Whitson Lends Padres a Big Hand : Brown, Martinez Also Pitch In for 6-2 Victory Over Reds

On the assumption that Jack McKeon was hired not to be a manager but a director of rescue operations, Tuesday night he finally had reason to smile that postgame smile and talk that postgame talk.

Although the Padres’ 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds was his fifth victory in 10 tries, it may have been his most fun yet.

Check out how the Padres succeeded in front of 9,702 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. These were not so much performances as archeological finds.

--Ed Whitson won his first game as a starting pitcher since May 14.

--Chris Brown hit his first homer since April 5.

--Carmelo Martinez, in only his third start since May 17, had an RBI single in the fourth to give the Padres a lead (4-2) that they never relinquished.

--Shortstop Garry Templeton took us back to when he was this club’s only shortstop--last year, perhaps?--with a perfect run-saving throw to the plate from shallow center field.

In all, about the only thing that received a greater ovation than these guys was the seventh-inning announcement of the Lakers’ loss.

“When you get in droughts, you just have to battle it out, wait for it to turn,” Whitson said, speaking for himself, although he easily could have been speaking for everyone. “You figure, it has to turn sooner or later. And when it does, watch out.”

Watch out. The Padres trailed, 2-0, after the Reds had batted in the third inning Tuesday, but they came back with a run in their half of the third on Brown’s homer, and then they batted around against Danny Jackson for five runs in the fourth to seal it. The big blows in those innings were Martinez’s single and two-run doubles by Keith Moreland and Whitson.

“I don’t know what the heck went wrong,” Jackson said.

Sound familiar?

And after that, it was left to Whitson, who was perfect for the next three innings before he reached 80 pitches, a limit that the Padre bosses talked about imposing after Whitson’s struggles for the past month. Lance McCullers finished with two more hitless innings.

Incredibly it was only the eighth time the Padres have come from behind to win this season (21 victories total).

“That’s what’s nice,” McKeon said. “That’s something you have to look at.”

Among other things, you also have to look at Whitson, who had gotten out of the sixth inning as a starter only once in nearly two months. Since he won two of his first four starts, beginning the season 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA, he has crashed and nearly burned. He lost five of his next seven starts, allowing 32 runs in just 30 innings for a 9.40 ERA.

The bosses quietly moved him to the bullpen for a turn, and Saturday night against Atlanta, he threw 3 scoreless innings for the win in the Padres’ 6-5 victory. Then on Tuesday, he allowed just two runs on six hits in seven innings.

He had runners on base in each of his first four innings but survived with ground balls that ended three of those innings, and Templeton’s great throw that ended the fourth.

“I’ve always said I wasn’t throwing the ball that bad; I just wasn’t getting any breaks,” said Whitson, who is 5-5 with a 5.45 ERA. “When you’re going bad, you never get the breaks.”

Said McKeon: “I think it was as much mental as anything else.”

It was the same with Martinez, who followed Moreland’s fourth-inning game-winning double with his none-out single to right on a ball he was just trying to hit on the ground.

“I was just trying to move Moreland up,” Martinez said, something McKeon loves to hear. “It felt funny up there, but that’s OK. I’m not going to complain about not playing. If I go into the manager’s office and say something, it won’t change things. Hey, it’s a job. I’m getting paid. I’m happy.”

So is Brown, who says his injured wrist is “80-90%” healthy but who says he won’t say any more about his performance until he starts performing regularly. Considering that he has started 7 of McKeon’s first 10 games, he has a chance to make that happen.

Padre Notes

Outfielder Eric Davis didn’t start for the Reds Tuesday because of an injury to his left ankle he suffered in the ninth inning of Monday’s 12-0 victory. Davis has played in 49 of the club’s 56 games this season. . . . The latest edition of the “Rumor of the Week,” which swept through the dugout Tuesday, may be this season’s strongest. It goes like this: By the time the Reds leave town Thursday, one of them will be a Padre, and vice versa. Although no names were mentioned by any club officials, there are a couple of guys in need of a change of scenery--Cincinnati first baseman Nick Esasky and Padre first baseman and outfielder Carmelo Martinez. Entering Tuesday, Esasky was hitting .265 with 4 homers and 21 RBIs, and Martinez was hitting just .202 with 2 homers and 9 RBIs, but he has one of the best infield gloves on the team. The Padres, who need a left-handed starter, would also seem to have a shot at former Padre Dennis Rasmussen, one of six Cincinnati left-handers. Rasmussen, 2-6 with a 5.75 ERA, pitches here tonight. The most expendable Padre pitcher would seem to be Candy Sierra, the 21-year-old who has struggled at 0-1 with a 5.70 ERA.

