Padres Can’t Withstand the Heat as Worrell Comes to the Rescue for the Cardinals in 4-3 Victory

It was 9:30 p.m. on a wet, misty Friday in Jack Murphy Stadium . . . and on comes the heat.

Name is Todd Worrell. Pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals. Goes 6-5, 210, and 95 m.p.h.

It’s the middle of one of the Padres better rallies this season--bottom of the ninth, three straight hits, a 4-0 lead cut to 4-1, with none out and two on.

Worrell came on and threw radio balls. Everyone heard them but nobody saw them.

Three of the final four Padres struck out, and the Cardinals won, 4-3, in front of a crowd of 19,007.

“He’s so tough, especially then,” Padre Manager Larry Bowa said of Worrell’s presence at the end of a night dominated by rain, chill and St. Louis off-speed pitcher Greg Mathews. “And especially the way he throws.”

The way Worrell throws had him in trouble Thursday. One of his fastballs was hit 350 feet for a game-winning, 10th-inning home run by Benito Santiago.

But Worrell, last season’s National League Rookie of the Year, calmly returned Friday night. He came on after Carmelo Martinez had led off the ninth inning against the previously untouchable Mathews with a homer to left, followed by John Kruk’s single and Chris Brown’s double that landed Kruk on third.

Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog, who promptly hustled in Worrell, later said, “This is the only way a relief pitcher can be. He has to know that it’s going to be his game.”

The Padres knew. First up, hero Santiago, batting .400 in his previous 11 games. On a 2-and-2 pitch, Santiago struck out flailing.

Next up, Garry Templeton, hitting .520 in his previous seven games. One a 2-and-2 pitch, Templeton struck out twisting.

Next up, pinch-hitter Marvell Wynne. He was down 1-and-2, but had a good hack and knocked the ball to right, scoring both Kruk and Brown.

Next up, the fans, stomping their feet and waving their raincoats.

Finally up, pinch-hitter Tim Flannery. Three pitches. Three strikes. On the last pitch, he didn’t even have a chance to swing.

“I felt good out there,” Worrell said. “But I felt good last night. The pitch I struck out Santiago with was the same pitch he hit for the home run last night.”

There it is, Power Pitching Theory 101.

The Padres had spent the previous eight innings Friday learning about a different pitching method. Through one stretch, Mathews had retired 12 straight batters, and entering the ninth, he had retired 13 of the last 14 Padre batters.

Before that final inning, the 25-year-old former Cal State Fullerton star had allowed three hits, walked two and struck out two.

His biggest trouble, with two out in the fourth, took one pitch to solve. Chris Brown had singled up the middle, and then his third baseman, Terry Pendleton, dropped a Benito Santiago grounder, putting runners on first and second.

Up stepped Templeton, who had 13 hits in his last 25 at-bats. Templeton couldn’t wait. He swung at the first pitch, an outside breaking ball. Weak fly out to right. End of threat.

“Mathews showed a lot of poise,” Bowa said. “He was spotting his fastball, getting his breaking ball over, doing what you have to do.”

“Throwing strikes,” Martinez said, “when you’re not getting behind hitters, you can get them out.”

Said Herzog: “That’s the way he has to pitch. But their guy was like that, too. I was impressed with him. They might have something there.”

Lost in the late-rally shuffle was Mark Grant, who made two bad pitches that spotted the Cardinals those four runs, and who otherwise was steady.

The biggest mishap came with the Cards leading 2-0 in the eighth. After Tommy Herr had hit a one-out double, he got Jack Clark on a foul out, not a minor achievement. But, thus far this series, Clark--the major league’s RBI leader (86), who is second in the National League in homers (26) and runs (69)--has hit only his fist. Friday he struck out for the fifth and sixth time in two nights. The number of runners on base when he made outs increased to five, four in scoring position.

Grant took care of Clark. But then immediately went 2-and-0 on Willie McGee. The next pitch was put over the left-center field fence, and a 4-0 lead would eventually hold.

Padre Notes

Pitcher Mark Davis was breaking in a new baseball glove Friday night in the clubhouse, pounding the rounded top of a bat into the pocket of a soaking wet glove. The procedure is simple, he said. Dip the glove in the whirlpool for 10 seconds, then pound the heck out of it for 10 minutes. “It works,” Davis, said pausing. “That is, as soon as it’s dry.” . . . If you still don’t believe the Padres’ biggest problem is middle relief: They have scored first in 42 games, they have won only 22 of those games. The Cardinals, on the other hand, have scored first 47 times, but have won 35. . . . Today’s 12:20 p.m. start against the Cardinals is Mitt Day, with mitts given to youngsters 14-and-under. The unusually early starting time was set when NBC planned to televise the game. The network will instead show Chicago at San Francisco. . . . Hot Corner: Eight different Padres have begun the game hitting seventh in the lineup. The leader is Benito Santiago with 11 appearances. . . . The rosters have been announced for the Equitable Old-Timers stop in San Diego at 6:15 p.m. Saturday. The California All-Stars will feature former Padres Nate Colbert, John D’Acquisto, Willie Davis, Rollie Fingers, Jay Johnstone, Gaylord Perry, John Montefusco and Jerry Morales. The Equitable team will feature Mark Fidrych, Bob Gibson, Willie Horton and Al Hrabosky. For each of these 26 games played (one in every major league park), Equitable donates $10,000 to a fund for indigent ex-major leaguers. . . . The Padres’ Class-A team in Reno has won 11 straight and 41 of its last 50 games. Their Spokane, Wash., team in the Rookie League has won 23 of 30 games. And Triple-A Las Vegas has won four straight.