Run, Run, Run and the Padres Put the Phillies Away

How fun, fun, fun. In sharing the house with the Beach Boys Sunday, the Padres must have realized, if those guys can still sing, then we can still hit.

In front of a rollicking crowd of 42,285, the Padres scored nine runs, a season high, in finishing their home stand with a 9-2 victory over Philadelphia.

Afterward, the Beach Boys took the field for their seventh annual postgame concert, which was watched by almost everybody in the park.

No offense,” said winning pitcher Eric Show, “but I’ve seen them five straight years, and I think that’s quite enough.”

Forgive Show, who scattered seven hits in pitching his third complete game of the season. But he’d already had quite enough reminiscing for one day.

For the Padres’ poor-luck pitcher, Sunday was a return to last year, when his offense could hit its way out of the majority of paper bags.

After giving Show just 11 runs in his previous eight starts, they nearly equaled that in eight innings. They did it on 11 hits, four more than their average. They stole a season-high four bases.

John Kruk went 3 for 4 with his fourth homer and four RBIs. Roberto Alomar went 2 for 4 with his third homer. Marvell Wynne went 2 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs.

The game began with the leading hitter in the Padre lineup batting in the ninth spot--pitcher Show at .286. It ended quite differently.

Said Manager Larry Bowa: “I thought I was dreaming.”

Said catcher Mark Parent, who coaxed Show through a shaky, five-hit seventh and eighth innings with the Padres leading by six: “I don’t think Show knew quite how to act with all those runs.”

Neither did the fans, who likely came expecting the usual 2-1 loss, but instead saw the home team gain a 4-1 lead after five innings and 7-1 lead after six innings.

Thusly bored, the game ended with more action in the stands than the field, including standing ovations for routine plays, boos for policemen, and a upper-deck fist fight between bikini-clad women.

“I like that,” Bowa said, smiling. “I thought we were in Shea Stadium. I thought we were back East. It was great.”

“I don’t know,” said Show, who is 3-4 with a 3.15 earned-run average. “Probably half of these people were here to party, and I would just as soon not throw those games. But I just shut it out and said, let’s go get it.”

Without his best stuff--”I’ve seen him better,” Phillies Manager Lee Elia said--Show nonetheless got in his sixth straight good start. During that time he has gone 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA.

“Maybe I’m kind of turning the corner on this bad luck everybody is talking about,” Show said. “Maybe today I experienced some kind of break out.”

In all, the Padres felt it was a decent way to end a home stand that rose with a three-game sweep of Montreal and then dipped with four straight losses to the New York Mets. After taking two of three from the East’s last-place Phillies, they close it at 5-5, and begin a nine-game trip to the East Tuesday in Montreal.

“I told somebody, with the teams that came in, finishing 5-5 isn’t so bad,” Bowa said. “I’m never happy losing, but I like the way we finished up.”

What’s more, this victory may give some weight to a couple of theories for the Padres to consider in the future:

--Give The Kid A Break Theory: Alomar scored the game’s first run after a third-inning single. He put the Phillies away for good with a lead-off homer in the fifth. Since last Thursday, he has gone gone 4 for 14 (.286) with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Last Thursday, Alomar had been benched for the first time since he’d joined the club 25 games earlier.

“I didn’t want to sit down,” Alomar said. “That made me think.”

At the time, Alomar was hitting just .223 with 20 strikeouts in 103 at-bats. He was in the midst of an 11-game slide in which he was 6 for 45 (.133) with eight strikeouts and no runs scored.

“Looking back, Larry was smart to sit me down,” Alomar said. “I needed it.”

Said Bowa, who knows: “Middle infielders get tired. They are in every pitch, every play. When the game is over, if they do what they are supposed to do, they should be dead tired. Sometimes, I will sacrifice a game to give Robbie a rest.

“But I tell you what. One day he will be a 20-homer man. Maybe not this year, but one day.”

