Cub Rookie Pitcher Trims the Slumping Padres to Size, 6-1

CHICAGO — The Padres lost, 6-1, Monday to one of the skinniest pitchers you’ll ever see.

Chicago Cub left-hander Jamie Moyer, 23, seems to have very few muscles--either that or they’re hiding. He says he weighs 165 pounds, but also admits he had to eat a lot of steak and potatoes to work up that much bulk--but if you call it bulk, that’s a lot of bull.

He’s so skinny, you can’t pinch an inch or even a centimeter.

But he defeated the Padres, throwing what they thought was a screwball, but what he swears was a changeup. San Diego equaled its season low of four straight losses and fell under .500 for the first time since June 19.

To add even more perspective, Moyer began this season pitching Single-A ball in Winston-Salem, N.C., got a call to go up to Double-A (Pittsfield, Mass.) a month later and then found himself at Triple-A (Iowa) a month after that. The Cubs were injury prone, so he came up to Chicago June 14.

“I’ve had four or five addresses,” Moyer said.

He came up to the big leagues, won his first start, thought he was pretty cool and then got slammed around in Philadelphia, losing, 19-1.

“After every hit, I kept saying to myself, ‘geez, sooner or later, I gotta get an out.’ And then, boom, another hit. I’d say, ‘Gol, I get this guy,’ and then, boom, another hit. And I kept saying, ‘What am I doing right or doing wrong?’ And, it was real embarrassing because I’m from right outside Philadelphia. . . . And I went to school at St. Joseph’s (in Philly). And a lot of my friends were there from home and from school, people I hadn’t seen in a while. And to throw a game like that, it’s pitiful.”

So imagine how the Padres feel now. First of all, Moyer’s pregame earned-run average was 9.37. Secondly, they still think Moyer--who yielded five hits in eight innings and left with a 6-0 lead--was getting them with a screwball. Tony Gwynn came up with two runners on and two outs in the eighth (the score was just 3-0), and he popped out lazily to right.

Gwynn said later: “It was a hanging screwball. I got a little bit out in front, and I popped it up. The worst feeling in the world! It’s one thing if he gets you out on a good pitch.”

Moyer said, “Listen, I haven’t been throwing the way I’m capable of. . . A game in L.A.? I lasted two-thirds of an inning. And Philadelphia? . . . But I proved to myself today that I can pitch. I knew I had to turn my act around because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be around. I knew I could pitch, but today I finally used all my pitches. Screwball? Ha! It’s a changeup. I’ll live with that to my dying days. It might tail some, but most lefties’ pitches do. It’s a change. And I throw a fastball, curveball and cut fastball.”

So imagine how the Padres feel now. In their last 17 games, they’ve scored 56 times--and that includes single games of 13 and 7 runs. This averages to 3.3 runs a game. Last Saturday in Pittsburgh, Bob Walk four-hit them through eight innings. Then, Mike Bielecki, Larry McWilliams and Don Robinson three-hit them for nine innings. And now Moyer. Anyone heard of these pitchers?

“You can’t win that way, no,” Manager Steve Boros said. “Regardless of how good your pitching is.”

LaMarr Hoyt was the losing pitcher Monday, but he certainly didn’t throw like a loser. The Cubs had three runs in seven innings against him until Dave LaPoint came in and gave up three more in two-thirds of an inning.

The best hitter Monday was Jerry Mumphrey, who went 4 for 4. But he didn’t knock in one run. The Cubs scored their first run of the game on a ground out, got RBIs from Leon Durham and Ron Cey in the sixth inning, got one run in the eighth on a Cey double, got another that inning on a Gwynn fielding error in right and a final one on Chris Speier’s pinch-hit double off Bob Stoddard.

How good was Moyer? Lee Smith came in for the ninth inning, and the Padres rallied for a run and left two men stranded. Whitey Herzog once said of Smith, “The Cubs oughtta start all their home games at 3 o’clock so Smith can throw his fastballs at dusk.” Moyer proved his changeup was superior in the light.

Afterward, Boros explained that he had tried something new--starting Carmelo Martinez in left field for the first time since June 28. He had Bip Roberts in against the left-hander, too. And Bruce Bochy. And Jerry Royster. Gwynn was the only lefty.

It didn’t work.

