Brown Takes Lead in Batting; Padres Defeat Giants, 3-1

The National League batting lead changed hands Wednesday at San Francisco, with Chris Brown overtaking the San Diego Padres’ Tony Gwynn.

But Brown’s three singles, making his average .348, were among nine San Francisco hits which went to waste as the Padres defeated the Giants, 3-1. Gwynn is at .344 after a 2-for-3 day.

“I’m not thinking about the batting race. After the next game, I could be second again, and at the end of the season I could be last,” Brown said.

“Unless the thing helps the club win, a batting title really doesn’t mean much to me,” Gwynn said.

“But it would be nice to get a second one,” admitted the San Diego star who batted a league-leading .351 two years ago.

Dave Dravecky, San Diego’s starting pitcher, singled in two runs and worked 7 shutout innings as he ended a personal four-game losing streak.

By winning two of three games in the series, the Padres pulled to within 1 1/2 games of the Giants, who began the day in the NL West lead.

The Padres came within one out of a second consecutive shutout. The 10th and final San Francisco hit was Rob Thompson’s two-out homer in the ninth off Goose Gossage.

“We felt pretty good about Eric Show and Dave Dravecky starting these last two games. If there’s any two pitchers we’d want going for us after losing an 18-1 game, it’s those two,” Padres Manager Steve Boros said.

“Now, we’ve got to get our third and fourth starters straightened out,” he added.

One of those pitchers, LaMarr Hoyt, was the loser in Monday’s 18-1 game.

Dravecky, 6-7, drove in two runs in the fourth, giving San Diego a 3-0 lead.

He had to pitch out of trouble frequently during his 7 1-3 innings. The Giants got leadoff batters on base four times against him, and he left with two runners on in the eighth.

Lance McCullers followed Dravecky and walked the only man he faced. Craig Lefferts relieved with the bases loaded and got Candy Maldonado to ground into a pitcher-to-home-to-first double play.

Gossage pitched the ninth for his 13th save.

San Diego scored an unearned run in the first off Vida Blue, 5-4, who had won four straight starts. Leadoff batter Jerry Royster reached base on an error by third baseman Chris Brown, went to third on Tony Gwynn’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin McReynolds.

Blue, who pitched seven innings, walked Carmelo Martinez to open the fourth, retired the next two batters and then gave up a double by Bip Roberts. Roberts and Martinez scored on the single by Dravecky.

New York 5, Montreal 2--Sid Fernandez treated an appearance against the second-place like any other start and the result was commonplace for the Mets’ left-hander.

Fernandez became the Mets’ first nine-game winner, combining with reliever Roger McDowell on an eight-hitter at New York. The victory was Fernandez’s fourth straight and fifth in his last six games.

Fernandez, 9-2, also drove in the winning run with a fourth-inning single, his first career game-winner. The Mets, after two straight losses to Montreal, moved ahead of the Expos by nine games in the National League East.

Fernandez allowed six hits and two earned runs in six innings. He walked five and struck out five.