Padres Sweep Astros With a Show of Arms, Make It Five in a Row

This has been the most forgettable season of Eric Show’s baseball career, but he had an afternoon to remember Sunday.

Show pitched three-hit ball for six innings against the Houston Astros and gave up only one earned run. Moreover, he drove in the winning run in the Padres’ fifth straight victory, a 4-3 squeaker that completed a sweep of the three-game series before 10,893 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“I turned a double into a single,” Show said afterward. “I hit the bag with my left foot instead of my right, and I lost my balance. I fell three steps later, and I was lucky to get back to first. You can see I’m not used to running bases.”

There was a time when Show was considered a good hitting pitcher--he has hit four home runs in six major-league seasons--but that was before opposing pitchers started throwing him curveballs. He is now batting .060--on three hits in 50 times at bat--far off his previous lifetime average of .172.

“I rarely see fastballs anymore,” he said. “The one I hit today, I just dropped the bat on the ball. I couldn’t believe it got through.”

Until then, Show had driven in one run all season. That was against the Atlanta Braves here June 26. He now has a career total of 21 RBIs.

Although he walked five batters, Show might have had an easy time Sunday if it hadn’t been for some clumsy defense. Catcher Bruce Bochy and shortstop Luis Salazar donated a run apiece, Bochy by touching Alan Ashby’s bat in the fourth and Salazar by muffing Bochy’s throw on a stolen base in the fifth.

After he allowed two hits in six innings, Show gave up an infield single to pinch-hitter Terry Puhl in the seventh. Manager Larry Bowa then turned to his ever-reliable bullpen, and Lance McCullers, Mark Davis and Goose Gossage pitched hitless ball thereafter.

“I wasn’t physically tired,” Show said. “Still, I can understand why someone can be reluctant to leave a guy in who has walked five guys in six innings in the game.”

Considering Show’s 6-13 record and the controversy that has surrounded him this season--including the beaning of the Cubs’ Andre Dawson and the disagreements with his own teammates--one might think he would have trouble keeping his mind on his work.

“But I might be a better pitcher for all this,” he said. “With everything that has been written about me and said about me, I don’t let anything prey on my mind anymore. In a small way, I’m glad it happened, because it made me impervious to any distractions.”

Bob Knepper took the loss for the Astros, and his record fell to 4-13.

With the sweep, the Padres moved into position to make a serious run at vacating the cellar in the National League West. They are now within 5 1/2 games of the Dodgers and Braves, and have a four-game series against the Braves beginning here Monday night.

“If we can get out of last place, fine,” Bowa said. “I just want to win as many games as we can and go into the winter with a good taste in our mouths.”

Bowa had words of praise for handy man Randy Ready, who became the first Padre in eight years to hit two triples in one game. Dave Winfield had been the last to do it.

“Randy is doing a super job for us,” Bowa said. “He’s a good guy to have on a baseball team.”

The scene was far less pleasant on the Astro side of the stadium. First baseman Glenn Davis, normally an easy-going sort, flew into a rage after being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. He smashed his bat as he walked up the dugout runway, then picked up a table in the room behind the trainer’s quarters and slammed it against a wall.

But if he was frustrated, he had nothing on Manager Hal Lanier, whose defending division champions are now two games below .500.

“Our hitting is so pathetic that our pitchers can’t afford to have a bad inning,” Lanier said. “We just can’t score any runs.”

Padre Notes

Storm Davis was in the Padre clubhouse Sunday after he pitched four innings on rehabilitation assignment with the Double-A Wichita farm club Saturday night. Davis was the losing pitcher in Wichita’s 3-1 defeat at San Antonio. The three runs he allowed were unearned, the result of his throwing error on a bunt. He said, “My injury didn’t bother me at all. There’s no reason to push it, but I feel ready.” He may make one more start with Wichita before returning to the Padres. He has been on the disabled list since June 29 because of torn cartilage near his left rib cage.

Manager Hal Lanier of the Astros says Nolan Ryan’s record should be 13-4 instead of the other way around. He said Sunday, “Last night’s game was typical. He left with a 3-1 lead and we blew it for him. He’s as good a pitcher as he’s ever been, and he’s throwing just as hard as ever.” . . . Until Dave Smith failed in relief Saturday night, the Astros had a 48-0 record in games in which they led going into the ninth inning. Smith had saved 19 games in 20 outings. . . . Even without a stolen base Sunday, the Padres have 16 in their last eight games and 131 for the year, second to the St. Louis Cardinals in the major leagues. They stole only 96 bases last season. . . . Sunday’s victory sent the Padres over .500 against the NL West for the first time this season at 29-28. Their record against the East is 15-39.