Gooden Wins, 11-2 Keeping the Padres Good ‘n Frustrated

For the Mets’ Dwight Gooden, 11 runs are good ‘n plenty. Striking out fewer batters, but striking just the same, Gooden held the Padres to four hits Monday night and won his seventh game of the season, 11-2.

It hurt LaMarr Hoyt. He had been so cocky before the game. Walking to the field for batting practice, he said: “Did you see the odds for this game? They’re 12-5 against us! Somebody’s gonna lose some money. I wouldn’t bet against me.”

Then, he got hammered. George Foster hit two home runs; Danny Heep also hit one, and Hoyt lasted only five innings, giving up seven earned runs.

“I felt I had outstanding stuff,” said Hoyt, who will discuss his supposed alcohol troubles with Commissioner Peter Ueberroth today. “And then getting hit like I did, I don’t see any sense in it. I felt that good. It’s hard to swallow. That’s the best I’ve felt all year.”

Right fielder Tony Gwynn felt much worse. After each home run, he would bend over, his head in the outfield grass, his arms folded neatly across his chest.

His Padres have lost four straight, matching their longest losing streak of the year. And in the four games, they have been outscored, 30-7.

“We got our butts kicked again,” Gwynn said. “We’re under .500 now (24-25). We can’t get no lower than this . . . It’s like the second half of last year all over again.”

A crowd of 28,346 saw the massacre, the smallest New York crowd all year to see Gooden. But these were feisty people. Bored perhaps that the Mets were leading 7-0 after five innings, there were fights and thefts. For instance, two men started punching each other right behind the Padre dugout (a woman joined them and threw in some left hooks), and during the fracas, a kid leaned into the Padre dugout and stole a lead bat.

The Padres actually reported the theft to New York police, though Manager Steve Boros wasn’t optimistic about recovery.

“The lead bat can be replaced,” he said, “but the ‘L’ in the loss column is there for history to record.”

Gooden is there for history, too. At 21, he leads the National League with a 1.97 ERA and already thinks out there.

“This year, I’m a smart pitcher,” he said. “I don’t have to blow fastballs by them. I pitch more to the game situation. I don’t try to strike everybody out.”

Dr. K had only four. In the second inning, he struck out his first batter, Terry Kennedy, and two men wearing dark shades, head bands and Hawaiian shirts posted a big K sign. But it just wasn’t a busy night.

Still, Jerry Royster was impressed. Playing shortstop for the injured Garry Templeton (Dane Iorg replaced the injured Graig Nettles at third), Royster was facing Gooden for the first time. Just before he came up to hit in the third inning, Hoyt--who singled off Gooden for his first major league hit last year and was batting right behind Royster--told him: “Get on base. I’ll knock you in.”

When Royster struck out on a high fastball and came walking back, Hoyt said: “You didn’t get on.”

Hoyt then actually made contact, grounding out to first.

“Dwight, he’s got to be the best pitcher in the game right now,” Hoyt said. “But I see the ball real good against him.”

Nobody else did, except maybe Kevin McReynolds, who stayed hot with a home run (his 11th) to left, making the score 7-1 in the seventh.

“It all goes for naught,” McReynolds said of his blast. “Too bad it couldn’t be worth 12 runs.”

This was the highest Met run total of the year, and it came the day after the Phillies had run up a season high 16 runs against San Diego.

“I can’t look at these two games and point out a significant trend,” Boros said. “Blowouts happen, and these just so happened to come back-to-back. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions from it.”

Oh, the conclusion to Monday’s game was a nasty one. By the middle of the eighth inning, the Padres trailed 7-2, and Boros needed a pitcher to throw the bottom of the eighth.

Goose Gossage.

It was Gossage because he hadn’t pitched in exactly eight days and because everyone else had thrown way too much. He was wild. He nearly hit batters three different times, though he did retire the first two people he faced.

But then he walked Wally Backman, and Keith Hernandez singled. Facing Gary Carter, he threw two strikes and thought he’d thrown another, but umpire John Kibler called it a ball.

Carter walked, loading the bases.

Next, facing Danny Heep, Gossage worked the count to 2-2. His next pitch looked to be a strike, but Kibler again called a ball. And when Gossage threw ball four, walking in a run, he was screaming at Kibler. The fans screamed back: “Goose! Goose!” But Gossage was so heated that Kibler came halfway out to the mound to tell him to shush.

Well, the next batter, Len Dykstra, shushed him up fast, hitting a three-run triple to right. The ninth, 10th and 11th runs came across, and Gooden simply coasted to the victory.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Gossage in a locker room full of shushed Padres.

Padre Notes

LaMarr Hoyt’s meeting here today with Peter Ueberroth was scheduled so that the commissioner could see personally how Hoyt is doing. Hoyt said he expected it to be a leisurely chat, nothing more. . . . Shortstop Garry Templeton was examined by the Met physician, Dr. James Parkes. It is thought that he has a sciatic nerve problem, which is causing back pain. Templeton is doubtful for today’s game and might miss Wednesday as well. As for third baseman Graig Nettles (hamstring), he might also miss the next two games, Manager Steve Boros said. . . . Tony Gwynn, who claims he isn’t a big name yet, was surrounded by New York writers before Monday’s game. His best line: “You know how Ted Williams said he could smell the wood burning after he hit the ball sometimes? I’ve done that.” And how about this one: “People put me in the category of one of the top hitters, and I’ve never bought that.” Or this: “ What would satisfy me average-wise? I have numbers in mind, but they’re in my own mind. I’m not telling anybody. But when I get where I want to be, I’ll let you know.”