Jones Learning How to Bend, Helps Padres Break Reds, 3-1

It took almost six years, but Jimmy Jones has finally learned how to throw a curveball.

As a result of his belated discovery, Jones has become the Padres’ most effective starting pitcher. He was downright superb Thursday, beating the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1, in front of 12,986 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium to give the Padres a split of the four-game series.

Jones pitched three-hit ball for eight innings before Mark Davis came in to earn his eighth consecutive save.

Jones has been in the Padre organization since 1982, but by his own admission, he never had a decent curve until spring training this year. Then, suddenly, a bit of advice from the club’s new pitching coach, Pat Dobson, turned him into a well-rounded pitcher.

“I had what I called a curveball, but they’d hit it 900 feet,” Jones said. “Then Pat revamped it, and it has given me the versatility and confidence I need.

“Now I can get my fastball, curveball and changeup over for strikes, and that’s a lot better than just a fastball and maybe a changeup. You tell yourself to keep the ball down and throw a fastball here and a breaking ball there, but without a curve, I was hurting if I got behind. Being able to throw it gives me an added dimension.”

Asked what had made the difference with Jones after all these years, Dobson said: “The whole problem with Jimmy’s curveball was his wrist. He wasn’t flexing it enough. Once he made that little adjustment, he was a much better pitcher.

“The best thing about it is that I don’t think his curve is where it’s going to be down the road. At first, you could see one good curve out of five. Then it was two out of five, now it’s three out of five, sometimes even four out of five. I think he’ll eventually get to the point where 70% of his curveballs are good pitches.

“He already had a good fastball and was keeping it low in the strike zone. Now that his curveball is coming around, he has a lot of confidence in himself, and that helps.”

Jones’ victory only balanced his record at 5-5, the same as teammates Andy Hawkins and Ed Whitson, but it trimmed his earned-run average to 2.99. Hawkins’ ERA is 3.59 and Whitson’s is 5.40.

Even the one run Jones allowed was tainted. After Paul O’Neill led off the second inning with a single, his sixth consecutive hit, Nick Esasky lined a ball to left field that Randy Ready could have played for a single. But Ready, an infielder making only his second start of the year in left, tried to make a sliding backhand catch, and the ball went past him for a run-scoring double.

Fortunately for Jones, the Reds handed the Padres three runs an inning later, and that was more than he needed. Ron Robinson, who had come within one out of a perfect game against the Montreal Expos last month, retired the first two Padres in the third before his defense betrayed him.

Rookie second baseman Jeff Treadway began the Reds’ charity performance by making two errors on one play. He booted Tony Gwynn’s grounder, then threw wildly to first base. Next, Treadway and veteran shortstop Dave Concepcion lost John Kruk’s pop fly in the sun for a double that scored Gwynn with the tying run. Ready’s solid single broke the tie, and the third run scored when a kind scorer gave Benito Santiago a single on a bouncer booted by rookie third baseman Chris Sabo.

The key play was the popup that fell in short center, and Concepcion, who will be 40 next Friday, took the blame.

“I called for the ball, but it got in the sun, and I completely lost it,” Concepcion said. “Treadway didn’t see it, either, but when he realized I had lost it, he lunged for it. The wind got hold of it, too, and he couldn’t reach it.

“When you lose a ball in the sun, you’re helpless. You can break your nose or lose an eye. But I still should have made the play. I’ve been around long enough to not let that sort of thing happen.”

The Padres’ victory evened Jack McKeon’s managerial record at 6-6, and his first words afterward were, “It was a darn good game.”

Asked if he had found it tough to take out Jones for a pinch-hitter after eight fine innings, McKeon said, “No, not at all. Sure, he wanted to finish, but with two premier relief pitchers in Davis and (Lance) McCullers, why take a chance? What if he had gone out there in the ninth and had trouble?

“The big thing with these young pitchers is to win and gain confidence. They had two left-handers coming up in the ninth--three if Jones had stayed in, because (Dave) Collins is a switch-hitter. Davis was the perfect guy for the situation, so why not bring him in?”

Jones said he had no argument with McKeon’s decision. He was just happy to pitch so well against the club that had been his nemesis in the past. Before the game, his lifetime ERA against the Reds was 10.13.

“Esasky has owned me,” Jones said. “He started right out again today with that double. In fact, the whole Red team has owned me. I pitched just one decent game against them last year. I went out in the sixth inning, but at least they didn’t score a hundred runs.

“They’ve got an awesome lineup, even without Eric Davis (who is out with an ankle injury). This gives my confidence an added boost.”

By the same token, Jones’ increasing success is somewhat quieting critics who have pointed out that the Padres passed up Dwight Gooden to take him with the third choice in the 1982 amateur draft. Gooden, who was drafted fifth, has been a star with the New York Mets since 1984.

Looking back six years, Murray Cook, general manager of the Reds, said, “I thought Jones was a better prospect than Gooden in high school. Gooden played the infield a lot, and when he did pitch, he seldom threw hard.”

McKeon agreed, saying, “If the Mets had had our choice, they would have picked Jones. They just got lucky with Gooden.”

Padre Notes

Manager Pete Rose of the Reds thinks his son, Pete Rose Jr., 18, who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles last week, has a good chance to follow him to the major leagues. “He’s got more ability than I had,” Rose said Thursday. “He’s got a good arm, a good glove and a good bat. He’s got everything, except that he can’t run fast. I wasn’t a burner, but I had above-average speed, and I knew how to run. The thing is with Petey, I don’t know whether he’s going to sign or go to college. He can go wherever he wants.”

On Wednesday’s trade in which the Padres sent pitcher Candy Sierra to the Reds for pitcher Dennis Rasmussen, Rose said: “Every time Rasmussen started, we had to use three guys out of the bullpen. His history is that he’s a five- or six-inning pitcher. With him pitching, you’re very seldom not going to use the bullpen. Ron Robinson followed him in our rotation, and he can’t go nine innings either because of a bad elbow. He’s a gamer, but we have to watch him closely and hold him to around 90 pitches. With those guys starting back to back, our bullpen would get worn out in two days.” Robinson lasted only four innings Thursday. . . . Rasmussen, who was with the Padres briefly in 1983, rejoined them with a 2-6 record and a 5.75 ERA. He will start against the Dodgers Saturday night. Asked about his plans for Sierra, who had jumped to the Padres from double-A but had compiled a 5.70 ERA in relief, Rose said: “I don’t know yet. I have to see him pitch.” Sierra warmed up in the third inning, when the Reds’ defense handed the Padres their three runs, but wasn’t used.

Thursday’s victory left the Padres with an 11-12 record within the National League West. Against teams from the East, their record is a dismal 11-24 . . . Padre catchers are over .500 in throwing out baserunners trying to steal. Benito Santiago is 20 for 40, Mark Parent 5 for 9 . . . Santiago ended a hitless streak of 14 times at bat when he singled in the third inning Thursday . . . Jimmy Jones finally put a stop to Chris Sabo’s hot hitting, holding the Reds’ rookie third baseman hitless in four times at bat. Even so, Sabo hit .368 for the four-game series . . . Monday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants has been scrapped as a television attraction by ABC but will start at 5:10 p.m. as scheduled.