Padres Help the Mets Look Even Better : National TV Audience Sees San Diego Lose Lead and Game, 4-3

The new Met slogan is “A September to Remember,” but the San Diego Padres-- who appeared on national television Saturday--continue to play forgettable baseball.

As usual. . . .

--The Padres led early.

--Gary Carter hit a sixth-inning homer and was called out of the dugout to tip his cap.

--The Padres blew their lead.

--Gary Carter hit another homer to win the game, 4-3, was called out again to tip his cap and said later: “I used to be on the disabled list, but now I’m on the happy list.”

--Afterward, Padre players second-guessed Manager Steve Boros.

As usual.

This time, Boros was questioned for his use of pitcher Andy Hawkins, who went seven strong innings but came to bat with one out in the eighth inning with Bip Roberts on third and the Padres ahead by one run.

“When he (Boros) didn’t pinch-hit for Andy, the entire dugout dropped,” said one player. “All the momentum was gone.”

Boros’ response: “Not with the way Andy blew them away in the seventh. He probably threw better in the seventh than he did all game.”

But Hawkins messed up. He came to the plate in the eighth, let the count get to 0 and 2 and then missed the sign from third-base coach Jack Krol for a suicide squeeze. He took the pitch, and Roberts luckily got back to third. Then, with the squeeze on again, he fouled off a buntable pitch for a strikeout.

Hawkins then went out in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a leadoff double to Len Dykstra, a ball that center fielder Marvell Wynne dived for but couldn’t catch. Boros took Hawkins out immediately. With switch-hitter Wally Backman coming up and with left-handed-hitting Keith Hernandez on deck, Boros wanted a left-handed reliever.

Craig Lefferts.

“If he (Boros) has so much confidence in Hawkins and doesn’t pinch-hit for him in the top of the eighth, how come he takes him out after one batter in the bottom of the eighth?” said another player.

Lefferts gave up a game-tying single to Hernandez.

Lance McCullers replaced Lefferts, but before he threw a pitch to his first hitter--Carter--he picked Hernandez off first. Then Carter homered on a 3-and-2 fastball.

“I got beat with my best pitch,” McCullers said. “. . . I’m a power pitcher. With a 3-and-2 count, I won’t throw a slider. . . . But I shouldn’t have been in that situation. I just don’t think we lost the game in the eighth inning when I came in. I thought we lost it when we were hitting. . . . But he’s the manager. I don’t want to get into it.”

Said another player: “That might have been the worst loss of the year because it was on national television.”

The Mets are always on TV. They’re going to be on MTV (Music Television), too, because they have a new video out called “Let’s Go, Mets.”

But a crowd of 46,879 on Saturday saw them get off to a slow start.

Steve Garvey hit Ron Darling’s first pitch of the second inning for a homer. Garvey later singled in a run in the third. The Garv said this New York trip is special for him because (a) his mom and dad are from this area and he has family watching, (b) he’s always on “Good Morning America” when he’s in town and (c) in an added bonus the U.S. Open tennis tournament is going on. Garvey spent Thursday and Friday watching the tennis, and CBS television cameras found him in the crowd dressed in a double-breasted navy blue suit.

He gave the thumbs-up sign.

And he gave the thumbs-up sign again after his homer, his 21st of the season.

Kevin McReynolds had the third Padre RBI (in the third inning), but a big play in that inning came when Garvey was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Darryl Strawberry.

With Garvey on second, Garry Templeton singled to right. Krol waved Garvey in, but he was out with room to spare. Catcher Carter had time to get set for a collision at the plate, and Garvey had no choice but to run into the easy tag.

“Well, I knew he (Templeton) hit it hard, and I knew he (Strawberry) had a good arm,” Garvey said. “And I heard the crowd go ‘Ohhh,’ which meant it was a good throw.”

Later, in the seventh, John Kruk (three hits) singled and went to second on a ground out. Marvell Wynne pinch-ran for Kruk, but Garvey grounded one to shortstop Kevin Elster. For some reason, Wynne started running to third and Elster eventually tagged him out in a rundown.

In the eighth--as usual--came all those blunders.

“Shoot, we had three runs on 13 hits,” Gwynn said. “You got to score more runs than that. And they cashed in on our mistakes. That’s why they’re 46 games or whatever over .500. In my mind, this game didn’t come down to a pinch-hitting decision. We just didn’t hit after we got three runs.

“Some people question Steve’s (Boros) moves, but we should’ve had five, six runs. . . . It was like we were waiting for them to catch us. Lord have mercy. I just don’t know. But I do know we have 28 games to go and I hope we can get out of the cellar.”

Padre Notes Team president Ballard Smith, who saw the Padres play in Philadelphia, is no longer with the team and he won’t see them play again until they return home Wednesday to play Atlanta. . . . Met pitcher Ron Darling on the Padre offense: “They don’t steal; they don’t hit and run; they don’t go from first to third.”