Giants Power Past Padres for 6-3 Victory

The matchup was classic weakness against weakness.

The San Francisco Giants, second to last in National League home runs, faced the Padres, who began the night fourth in home runs allowed.

Move the Padres to second on the list of gopher balls.

San Francisco hit three home runs Wednesday night to defeat the Padres, 6-3, in front of 24,444 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The Giant home-run hitters weren’t to be confused with Willie Mays, Willie McCovey or Orlando Cepeda.

--There was Bob Melvin, hitting his first major-league home run.

--There was Jose Uribe, hitting his first home run of the season.

--And there was Chris Brown, who had hit himself in the eye Tuesday with a ball that bounced off the plate in batting practice.

The Padres also had home runs from the expected and unexpected.

Steve Garvey hit his team-leading 13th home run.

Tim Stoddard hit the first home run of his major league career.

Now, if only the Padres could hit with runners on base.

They left the bases loaded in the fourth and seventh. They left runners on first and third in the eighth.

And they left the ballpark for the first time in three nights with a loss to the Giants.

San Francisco remained in second-place in the NL West, 1 1/2 games behind Houston. The Padres are in fifth, 4 1/2 games out.

Mark Thurmond, the Padre starting pitcher, was gone by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Thurmond lasted 1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits, including two home runs.

In three starts against San Francisco, has allowed the Giants 13 earned runs on 17 hits in seven innings.

But lately, almost everybody has looked like the Giants to Thurmond.

In a five-game stretch from May 6 to June 3, he allowed 19 runs (18 earned) on 32 hits in 15 innings.

Then, when it appeared Thurmond’s spot in the rotation was in jeopardy, he pitched a three-hitter on June 8 and drove in four runs as the Padres beat Atlanta, 4-1.

When it appeared Thurmond’s spot was safe, he allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings last Friday as the Padres lost to the Dodgers, 6-2.

Now this.

Brown led off the second inning Wednesday with a home run off Thurmond.

Two batters later, Melvin hit his first major league homer. Bob Brenly preceded Melvin with a walk.

Uribe then flied to right. But consecutive singles by pitcher Mike LaCoss and Joel Youngblood made Thurmond a spectator for the remainder of the night.

On came Stoddard to pitch.

And in the third, on came Stoddard to hit.

He homered to center, his first major league home run and RBI. In 30 previous major league at-bats, Stoddard had two hits.

San Francisco took a 4-1 lead with a run in the top of the fourth. Uribe singled and stole second, was sacrificed to third by LaCoss and scored on Youngblood’s single.

The Padres, who came back from a 5-1 deficit in Tuesday’s 8-5 win, wasted little time in coming back again.

Kevin McReynolds led off the fourth with a walk. One out later, back-to-back singles by Graig Nettles and Terry Kennedy scored McReynolds.

The Padres could have scored more. However, the fourth ended with the bases loaded when pinch-hitter Dane Iorg lined to left.

Garvey hit his 13th homer in the sixth, pulling the Padres to within 4-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, San Francisco attempted to give the game away. The Padres wouldn’t accept.

The Giants walked three San Diego batters, only to have the Padres leave the bases loaded for the second time in four innings.

Tim Flannery led off the seventh with a walk, then pinch-hitter Carmelo Martinez flied to deep left.

Roger Craig, San Francisco manager, considered it time to bring on his left-handed relief ace, Mark Davis.

Some ace.

Davis threw four straight balls to pinch-hitter Jerry Royster and two straight to Tony Gwynn. Craig headed straight to the mound, replacing Davis with Juan Berenguer.

Two pitches later, Berenguer made it eight straight balls by walking Gwynn to load the bases.

Up came McReynolds for the ninth straight ball. But four pitches later, down went McReynolds with a strikeout.

Up came Garvey. Down went Garvey on a fly to right.

Then, down went the Padres for good in the top of the eighth.

After Melvin drew a one-out walk, Uribe hit a two-run homer.

