Padres’ Homers Beat Ryan; Alomar Excels

Six pitches into the game, the kid had a hit. Six innings into the game, the kid had a standing ovation.

Twenty minutes after the game, when he was the only Padre in the clubhouse still not undressed, the kid looked around, smiled and turned back into a kid again.

“You know, there was thirty-seven-thousand people out there,” Roberto Alomar said slowly. “That’s a lot of people, man.”

This debut was a darling Friday night as Alomar, 20, helped the Padres to a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in front of--check your totals, Robbie--36,780 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

In his first game since he joined the Padres Wednesday in one of the most celebrated recalls since the Ford Pinto, the new starting second baseman singled off Nolan Ryan, cost Kevin Bass a hit with a great stop behind first base and turned a neat tag-out double play.

He should not overshadow Marvell Wynne’s fourth-inning homer that tied it, or Benito Santiago’s sixth-inning, two-run homer that won it. People should not forget the 6 splendid innings pitched by starter and winner Jimmy Jones, or 2 scoreless innings by darn-near-untouchable Mark Davis (no runs in last 12 innings).

But if the Padres were not better for Alomar’s much-awaited presence Friday, they at least were more relaxed and more confident and had a little more fun.

Said Jones: “When you know the guys back there are making the plays, you just relax and fire.”

Said Davis: “I’m able to be aggressive, just try to throw ground balls and let the other guys do the work. I was doing the same when Robbie wasn’t here, but . . . he’s got that great range; he can make the great plays.”

Said Wynne: “You can tell, he’s going to be here awhile. A hell of a long while.”

Alomar, who caused a furor this spring when he hit .360 and made almost every play and was still sent down to triple-A Las Vegas by Padre President Chub Feeney, was recalled Tuesday after just nine games there. Because of rainouts in Los Angeles Wednesday and Thursday, his first game was Friday. Or was it his first game?

“You’d never know,” Manager Larry Bowa said. “Nothing seems to bother this kid.”

Alomar shrugged. “Before the game, Larry asked me if I was nervous. I told him, ‘No way, let’s just get out there and play.’ My father (Padre third-base coach Sandy) told me not to pressure myself. I will not.”

Thus the game began with two batters, two landmarks. On Nolan Ryan’s third pitch, Tony Gwynn collected his 1,000th major-league hit. On Ryan’s sixth pitch, Roberto Alomar collected his first.

For the slumping Gwynn, the hit was a typical poke of a fastball into left field, one that, incidentally, did not please him so much after he went 1 for 4 with two called strikeouts.

“It’s no great deal, especially how I got it,” a quiet Gwynn said as he watched his batting average actually improve to .245.

Alomar’s hit was a hit-and-run grounder that bounced off shortstop Rafael Ramirez’s backhand stab. Just as they did for Gwynn, the Padres confiscated Alomar’s ball. Afterward, he couldn’t find it, but typically, he didn’t seem to worry.

“It’s around here somewhere. I’ll get it for my trophy case,” he said. “I was glad to get that first hit off Ryan. He throws as hard as I’ve seen. He had to be throwing 95 (m.p.h.). His ball blows, it blows right by me.”

In striking out eight in six innings, Ryan, 41, blew most people away.

“But I made some mistakes,” Ryan said, “and they hit them.”

Mistakes indeed. In the fourth inning, Wynne homered to left to tie the score at 1-1. At the time, Wynne was 3 for 18 career off Ryan.

In the sixth, Keith Moreland came up with an 8-for-36 (.222) career mark off Ryan and singled. Santiago, who was 2 for 14 off Ryan, lofted an 0-and-1 pitch deep to left for game-winning homer.

Mistakes indeed. Afterward, the Padre clubhouse sounded like a testimonial dinner.

“Ryan is just intimidating,” Wynne said.

“One of the toughest pitchers I’ve seen in my life,” Santiago said.

The offense taken care of, it was time for Alomar’s heroics. With two out in the sixth, he picked off a Bass grounder behind first base, behind a diving Carmelo Martinez, and threw Bass out with a runner on first and two out. Standing ovation.

“I saw Benito signal Jones for a changeup, so I cheated to my left, and was able to get in front of it,” Alomar said. “I never saw Carmelo.”

With none out and Bass on first in the ninth, Alomar picked up a grounder between first and second, thoughtfully tagged Bass and threw to first for the double play. Many of those who remained stood and cheered again.

“I knew it was a slow runner; I knew I had time to tag him,” Alomar explained evenly.

All of which led to a second win for Jones, giving him the team lead. Entering the game, in four starts against the Astros, Jones had allowed four earned runs in 28 innings (1.27 ERA). Friday, if possible, he was better.

The best indication of Jones’ success was not in his pitching, but his fielding. Five times he induced little grounders to the left of the mound. Five times he ran to first base and took the throw for the out. It was a club record for putouts for a pitcher. Partially because of that, Martinez set a club record for assists by a first baseman, also with five.

“They did the hard part. I just had to show up,” Jones said.

Padre Notes

Tony Gwynn got his 1,000th hit in his 2,999th at-bat. Among active players, only Boston’s Wade Boggs reached 1,000 hits quicker, after 2,856 at-bats. Gwynn has moved into second place on the club’s hit list, behind Dave Winfield (1,134) . . . Injured first baseman John Kruk took 15 swings off a batting tee Friday but his strained right shoulder remained too painful to play. According to trainer Dick Dent, Kruk is “day to day, unless he says otherwise.” Because of the three straight Los Angeles rain-outs, Friday was Kruk’s first missed start, yet he’s already going crazy. “This is terrible,” said Kruk, who left Monday’s game in Los Angeles after one at-bat and has not been healthy since. “I can do everything but swing, I just can’t swing right now, and I hate it.” Saying he’s already bored, Kruk has taken up a hobby: “Painting shoes,” he explained. “My shoes always arrive from the company in maroon, and I usually get somebody to paint them brown, but now I’m painting them myself. Nothing else to do.” Not that the Padres will miss Kruk’s bat, but in his last 10 games he is 11 for 20 (.367) with two game-winning homers. Carmelo Martinez, who entered Friday’s game working on a 1-for-21 season, will play first until Kruk’s return. . . . Monday’s off-day, combined with last week’s rain-outs, has temporarily eliminated the need for five starting pitchers. The odd man out is Mark Grant, who has allowed six runs and six walks in 12 innings (4.50 ERA). He will throw out of the bullpen until his next start next Saturday against Pittsburgh. “We’ll get him in some non-pressure situations, give him a chance to work on some things,” said pitching coach Pat Dobson. “He can use the time to get back in sync.” . . . When Randy Ready started at third base Friday, he became the fourth Padre starter in that position this year. That’s four in 14 games. Manager Larry Bowa has filled out the lineup card differently in 12 of the 14 games. . . . What were the odds of the Padres being rained out Friday after the lost week in Los Angeles? Entering the game, the Padres had not been rained out at home since April 20, 1983, a club-record string of 506 consecutive games.