--The Always Wynne on Sunday Theory: The statistics are so plain, even part-time outfielder Marvell Wynne can’t believe them. In six Sunday games he has gone 7 for 14 (.500) with two homers, two triples, one double and nine RBIs.

The other six days of the week, he is 8 for 41 (.195) with one double, one triple and four RBIs.

Sunday, he hit a single to score the Padres’ second run in the third inning, then hit a two-out, two-strike triple in the fifth for another run.

“Day games,” Wynne explained. “There are always day games on Sunday. I can see the ball. And lately, I’ve really been seeing the ball.”

If only he played for the Chicago Cubs. He leads the club in triples (3), is second in RBI (13).

--Honor Thy Parent Theory: When Show pitches, Mark Parent should catch. Show’s last five starts have proven that.

In those starts, with Parent behind the plate, Show has lasted 37 innings with just eight allowed runs.

With Benito Santiago working, Show has lasted just 23 innings with 13 allowed runs.

“I like Bernie (Parent’s nickname) a lot, but I would not want to alienate Benito--he may be the best catcher in the league,” Show said. “

Padre Notes

The Padres made the two expected personnel moves Sunday, activating infielder Tim Flannery and reliever Dave Leiper from the disabled list and sending reliever Keith Comstock and outfielder Randell Byers to triple-A Las Vegas. Whereas rookie Byers will be in Las Vegas today, Comstock may never get there. Sundaya night he was searching for General Manager Jack McKeon to request permission to talk to other teams. With the San Francisco Giants early last season, Comstock was a 31-year-old rookie with a 2.05 ERA in 15 appearances. He joined the Padres in a seven-player trade last July. It’s been downhill since then. He was 0-1 with a 5.50 ERA with the Padres in 26 late-season appearances. Then this year, after being sent down at the end of spring, he was recalled to replace Leiper on May 3. Since then, he had a 6.75 ERA in seven appearances. Nonetheless, many thought right-hander Candy Sierra, who has a 6.52 ERA in 11 appearances, and not a day of triple-A under his belt, would be sent down instead. Comstock also wondered. “I don’t understand the logic in it,” the left-hander said. “It’s hard to know you’ve only been given two weeks to prove yourself when others with less experience are being given more time.” Manager Larry Bowa said the Padre bosses considered sending down Sierra, but they wanted a right-handed reliever on this week’s nine-game trip through the East.

PADRES AT A GLANCE

THIRD INNING

Padres--With one out, Alomar singled to center. Kruk popped to third base. Ready walked. Moreland beat out a grounder to second, Alomar scoring, Ready to second. Wynne singled to left, Ready scoring, Moreland stopping at second. Mack grounded to second. Two runs, three hits, two left.

FOURTH INNING

Phillies--With one out, Hayes homered to right, his third. Schmidt fouled to first base. Samuel grounded to shortstop. One run, one hit.

FIFTH INNING

Padres--Alomar homered to right, his third. Kruk singled to right. Kruk stole second. Ready popped out to second base. Moreland grounded to second. Wynne tripled to center, Kruk scoring. Mack flied to right. Two runs, three hits, one left.

SIXTH INNING

Padres--Clay took the mound. With two out, Thon and Alomar walked. Carman replaced Clay. Kruk doubled to right, Thon and Alomar scoring. Ready singled to left, Kruk scoring. Ready took second on a wild pitch. Moreland grounded to second. Three runs, two hits, one left.

EIGHTH INNING

Phillies--Jeltz tripled to left. G. Gross, pinch-hitting for the pitcher Carman, grounded to second, Jeltz scoring. Thompson singled to right. Bradley struck out. Aguayo singled to left, Thompson stopping at second. Schmidt grounded to second. One run, three hits, two left.

Padres--Ritchie took the mound. Show safe at first on shortstop Jeltz’s fielding error. Thon flied to right. Alomar flied to center. Kruk homered to right, his fourth. Ready walked. Abner fouled out to first. Two runs, one hit, one left.