The Giants led, 6-3.

The Padres had a chance to come back. They didn’t.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Nettles was on third base and Garry Templeton on first.

Flannery struck out. Martinez popped out to the catcher.

Where was the possible game-tying homer?

Too bad the Padres couldn’t have borrowed Melvin, Uribe or Davis. Padre Notes

Aftermath of Tuesday’s 38-minute team meeting: Ballard Smith, team president, explained Wednesday why he called the media “a bunch of (bleeping) flies.” Said Smith: “I was having a private meeting with Eric Show. I thought it was very rude when people interrupted me.” When Show saw reporters approaching, he told Smith they could talk later. Smith said Wednesday he was running 20 minutes late to a party hosted by Helen Copley, publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Otherwise, Smith said he would have returned and talked to the media. “Obviously, people wanted to talk to me,” Smith said. “Nobody made much effort to talk with me later.” However, Paul Edwards of the Daily Californian did call Smith at home after the game. Smith refused to comment. “He called me late,” Smith said. Smith had told players to refer all questions to him. What was Smith intending to tell the media? “I would have said I have nothing to say, which is what I am telling you now,” Smith said. . . . At Tuesday’s meeting, Smith and the players had an “air out all complaints” session. One topic of discussion was the team’s pinstripe uniforms, which some players dislike. An alternative discussed was red, white and blue uniforms. No decision was made on the status of the uniforms. . . . LaMarr Hoyt had a finger blister on his pitching hand when he pitched Tuesday night. Hoyt got the blister from picking up a hot rock during a weekend barbecue, Manager Steve Boros said. The blister popped in Hoyt’s fourth and final inning of work Tuesday. Hoyt allowed three runs (two earned) and walked five batters. “People are going to think I’m still being the optimistic Boros about him,” Boros said. “I thought his delivery was good his first two innings. After that, it started to get away from him. I think it had more to do with the blister than anything.” . . . Goose Gossage was pitching for the first time in two weeks when he earned a save Tuesday by pitching a perfect ninth inning as the Padres won, 8-5. Gossage’s lack of work derived from two factors: He had a groin ligament strain, and the situations weren’t right for him to pitch. “He does not pitch well when we are way ahead or way behind,” Boros said. “If we didn’t score the three runs in the eighth (Tuesday), he was still coming in. I was going to pitch him two innings, and no more. If he pitched more than that, we wouldn’t have had him for two or three days.” . . . The Padres surpassed the 1-million mark in home attendance Wednesday on their 38th home date. Last year, the Padres surpassed 1 million fans in 30 home dates.PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard SECOND INNING

Giants--Brown homered to right, his sixth. Brenly walked. Melvin homered to center, his first. Uribe flied to right. LaCoss singled to left. Youngblood singled to center, LaCoss stopping at second. Stoddard took the mound. Thompson flied to left. Leonard walked, loading the bases. Davis flied to short. Three runs, four hits, three left.

THIRD INNING Padres--With one out, Stoddard homered to center, his first. Wynne grounded to second. Gwynn grounded to second. One run, one hit.

FOURTH INNING Giants--Uribe singled to right and stole second. LaCoss sacrificed. Youngblood singled to center, Uribe scoring. Youngblood stole second. Thompson struck out. Leonard flied to left. One run, two hits, one left.

Padres--McReynolds walked. Garvey flied to right. Nettles singled to center, McReynolds taking third. Kennedy singled to center, McReynolds scoring with Nettles taking third. Templeton struck out. Flannery walked, loading the bases. Iorg, batting for Stoddard, flied to left. One run, two hits, three left.

SIXTH INNING Padres--Garvey homered to left, his 13th. Nettles grounded to first. Kennedy grounded to short. Templeton flied to center. One run, one hit.

EIGHTH INNING Giants--With one out, Melvin walked. Uribe homered to left, his first. Berenguer grounded to short. Youngblood singled to left and was caught stealing. Two runs, two hits.