Garvey Homer for Naught as Pirates Come Back in 9th

Just like old times, it was the Garv and Goose Show Saturday afternoon--except that Goose’s show wasn’t a jolly good one.

After Steve Garvey’s two-run homer with two out in the ninth put the Padres ahead by one, Goose Gossage relieved Craig Lefferts with two men on in the bottom of the innning and gave up RBI singles to Tony Pena and Jim Morrison--the result a 4-3 Padre loss to the Pirates in front of 8,559 at Three Rivers Stadium.

Surprisingly, Gossage was amiable afterward, chatting with a clubhouse boy while drinking a beer.

“I’ve never taken the game that seriously,” he said. “I’m serious when I’m out there, but you can’t get too high or too low. It’s a game, that’s what it is. If you try to figure this game out, you can’t do it. If you try to be too smart, it’ll (mess) you up. If I start thinking too much, a big black cloud of smoke will start coming out my ears.

“That’s probably why I’ve done pretty good over the years. I just don’t think too much. You gotta be dumb to play this game. Better dumb than smart.”

The Padres felt pretty dumb for eight innings because they couldn’t hit Pirate starter Bob Walk, who is nicknamed “The Whirlybird” because he’s so forgetful. A few years ago, he walked up to the plate without his bat. Another time, he warmed up in the bullpen without his glove. Just a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, he claimed he killed a 3 1/2-foot rattlesnake, cooked it and ate it. He said it tasted “like tough chicken.”

And he was a tough pitcher Saturday until Marvell Wynne led off the ninth with a rocket home run to right, trimming the Pirate lead to 2-1. Wynne, a former Pirate, had been crushing home runs in batting practice before the game and everyone predicted he would hit one out. He did.

Pirate Manager Jim Leyland had seen enough, and Walk walked off. In came reliever Cecilio Guante, but he walked Tony Gwynn on four pitches.

Kevin McReynolds followed with a tapper to the mound, but Guante let it roll through his legs for a error. First and second, no out.

Graig Nettles was up next, and some Padres on the bench were expecting a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. On Thursday, Manager Steve Boros had called a team meeting to say he would be asking guys to bunt more, and he apparently told them: “It might hurt your egos a little, but we need to manufacture runs.”

So it was a surprise when Nettles swung away at a 1-0 pitch and grounded into a double play, leaving the tying run at third. Some players--wishing to remain anonymous, of course--said they were shocked.

Boros’ response: “I wanted him to hit. We had the tying run at second base. . . . Guante just made a good pitch, a sinker. But Nettles is a guy who can hit the ball in the seats, so I don’t want him to take 1 and 0. I want him swinging the bat, especially with the tying run at second and a right-hander throwing.”

Nonetheless, the game came down to Garvey, who was 6 for 35 before this particular at-bat and hadn’t homered since June 18. He walloped a 1-0 pitch to deep left, his 14th home run of the season, and the Padres led, 3-2.

“Two outs in the ninth and being down and then hitting a home run . . . that’s what dreams are made of, and this one came true,” Garvey said.

“To bring us back from a deficit against strong odds, it’s quite gratifying. When I was in the box, I said to myself, ‘C’mon, you’ve got pride. Let’s hit the ball hard.’ The situation brings out the adrenaline, the aggressiveness.”

As Garvey circled the bases, the Padre bench erupted. Gwynn remembers standing there, thinking, “This might be what we need to get in a groove, to pour it on.”

Lefferts--in his league-leading 50th appearance of the season--started the ninth for San Diego, and he had allowed only six hits and one run in his last 22 innings. He got the first out, but Johnny Ray--0 for 10 lifetime against Lefferts--singled to right-center.

Boros might have signaled for Gossage right then, but he said Ray was a stealing threat and that a left-hander like Lefferts could hold him on first base better. Also, Sid Bream was due up, and Bream kills Gossage (he won a game off Gossage this year with a homer). He stayed with Lefferts, so Leyland sent Mike Brown--a right-handed hitter--to pinch-hit.

Brown singled to left, moving Ray to second.

Now, Gossage entered, and he hadn’t pitched in a game since July 7. The first batter, R. J. Reynolds, flied to left for the second out. It was almost over. But Pena tied the score with a single up the middle, and Brown stopped at second.

Then, Morrison singled a 1-0 pitch up the middle for the game-winner. Wynne made a last-ditch throw to the plate but Gossage already had started off the field with his head down. The throw was late anyway.

Gossage, who has 15 saves in 22 chances this year, said he threw only fastballs.

“I felt great,” he said. “Terry (Kennedy, the catcher) said, ‘You’re throwing good, man.’ I’ve lived and died by my fastball. There’s some who don’t believe in it, who like to trick people (by throwing more breaking balls), but I’ve never tricked anybody in my life, and I’m not about to start now. If I’ve gotta trick people, I guess I gotta go to middle relief or try to start or something.

“Thurmon (Munson, who caught Gossage with the Yankees) never used to give me a sign (fastball was a given). I said to him, ‘Man, at least we can try to trick ‘em,’ and he said, ‘Who the (bleep) are you gonna trick?’ ”

Padre Notes Ed Whitson started Saturday for the Padres and yielded just four hits and two runs in seven innings. “He did a heck of a job,” Manager Steve Boros said. “I was really pleased.” Whitson, making his second start this year for the Padres, is still very happy to be out of New York. “In my first outing in San Diego, my feet didn’t touch the ground until the third or fourth inning, and I finally settled down,” he said. “I felt the same today, but not quite as pumped up. I really loved that place (San Diego), and one way or another I was gonna have fun that (first) night. The people there are warm, that’s the biggest thing. All I remember is the ’84 playoffs. And I think they’re gonna be behind us again. That 10th man was awesome that year. It was the most incredible feeling in my life. The other team, you could see them tighten up. Let’s get back to ’84 and win another pennant.” . . . Saturday’s game was interrupted 29 minutes because of rain. . . . Goose Gossage had this to say Saturday about people who rely on statistics to win baseball games. “You can take all those statistics and shove ‘em. They don’t mean (a thing) in this game. Very few stats mean a thing (such as righties vs. lefties, etc.). It’s when do or when you don’t do your job that tells the story. Today, I didn’t do my job, that simple.”