Padres Let It Get Away Once Too Often, 7-6

It was six minutes shy of midnight and Garry Templeton just lay there between second and third base, this 11-year veteran, beating his bare right hand on the carpet.

A Hubie Brooks bouncer had just skipped into left field, a foot outside his glove, to score Tim Raines. It was the Montreal Expos’ third run in the 13th inning.

It sent the Padres to a 7-6 loss that wasn’t so much a loss as a chest-high kick that didn’t stop at the chest but applied a direct hit to that thing inside.

“This is not just another loss,” pitcher Greg Booker said, barely above a whisper. “There was something different here. Something really different.”

This was a blown 6-4 lead with two out in the 13th. A blown 4-3 lead with two out in the 12th. A blown 3-2 lead in the 11th. A blown 2-1 lead in the ninth.

For those who watched as the televised game slipped into its fourth hour and prime time back home, and who can no longer count, that’s four blown leads. For those who can’t believe it, join the crowd.

Said Manager Larry Bowa: “I’ve never seen it before. It was unnnn-believable.”

Said reliever Mark Davis: “Never seen anything like it. Ever.”

Said outfielder Marvell Wynne: “Every inning, I thought we had it in our pocket. It went from a very good game . . . to a heartbreaker.”

Poor Wynne. He only hit two homers, including a two-run shot off Montreal reliever Andy McGaffigan with two out in the 13th that was to be the game-winner. After all, even the Padres can’t lose a two-run extra-inning lead, can they?

Right.

Mark Grant, forced into relief when the only reliever left was a struggling kid, Candy Sierra, allowed a one-out 13th-inning double to rookie Nelson Santovenia, who was in only his seventh game. Grant then allowed a single to center by rookie Luis Rivera, who was hitting .212 at the time.

Grant had already blown one of the leads, in the 12th. Bowa had seen enough. He had no choice. He had to bring in Sierra, the 21-year-old who had a 6.52 ERA and had allowed 6 of his 14 inherited runners to score.

Sierra struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Reed for the second out. But then he gave up a single to Raines for one run. And a single to right by Mitch Webster to score Rivera with the tying run when catcher Mark Parent was handcuffed by a great throw from Wynne. Parent tagged Rivera, but the ball was not in his glove; it was stuck between his legs.

“It was a great throw, but it took a short hop when it hit the dirt in front of the plate,” Parent said. “I thought I had it, but it was gone.”

On that kind of hop, it truly was not Parent’s fault, but the question remains: Why backup Parent and not the league’s best defensive catcher, Benito Santiago? Parent had entered the game just four batters earlier, with Sierra. Bowa was so unsure of the two-run lead, he brought in Parent so he could hit in the pitcher’s spot as the third batter in the next inning. Because Santiago had batted last in the previous inning, Sierra could bat in his spot and not be needed to hit for nine batters.

“I had to anticipate what was going to happen,” Bowa said. “The way it was going, nobody was able to hold a lead. Sierra was my last pitcher, so I couldn’t pinch-hit for him.”

Explained Parent: “Nobody likes to come into a game at midnight, but I had been catching guys in the bullpen and I was ready.”

Said Santiago: “I understand. That’s baseball.”

On the very next pitch, Brooks bounced the ball just out of Templeton’s reach, scoring Raines with the game-winner.

While the Expos were wildly celebrating, the Padres were lifeless. Sierra, his eyes red, could hardly speak, saying only, “It was a good pitch to Raines. It was a good pitch to Brooks.”

Grant, one of the club’s most talkative players, would not speak at all.

This was a loss that will not soon be forgotten. In Bowa’s stormy tenure as manager, there have been many losses--he has gone 80-125 (.390) since he took over at the beginning of 1987--but even he admitted that none have sunk the team like this one.

“No,” he said softly. “Not really.”

He added, “We gave all of our relievers a chance to win a game, and nobody responded, not one guy. Surely somebody could have gotten the side out once. Just once.”

A recap, as quickly and painlessly as possible:

* The Padres thought they had it won entering the bottom of the ninth with a 2-1 lead after 6 innings of great pitching by starter Jimmy Jones and great defense that resulted in inning-ending double plays in the seventh and eighth. Think again.

Andres Galarraga hit a towering lead-off homer off reliever Lance McCullers. The Padre reliever has allowed three homers his year, and all have been in the ninth.

* The Padres thought they had it won again in the 11th, when Roberto Alomar led off with a line drive into the vacant lot beyond the right-field fence, his fourth homer and second in two games. Think again.

The Expos tied it on an RBI single by Tom Foley off reliever Booker after Galarraga had reached second on Randy Ready’s wild throw from third.

* The Padres thought they had it won in the 12th, for certain this time, when Dickie Thon’s sacrifice fly scored Wynne, who had reached base on third baseman Tim Wallach’s throwing error. Think again.

Reliever Dave Leiper, who had entered the game to get the last out of the 11th, allowed a leadoff single to Raines. Then Webster bunted Raines to second. In came Grant, who threw one pitch and got Brooks on a fly out for the second out.

But out ran Bowa for a mound meeting concerning watching Raines at second. Grant threw the next pitch in the dirt, moving Raines to third. Two pitches later, Wallach singled to right, tying the score again.

Padre Notes

The starting time for tonight’s game has been changed from 4:05 PDT to 4:35. . . . Shortstop Garry Templeton was benched Monday for the seventh consecutive day since his left knee has been healthy. It made him realize that he has become a backup shortstop for the first time in his 15-year professional career. And for the first time, he has revealed that he doesn’t like it and might be interested in a change. “Yes, I’m unhappy,” he said. “Dickie (Thon) is doing a great job at shortstop, and I can’t complain about him, no way. But I know I’m healthy and I can play, and I’m not. I’ve been used twice in the last week, and its been to pinch-hit and pinch-run, and I can’t be happy with that.” The answer? Templeton said his agent, Richie Brye, has had “a couple” of discussions with Padre General Manager Jack McKeon involving possible trades.