Padres Beat First-Place Astros : Defensive Pow-Wows Complement Offensive Power

Padre bats were back, and so was Padre chatter. In San Diego’s 9-2 victory over the first-place Astros Monday night, there were first-inning home runs from Tony Gwynn and Garry Templeton and then a lot of noise from Padre infielders.

Every time San Diego pitcher Dave Dravecky would give up a line drive or two, shortstop Templeton, third baseman Jerry Royster, second baseman Bip Roberts or catcher Terry Kennedy would come up and tell him to keep the ball down.

“After a while, they were screaming and hollering at me,” Dravecky said. “I threw one pitch real good, and Royster yelled: ‘Do it again!’ Or Tempy would scream: ‘Looks like you’re guiding the ball. Let it go!’ They kept me in the game by talking to me.”

But Astro pitcher Bob Knepper--attempting to become the National League’s first 11-game winner--couldn’t keep his team in the game. Gwynn, the second batter Knepper faced, hit his seventh homer of the season to right, beginning a four-run first-inning.

So Gwynn surpassed his career high for home runs in a season (six).

“New career high!” he said. “You betcha, I’m glad. . . . Last time in San Diego, Knepper pitched me in, in. So I looked in, and he threw it in, and I hit it.”

But in many ways, this game belonged to Templeton, who not only talked Dravecky out of trouble, but put Knepper in it. His first-inning homer was his first ever at the Astrodome, and it made the score 4-0.

It also made the Astros mad. The ball was hit hard to left-center, but it didn’t appear to be going over the fence. And replays showed it didn’t. The ball bounded off the top of the wall, and Templeton stopped at second. But third base umpire Gerry Crawford--convinced the ball had hit off another wall behind the home run fence--signaled home run.

The entire Astro outfield went haywire, as did Manager Hal Lanier. But the umpires held firm, even though ABC’s replays held them in contempt.

Lanier argued that the wall behind the home run fence is concrete and that no ball could hit off concrete and bounce back so far onto the field. He was right.

“Too late now,” Templeton laughed. “Really, I didn’t see it. When I hit a line drive like that, I’ve got to run.”

For the first time all season, Templeton hit fifth in the batting order, and that’s because he had 14 RBIs in his last 17 games.

“But I was shocked like everybody else that I was hitting fifth,” Templeton said.

Besides his home run, Templeton added two singles and raised his batting average to .231--not bad considering he was at .208 at the end of May.

Templeton and Royster both made some splendid plays on defense. The Astros cut the lead to 4-2 in the second and--with one out--had two men on with Bill Doran up. Doran hit a grounder up the middle. Templeton went behind second base, grabbed it, stepped awkwardly on the base in one motion and threw to first for a double play. The 11,141 people here clapped and oohed and aahed for him.

Royster made two diving stops at third base. He had had seven errors coming in, which had bothered Padre management.

“I told him (Dravecky) I needed more fielding chances so I could get my (fielding) average over .700,” Royster said.

Kennedy and Steve Garvey helped their batting averages. Kennedy had three hits (two doubles) and two RBIs, while Garvey ended an 0 for 28 streak with a bloop single to left-center in the sixth inning.

Afterward, Kennedy was reading a book called, “The Chrysanthemum and the Bat.”

“It’s about Japanese baseball,” he said. “I’d go over there and play if I had the chance, but not now. Really, just to experience it. You know, you can’t go over there with an ugly American attitude. Over there, form is more important than content. Practice is more important than the game. That all reflects their society. Our society is more of an individualistic society. Over there, you better not be out for yourself.”

Garvey was out to end his slump.

“I’m kind of proud of myself,” he said. “During the whole ordeal, I kept everything in a pretty good perspective.”

And then there was Dravecky, who not only evened his record at 7-7, but collected his sixth and seventh RBIs of the season with a bases-loaded single in the sixth.

Before this season, Dravecky had seven career RBIs.

“I’m getting lucky, very lucky,” he said.

Speaking of luck, Dravecky’s left elbow isn’t 100% healthy, so he had to take a lot off his fastball.

“About four times, I threw batting practice fastball,” he said. “Really. It was like throwing BP. Nice and easy windup and you let it go and see what happens.”

Nothing happened.

Padre Notes Manager Steve Boros walked out with the lineup card Monday night and was completely surprised to see Charlie Williams as the home plate umpire. Remember? Williams is the guy who ejected both Boros and Steve Garvey in San Diego this year. Anyway, Boros calmly handed Williams the card and not a word was said . . . Marvell Wynne is now the regular center fielder, which means that Kevin McReynolds is the regular left fielder. But McReynolds has always been a center fielder. He approached pitcher Dave Dravecky before the game and said, “Hey, make ‘em hit it to right and center. It’s my first time playing left here.” Dravecky said, “OK.” Then, McReynolds said: “Watch ‘em hit 10 or 12 balls right at me.” So what happens? In the second inning, Jose Cruz blooped one to left, and McReynolds got a late start. He tried making a catch at his feet, but the ball bounded by him for a double . . . Garry Templeton made a throwing error Monday. He picked up one ground ball and threw it so far over Steve Garvey’s head that it landed in the seats behind first base. Templeton broke up laughing. “You’ve got to laugh on that one,” he said later.

Padres shake up lineup and pitching staff. Story, Page 4.