Kruk’s Seven RBIs Wasted as Padres Lose to Braves, 12-7

On any given day, the Padres’ pitching staff is statistically the worst in the National League.

Guess what happens when a game spans two days.

Tuesday night at Fulton County Stadium, after a one-hour, 45-minute rain delay, the Padres allowed the Atlanta Braves eight runs.

Wednesday morning, same game, the Padres allowed four more.

At 12:26 a.m. EST, the Braves finished with 12 runs, and here’s what happens when that happens:

Padre first baseman John Kruk has the club’s best offensive night since Nate Colbert was a lad, hitting two three-run home runs, totaling seven RBIs, and his team loses, 12-7.

And Larry Bowa is quietly as hot as the southern air after the storms.

“It’s very sad, very sad. . . . If you score seven runs in the big leagues and can’t win, something is wrong,” said Bowa, who hoped his club would come here and continue its drive to unseat the Braves for fifth place in the National League West. “It’s like, we score, let them score, we score, let them score. . . . The offense is human. How many times can you keep going to the well.”

The offense is indeed human. After the game--which didn’t start until 9:22 p.m. EST and lasted 3:04--Kruk, 26, should have been celebrating the second-high RBI night in club history (Nate Colbert drove in eight runs in this stadium on Aug. 1, 1972).

However, his celebration took the form of a cold beer and a slow shrug in a quiet clubhouse.

“I could have had 11 RBIs tonight--and we still would have lost 12-11,” he said. “It’s frustrating to lose no matter how many RBIs you have, seven or one.”

He hit a three-run homer to left off Charlie Puleo in the first. But off Padre starter Eric Show, the Braves came back with one run in the first and five runs in the second. These included Ken Oberkfell’s second homer and Gerald Perry’s sixth homer.

Kruk had an RBI single in the fifth and then hit a three-run homer to center off Jeff Dedmon in the ninth. But by then, the Braves had already cinched it with a three-run homer by Dale Murphy off Mark Davis in the eighth.

While Kruk was bringing his season totals to a team-high 13 homers and 57 RBIs, the Braves were hitting their two longest homers of the year in this stadium. Murphy’s blast carried 429 feet. Perry’s shot carried 426.

“Look at this,” said Bowa, grabbing the white sheet upon which the league pitching stats are printed. “Last in ERA (4.59 entering the game), last in wins (39), near last in everything else, and we got two starters on the disabled list (Storm Davis, Andy Hawkins). It’s all right there.”

That last part should be changing soon. Storm Davis threw on the sideline Tuesday and felt good and should be sent to a minor league club today for a one- or two-game rehabilitation. He has been out since June 30.

“Yeah, and we’re last in errors (101),” said Bowa, pointing at the sheet again.

Although there were no Padre errors in this game, there were questionable fielding plays that led to the end.

Show, who had decent stuff but allowed seven runs on nine hits, said “I just don’t know what happened.”

He wasn’t helped when Kruk missed a grounder, Carmelo Martinez couldn’t catch up to a foul pop, and Tony Gwynn dropped the ball while trying to throw home to catch a runner. To open the second, Kruk played a Ken Griffey grounder off his glove, then his knee. The ball ended up several feet deep in foul territory, where Kruk picked it up and threw wildly to Show covering first, though no error was charged.

Griffey was safe, Show was spiked. And his worst pain was yet to come. If that out was made, the ensuing Andres Thomas single and Ozzie Virgil triple would have accounted for just one run, instead of two. Then, after the sacrifice fly by Glenn Hubbard scored Virgil, the strikeout of Charlie Puleo would have ended the inning.

Unfortunately, that strikeout just meant two outs, with three runs in, and allowed Dion James to come to the plate and hit a long but routine foul down the left-field line. Martinez ran as hard as he can, but couldn’t catch up as it dropped harmlessly several yards in foul territory. It was to be an important nonplay because five pitches later, Ken Oberkfell hit a ball 375 feet into the right-field seats for his second homer this season. The two-run shot gave the Braves a five-run inning and a 6-3 lead.

Padre Notes

How badly did pitcher Mark Grant snap in Houston Sunday? After allowing three first-inning runs in a 6-0 loss to the Astros, thanks to two wild pickoff throws, he took Garry Templeton’s bat to a toilet housed in a small room off the dugout. He also smacked the bat off a water cooler. The bat broke and finally, so did Grant, who left in the third inning after allowing five runs. He was so upset, he wouldn’t talk after the game. He canceled dinner plans with his buddy, reliever Mark Davis, that evening. He didn’t quite get over it until the following day. But Tuesday, he talked. “It just wasn’t me, and you’ll never see that from me again,” said Grant. First, he apologized for all the damage. The water cooler is fine, he’ll have to pay for the toilet, and Templeton has accepted his regrets for the bat. “All of it was totally unprofessional, really stupid of me,” said Grant. “I snapped . . . I lost composure.” He explained why. It has much to do with his 1-4 record and 6.55 earned-run average since coming to the Padres from the San Francisco Giants July 5. Hailed as the young star in that deal, Grant has struck out 10 and walked 17. “I’m just trying to do too much, I’m putting too much pressure on myself,” Grant said. “I’m trying to press, and trying to impress. I’ve got to learn to take the good with the bad in this game. It was the most frustrated I’ve ever been in my career, and the worst I’ve ever acted. But it will never happen again.” . . . Manager Larry Bowa took Grant aside on Sunday’s flight from Houston to Atlanta and asked him to cool down. “I told him not to try and win five games in one start,” Bowa recounted. “I just told him to relax.” . . . Bowa said he would not fine Grant for destroying the toilet. He said he didn’t mind it, this time. “If it happened every start, I’d be worried,” he said. “But you can’t keep it in all the time. Hey, as long as nobody gets in the way, nobody gets hurt, I have no problem with it.”