Pittsburgh Wins War of Firsts : Gossage, Garvey Accomplishments Lost in 10-8 Loss

If you’re seeking Padre highlights in a 7-21 season, there were two significant ones Tuesday night.

Goose Gossage made his first pitching appearance of the season, and Steve Garvey drove in his first run as a pinch-hitter this season.

Unfortunately for the Padres, three Pittsburgh players hit their first home runs of the season. The Pirates scored a season-high 10 runs to win, 10-8, before 12,642 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Rafael Belliard hit his first major league home run in the second inning off losing pitcher Eric Show. Andy Van Slyke hit his first homer of the season off Gossage in the seventh, and R.J. Reynolds hit his first homer of the year off Greg Booker in the eighth.

Barry Bonds added his third homer of the season off Booker in the ninth to make the score 10-6.

In the bottom of the ninth, Garvey doubled home one run and Luis Salazar singled home another. Then, with two on and two out, Manager Larry Bowa was ejected for the second time this season.

After Garry Templeton swung at a pitch, runners advanced to second and third when catcher Mike LaValliere couldn’t find the ball.

However, umpire Dana DeMuth sent both runners back, saying Templeton had tipped the ball.

That brought a seething Bowa from the dugout. Shortly after Bowa appeared, DeMuth told him to disappear for the rest of the game. “He said it was a foul tip and I said it wasn’t,” Bowa said. “I knew it wasn’t.”

Bowa was asked if DeMuth had sought help from other umpires.

“He knows it all,” Bowa said. “He doesn’t have to ask anybody.”

Templeton ended the wild evening with a fly ball to left.

When Gossage came on, the Padres trailed, 6-5. When he left, the Padres trailed, 8-5.

Gossage, sidelined with a muscle pull near his rib cage, pitched one inning, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two.

He looked great against the first batter he faced, striking out pinch-hitter John Cangelosi on three pitches.

However, Gossage didn’t look so good when Bonds followed with a single to right. Gossage allowed the Padres’ 40th homer in 28 games when Van Slyke hit a ball six rows into the permanent bleachers in right-center.

Before Booker was finished, the opposition had hit 42 homers against the Padres. San Diego has 15.

Pittsburgh, which stranded 15 runners in Monday’s 9-5 loss, didn’t have such problems Tuesday.

In the first, the Pirates went out 1-2-3 against Show. In the second, Pittsburgh scored a season-high five runs in an inning before any outs were recorded.

Sid Bream and Jim Morrison began the inning with back-to-back doubles. Reynolds walked and LaValliere’s single scored Morrison.

Then came Belliard, who had no home runs in his first 404 major league at-bats.

Make that 1 for 405 after Belliard deposited a Show pitch over the wall in left-center, giving the Pirates a 5-0 lead.

The Padres, who had been averaging 3.2 runs a game, cut the deficit to 5-4 after four innings.

In the third, Templeton hit a leadoff double and was sacrificed to third by Jimmy Jones, who had replaced Show after 1 innings. Templeton scored on Joey Cora’s sacrifice fly.

Benito Santiago cut the margin to one-run with his three-run homer to right-center in the fourth. It was his team-leading fifth home run.

Pittsburgh took a 6-4 lead in the top of the fifth. Bonds singled, stole second and scored on Johnny Ray’s double.

The Padres cut the margin to one run in the bottom of the fifth. Cora walked, took third on Tim Flannery’s single and scored when Tony Gwynn grounded into a double play.

After Gwynn, Hipolito Pena--who came on after Santiago’s home run--walked Carmelo Martinez and John Kruk. That’s when Manager Jim Leyland called on Bob Walk, who retired Santiago on an inning-ending fly to center.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, second baseman Ray made a heads-up play to end a Padre rally.

Marvell Wynne was on second base when Cora beat out a slow roller to second. Ray faked a throw to first on Cora, causing Wynne to round third base too far. Wynne, who had committed toward home, was an easy out at the plate.

Pittsburgh still led, 6-5, when Gossage came on in the seventh.

When Booker entered an 8-5 game in the eighth, Reynolds’ homer made it 9-5.

The Padres still had life remaining.

In the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Luis Salazar bunted a single with two outs. Templeton followed with a run-scoring double, cutting the margin to 9-6.

In the ninth, Bonds’ homer made it a four-run game with Pittsburgh’s fourth homer of the night.

All that remained were two Padre runs in the ninth and two events that caused the fans to boo.

First, they became upset when Bowa was ejected. Then, many even booed a Cinco de Mayo fireworks show that followed.

When a team is 7-21, the fans do become hostile--and so does the manager.