled list either, and that was the Padres’ worst fear. . . . Carmelo Martinez, hitting .215, is going to be rested against right-handed pitchers for a while. He hasn’t had an RBI since May 3. “I think it’s right,” Martinez said Wednesday. “I’m struggling . . . I’m not helping. I’m not doing anything. I’m just hitting fly balls to left.” Manager Steve Boros says that Martinez is trying to turn things around the wrong way. “He is trying to make up for lost time by hitting three-run homers, and that won’t work.” Boros suggested some line drives instead. . . . Goose Gossage did give up a two-run double in relief of Eric Show Tuesday night, but in his defense, it was a little blooper just beyond third baseman Graig Nettles’ glove. These days (he has blown four save opportunities and has given up hits in seven of his last eight appearances), it’s been fashionable to blame Gossage for everything, but it wasn’t fair to do so Tuesday.

PADRES AT A GLANCE Scorecard SECOND INNING Padres--With one out, McReynolds walked. Nettles singled to right, McReynolds stopping at second. Flannery singled to center, McReynolds scoring, Nettles stopping at third. Dravecky bunted for a single, Nettles scoring with Flannery stopping at second. Wynne flied to center. Templeton doubled to left, Flannery scoring and Dravecky out at the plate. Three runs, four hits.

THIRD INNING Phillies--With two out, Roenicke singled to left. Hayes singled to left center, Roenicke stopping at third. Samuel was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Schmidt singled to left, Roenicke and Hayes scoring, Samuel stopping at second. Wilson flied to center. Two runs, three hits, two left.

Padres--Gwynn singled to right. Garvey doubled to right, Gwynn stopping at third and then scoring when shortstop Jeltz held the ball too long. Rucker replaced Hudson. Kennedy grounded to second, Garvey stopping at third. McReynolds flied to center, Garvey scoring. Nettles homered to right-center, his fifth. Flannery singled to left. Dravecky grounded to first. Three runs, four hits, one left.

SEVENTH INNING Padres--Hume pitching. Gwynn singled to left. Garvey singled to center, Gwynn stopping at third. Kennedy flied to right, Gwynn tagging and scoring. McReynolds grounded into a double play. One run, two hits, one left.