Here’s what they were saying:

Roberts--”Today, he (Moyer) was Cy Young, but I didn’t think he had great stuff. For some reason, guys throw their best games against us. . . . We gotta play hardball. . . . This guy was weak.”

Bochy--”Right now, anybody would like to go against us. We’re having a hard time getting the key hit. . . . I’m as frustrated as I’ve ever been right now. I felt too good to do what I did today (0 for 4).”

Steve Garvey--”Losing leaves a hollowness, a shallow feeling. You can take pride in that you gave 100%, but when you lose like that, it’s a washout. I think we have a heck of an offensive team. For whatever reason--and myself included--we just can’t get anything going. You look at our offensive potential, it’s there. But where? It’s frustrating, but it’s not because of a lack of dedication or effort. This is a mature team that’s dedicated and will come out and give 100%, tomorrow. . . . Well, enough pontificating.”

Gwynn--”Maybe it’s time to make a move or a change. Shake it up. Shake it from top to bottom. I don’t mean a trade, but from within. . . . We just ain’t hitting.”

Batting Coach Deacon Jones--”It seems we get ourselves out. We’re swinging at a bad pitch, and boom, it kills the inning. And you can feel it in the dugout. It’s like, ‘Here we go again.’ We need somebody to take charge. Listen, when Tony (Gwynn) doesn’t do anything, we struggle. Today, he hit the ball well, but went 0 for 4. What can you say?”

Won’t anyone say anything nice about Moyer?

“Oh, he struck me out on a 3-2 pitch. And, oh, it was nasty,” Martinez said. “It was right on the black and knee high. A changeup.”

Yes, a changeup.

Moyer figures the people back in San Diego will snicker when they see who beat the Padres Monday.

“They have every right to snicker,” he said. “I’m a nobody.”

So imagine how the Padres feel now.

Padre Notes Pitcher Dave Dravecky (sore elbow) returned to San Diego Monday to see team physician Dr. Cliff Colwell, but he is not expected to miss his next start Saturday in St. Louis. The reason he left was to have Colwell determine if the 10-day rest he took recently was of any value. Dravecky pitched a bit more than five innings (83 pitches) Sunday in Pittsburgh before leaving with slight soreness. . . . The other sore elbow belongs to pitcher Eric Show, who is on the disabled list. Show is scheduled to throw on the sidelines today and could come off the disabled list Wednesday, but Manager Steve Boros said it is more likely he would come off the list when the team returns to San Diego.

In the lastest edition of U.S. News and World Report, Padre owner Joan Kroc is listed as the 20th richest business person in America (criteria was that you had to own at least 5% of your company’s stock). From the magazine: “She isn’t involved in running the (McDonald’s) company because she’s too busy promoting nuclear disarmament, fighting hunger and drug abuse and attending baseball of the San Diego Padres, the baseball team she owns.” The magazine said Kroc has more money than Atlanta owner Ted Turner (No. 59) and Kansas City co-owner Ewing Kauffman (No. 32), but less money than St. Louis owner August Busch (No. 16) and Montreal’s Charles Bronfman (No. 6).

Carmelo Martinez on starting in left field again Monday: “It was good because they hit the ball high or on the ground. I said to myself, ‘If they hit fly balls, I hope they’re high so I can get under.’ It was strange, though. When I went out there the first time, I said, ‘Where am I?’ I didn’t know where to stand.” The outfield bleacher bums were all over him, though. “Oh, my mother was the subject of their conversations, today,” he said. . . . Pitcher Dave LaPoint, recently acquired from Detroit, was walking around the clubhouse here wearing a “Trader Jack” baseball cap--meaning he has joined that elite group of players who Jack McKeon has either dealt or dealt for. The cap was a gift from McKeon. . . . When LaPoint pitched for the Giants, by the way, he made one of the great comments about the long Wrigley Field grass. “They must cut this grass with a helicopter,” he said.

In Las Vegas, the Padre Triple-A Manager, Larry Bowa, has guaranteed a victory over Vancouver this week. If he loses, he said, any fan attending the game will get a free ticket the next night. But no one told the front office. General Manager Larry Koentott figured Bowa was planning on picking up the tab, but Bowa wasn’t. Eventually, Koentott agreed to go ahead with the promotion.