Catcher Mark Parent, who recently had his “exclusive contract” to catch Eric Show declared void by Manager Jack McKeon, confirmed Tuesday that his agent, Dennis Gilbert, has been talking to the Padres about a trade since spring training. Parent will be 27 by the end of the season, and not that he’s complaining, but he said he would like a chance to start somewhere before he has grandchildren. “I know my role here, and I will continue to work hard and do what they say until I get a chance to play more . . . probably with another organization,” said Parent, who seems to be hopelessly stuck behind last season’s rookie of the year, Benito Santiago. “I’ve got a good job, and I know it sounds bad to say I want to play more, but what kind of a guy would I be if I didn’t want to play?” Despite just a .186 batting average in 32 at-bats, Parent has done well in the field in his 13 games, guiding Show to a stretch of three wins in four decisions and throwing out 5 of 9 potential base-stealers. Parent is still a rookie, and if he ever receives a regular shot, things could happen. “I’ve told Mark he should get some time in the big leagues, and when expansion comes, there will be a greater chance for him,” McKeon said. “Otherwise, he’s a good guy, and if he stays in this role, he could have 7-10 years in the big leagues, which isn’t bad. He has to know, the grass is also greener on the other side.”

Greg Booker may still be hurting after he allowed six hits and five runs in the ninth inning against Cincinnati Monday, but he can take heart that he is the favorite to be named the extra starting pitcher when the Padres play five games in three days in Los Angeles June 17-19. If the current rotation holds, it will be Ed Whitson and Mark Grant in Friday afternoon’s doubleheader, Show on Saturday afternoon, and Jimmy Jones and possibly Booker on Sunday.

Pitching coach Pat Dobson was still shaking his head Tuesday over the Monday night performance of starter Grant, who allowed the Reds five runs in three innings en route to a 12-0 loss. After he combined with Mark Davis to hand the New York Mets their first shutout May 27, allowing just four hits in 6 innings, Grant allowed nine runs in eight innings in his next two starts. And Dobson feels as if his 24-year-old prodigy is regressing. “It’s like he goes two steps forward, one step back,” Dobson said. “Just when it looks like we are over the hump, he goes backward. It’s frustrating for him, and frustrating as hell for me. It’s like we’re starting all over again.” Dobson said Grant’s problem Monday may have involved his history of problems against the Reds, which led to a pregame ERA of 8.25 in 24 innings against Cincinnati. “He wasn’t aggressive; he was tentative. And I wonder if it wasn’t because of what had happened in the past,” Dobson said. “And that’s ridiculous. You’ve got to get more aggressive against a club like that, not tentative.” In his last two starts, Grant’s ERA has gone from 3.55 to 4.45.

PADRES AT A GLANCETHIRD INNING

Reds--With one out, Jackson singled to second. Sabo doubled to left center, Jackson stopping at third. Collins singled to first, Jackson scoring, Sabo scoring on Martinez’s error, Collins taking second. Daniels grounded to first. O’Neill bounced out, catcher to first. Two runs, three hits, one left.

Padres--Brown homered to right, his second. Templeton struck out. Whitson grounded to third. Mack struck out. One run, one hit.

FOURTH INNING

Padres--Alomar singled to left. Gwynn walked. Moreland doubled to left, Alomar and Gwynn scoring. Martinez singled to right, Moreland scoring. Santiago walked. Brown grounded into a double play, Moreland taking third. Templeton was walked intentionally. Whitson doubled to left, Moreland and Templeton scoring. Mack struck out. Five runs, four hits, one left.