Pirates, Not the Fates, Put It to Padres, 10-3

Larry Bowa thinks his Padres are “light years” behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that used to be light years behind the entire National League.

Which just goes to show how far the Padres have fallen (and an 8-28 record is pretty darn far). Thursday, their self-destruction came right on schedule--in the seventh inning. The Pirates led by only one run at the time, but ended up scoring five times off Eric Show and Lance McCullers and won going away, 10-3.

“We self-destruct every game in inning five through seven,” Bowa said. “If we could go straight from inning four to eight, we’d be great right now.

“It sure looks like they (the third-place Pirates) have turned the corner. Maybe we can look forward to something like that. Right now, we’re light years away, but talking to Jimmy (Leyland, the Pirate manager), he used to say the same thing about them.”

One day after he nearly fought one of his players--Stan Jefferson--Bowa merely fought back yawns during post-game interviews. He wasn’t angry; he’s just used to this. But don’t think he doesn’t care, because he told his pitchers before Thursday’s game to stop worrying about giving up 0 and 2 base hits--something he used to get real mad at them about.

“To hell with it,” Bowa told the pitchers Thursday. “Just throw the ball. Don’t worry so much.”

That impressed Storm Davis.

“What Larry said really took a lot of courage on his part,” Davis said. “I don’t know if the results will be better, but we’ll relax a lot more.”

Show (1-4) lost, but he seemed pretty relaxed afterward. Asked to assess the game, Show blamed the loss on--what else?--”the fates.”

Meaning:

The Padres were leading, 3-1, in the bottom of the third and Show got two quick outs. Pirate second baseman Johnny Ray then grounded to first baseman Carmelo Martinez, who threw to Show, covering the bag. Show caught the ball and appeared to step on the base.

First base umpire Bob Engle said he didn’t.

“I looked at him (Engle) and smiled, and he said, ‘No,’ I hadn’t touched the bag,” Show said. “He had an ambiguous look on his face, but it was too late for him to change his call. Umpires are human. They make mistakes. Unfortunately, they don’t end up in the box score.”

Show preceded to make four straight mistakes. He walked first baseman Sid Bream. Then, third baseman Jim Morrison singled. On the very next pitch, left fielder R.J. Reynolds singled. On the very next pitch, catcher Mike LaValliere singled.

That gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead.

“It’s amazing a play like that (Engle’s call) will turn a whole inning around,” Bowa said.

Then, in the seventh inning, Ray led off with a single, and then Show threw what Bowa called a “bad” breaking ball to Bream. The ex-Dodger singled to right, Ray going to third.

Bowa brought in McCullers. Show headed for the showers and didn’t watch the rest of the inning.

“From the radio broadcast, it sounded like we (McCullers) gave up a million singles or doubles or whatever,” Show said.

Actually, McCullers hit a batter (Morrison) to re-load the bases and then a run scored on Martinez’s fielding error. Martinez had backhanded Reynolds’ line drive, but bobbled the ball.

LaValliere, shortstop Rafael Belliard and then the Pirate pitcher--John Smiley--followed with RBI base hits.

“I did have a feeling we were battling something beyond the Pirate team,” Show explained. “The hands of fate were against us. Strange, but I really feel some force was against us.”

For instance, Pirate speedster Barry Bonds appeared to be out as he tried stealing second in the first inning, but shortstop Joey Cora, subbing for Garry Templeton, dropped the ball.

“There’s no man alive who can steal against me,” Show said afterward. “Everyone knows that. The only way is if I totally forget about the runner. No one in the National League (can steal on him), and no one would dispute that. I’ve worked long and hard at that. We had Bonds by a mile, but it was the fates.”

As for McCullers, his excuse was a little more believable. He said he hasn’t had much work recently (his last appearance was last Saturday), and he was rusty. He has asked Bowa to use him more, and Bowa said he will oblige.

As for Bowa, he still thinks his players are trying.

“We could lose 150 games this year, and if they’re giving me the same effort as they are right now, I wouldn’t be mad,” Bowa said. “On one pop fly tonight, five guys called for the ball at once. That’s what I’m talking about.”

Might this team lose 150 games?

“God, if we do, I won’t be around to see it,” Bowa said.