Padres Put an End to Streak, 1-0

The crowds at the Padres’ recent home games seem to have turned out more for a glimpse of the defending World Champion New York Mets than to cheer for their last-place team.

But in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the Mets, most of the crowd of 17,811 rose to their feet, chanting, clapping and calling the near-forgotten “Gooooose.”

Former Padre Kevin McReynolds lined out to third baseman Randy Ready to end both the game and the Padres’ seven-game losing streak. Gossage pitched the final 1 innings without allowing a hit to earn his second save of the season.

Winner Ed Whitson (5-6) went 7 innings, holding the Mets to four hits, their season low.

“One game doesn’t make anything,” Padre Manager Larry Bowa said. “It’s good to see Goose pitching the way he has been pitching lately. He has been throwing the ball exceptionally well. And Whitson did a hell of a job.”

The Padres got their run in the fifth after Garry Templeton hit a two-out single to right field, scoring John Kruk from second.

In the eighth, Met third baseman Dave Magadan singled to left. Whitson struck out shortstop Bill Almon, then faced pinch-hitter Mookie Wilson, batting for Met starter and loser John Mitchell (0-1). Wilson hit a hard grounder to Templeton, who stepped on second and threw to first. First-base umpire Dutch Rennert called Wilson safe and Bowa came charging out of the dugout.

Instead of returning to the dugout, Bowa went to the mound and pulled Whitson for Gossage.

“I just had a gut feeling,” Bowa said. “I’ve watched (Whitson) pitch. He got me two innings farther than I thought he would.

“Len Dykstra (who was next up) had hit three balls hard. It was probably against the grain, but I’m going to go with my gut hunches. That’s one thing I am learning to do--if you’ve got a gut feeling, go with it.

Bowa said that when your team is 17 games out of first place, it’s hard to be optimistic in a situation like that.

“You’re not human if you don’t anticipate something bad happening,” he said. “You try to maintain a positive attitude, but when you lose as many games as we have, in different manners, it’s only human nature to think bad things.

“You would like to be optimistic, but you have to be realistic, too.”

Whitson said he wasn’t upset about being relieved.

“Any time you got a man of Goose Gossage’s caliber coming in there behind you,” Whitson said, “you can pretty much say nine times out of 10 that you’ll get a win.”

Gossage had relatively few problems Sunday. The only scare came in the ninth, when McReynolds pulled an inside fastball deep to left, landing just to the left of the left-field foul pole. Catcher Benito Santiago tapped his chest protector like a beating heart and Gossage simply smiled.

“I was just hoping it would go foul,” Gossage said. “I knew it was going to be real close, but we got a break. We haven’t been getting too many of those lately.”

Gossage has been performing well since coming off the 15-day disabled list May 4 because of a pulled muscle in his rib cage area.

He earned the save in the Padres’ last two victories and with the departure of Steve Garvey for the rest of the season, Gossage said he sees himself as a team leader.

Sunday, Gossage was unusually talkative. His main topic was relaxing, and the Padres’ inability to do the same.

“If we can’t play the game relaxed now, the way we are playing 17 games out of first place, then we’re in trouble if we ever get in a pennant race,” Gossage said. “There’s no pressure now. You can’t play the game scared. You have to go out and enjoy it.”

Gossage said the Padres need to relax from Bowa down to the 24th man on the roster.

“You have to joke about things out on the field,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to crack a joke, but the whole season’s been kind of a joke so far.

“We’ve been trying too hard and we’ve gotten into a vicious cycle where the harder you try, the worse you get.

“You have to enjoy the game like you played it when you were 8 years old. That’s why I always tell people to keep an even keel about yourself. When you’re going great, so what. When you’re going bad, so what. Be the same. It’s easy to say but hard to do, especially when you’re going bad.”

Gossage compared the 1987 Padres to the 1976 Chicago White Sox, for whom he played at the time. The young Chicago team went from sixth in the American League West in 1976 (25 1/2 games out of first at 64-97) to third place in 1977 (12 games out at 90-72).

“We had a worse ball club there than we have here, I feel,” he said. “I think next year we have something to look forward to because there is a lot of talent here.”

Padres Notes

Steve Garvey underwent successful surgery at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla Saturday morning to repair a ruptured biceps tendon near his left shoulder. He is expected to be released today. . . . Outfielder Stan Jefferson was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday because of shoulder problems. . . . Tim Flannery was reactivated for Sunday’s game, though he didn’t play. “I think his enthusiasm alone should help us,” Manager Larry Bowa said. . . . John Kruk, who has reached base 19 times in his last 30 plate appearances, has won himself a starting spot somewhere in the lineup, Bowa said. “Any time you’re getting hits and you know you will be playing, you feel comfortable,” Kruk said. “Before, I wasn’t consistent, I didn’t feel comfortable. Now, I feel relaxed, like every at-bat I’m going to make good contact.” . . . Since joining the club Monday, rookie outfielder Shane Mack is 6 for 19 (.316). “I love Shane Mack, he has confidence in his ability and he’s going to be an exciting ballplayer,” Bowa said. . . . As former Padre Kevin McReynolds stepped into the batting cage before Sunday’s game, Kruk began to taunt him. “You can’t leave this yard, it’s too big for you..” After failing to hit one out, McReynolds stepped out of the cage and said: “See what happens to an old man?”