Gibson Stirs Up Padres as Dodgers Are Swept

Kirk Gibson had spoken the words late Saturday night, after the Dodgers had lost for the second straight time to the San Diego Padres. He had spoken like a man trying to fire up somebody.

“We should be beating the (stuffing) out of these guys,” Gibson had said of the Padres. “We’re a better ballclub . . . it’s not right that (the Padres) beat us . . . We’re a better . . . team.”

Eighteen hours later, he had indeed fired up somebody.

Guess who?

The Padre players spent Sunday morning digging through the newspaper, and Sunday afternoon crumpling up the Dodgers with a 5-2 victory that completed a stunning three-game sweep before a crowd of 20,112 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Oh, Kirk Gibson and his big mouth.

“I walked into the clubhouse this morning, and Gibson’s comments were all anybody was talking about,” Padre Tony Gwynn said. “Guys were passing the newspaper around, showing it to everybody. I think it gave us motivation. It took us an extra step further.”

In fact, it took the Padres past irritation, past anger, and all the way to sarcasm.

“It’s an honor to be on the field with Kirk Gibson,” Padre infielder Tim Flannery said. “I didn’t know we were that bad, so it’s great to get to play with him. It’s kind of neat to watch him play.”

Joke intended. The only thing worse than the content of Gibson’s speech was its timing. On Sunday he went 0 for 4 and muffed a grounder that led to a Padre run.

He fired up the Dodgers so much, they committed another error and made three poor baserunning decisions that killed three rallies.

The Padres scored the game’s first four runs all in the third inning, due in part to Gibson’s error and a third dive-and-miss in three straight games by center fielder John Shelby. After Shelby atoned with a run-scoring double in the fourth, the Padres scored again in the sixth, this time due to third baseman Jeff Hamilton’s high and wide throw to first.

It was more than enough for Padre starter Ed Whitson and reliever Mark Davis. The game was appropriately cinched in the ninth when Mike Scioscia tried to turn a bloop single into a double and was easily thrown out at second.

In all, the Padres played positively inspired, and the Dodgers like a team that has spent 50 days in first place by no fault of their own.

“What bothers you most is, you beat (Mike) Scott and you beat (Nolan) Ryan, then you come in and lose three straight here,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said of his team, which had beaten both Houston aces last week and still leads the second-place Astros by a half-game.

Lasorda was so frustrated--he had earlier argued two different calls with two different umpires and couldn’t get thrown out once-- he then provided listeners with a poor-man’s version of Gibson.

“I know they got talent on this San Diego ballclub,” Lasorda said, “but there’s no reason to be swept.”

Gibson was keeping a lower profile. Though not denying his statements, he downplayed their importance.

“I’m not faulting anybody’s effort on this ballcub, I never have,” Gibson said. “All I said is that this club is better than San Diego and should beat them. I wasn’t trying to demean San Diego at all.

“What I said was not taken right by some people. Some of them blew it out of proportion.”

The same might be said for how the Padres viewed the victory--with World Series-type whooping and hollering. But it gave them four straight victories to equal a season high. And it put them 8 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, the closest they have been since May 8.

And it gave them a 9-6 record under Manager Jack McKeon, which after going 16-30 under Larry Bowa would make anybody dance.

“This is a big thrill for this club, a big boost for us,” said Whitson, who left the game after seven innings, but was waiting for his teammates at the clubhouse door afterward with back slaps and ya-hoos. “We’re such a young team, we need things like this. We need to know that we know how to play with the best. And this proves it--we do.”

McKeon thinks it proves something far more important for the National League’s worst-hitting team, which won this series with 11 runs in 3 games: “This proves you can win without a lot of hitting. You can win with execution.”

For the third straight day, the Padres executed, the Dodgers did not.

The third inning can explain everything. Dave Anderson led off with the Dodgers’ first hit, a single up the middle. He moved to second after a Whitson balk.

But then Dodger starter Tim Belcher failed to execute a bunt and struck out. And then, on a Steve Sax grounder to shortstop, Anderson tried to take third and was thrown out.

“Poor plays and poor decisions,” Gibson observed. “Some of the guys are trying too hard.”

Now for the Padre third. With one out, Roberto Alomar hit a single to left. Gwynn, just trying to make contact and advance Alomar, poked what would have been a single to center. Shelby, however, tried to make a diving catch and missed. The ball got through for a double.

Later, Keith Moreland was intentionally walked and Carmelo Martinez, a last-minute, .208-hitting replacement for the injured first baseman John Kruk (sore thumb), lined an 0-and-1 pitch off the top of the left-field wall for two runs. When Gibson overran Benito Santiago’s ensuing single, an alert Martinez scored behind Moreland to make it two more runs, Belcher (four runs in four innings) and the Dodgers were all but finished.

Concluded Steve Sax, whose team has won once here in six games this year: “It just was a terrible series. Every time we come here, the same thing happens. It’s a temple of doom.”

Padre Notes

Nowhere are the benefits of Jack McKeon’s brand of equal opportunity employment--he’ll play any Padre, anytime--more evident than with Carmelo Martinez. The backup first baseman, who has made few appearances against right-handed pitching, was thrown in against right-hander Tim Belcher Sunday and responded with his second game-winning RBI of the three-game series, a two-run double in the third. His pinch-hit, two-run double off right-hander Jay Howell won Friday night’s game in the bottom of the ninth, and he leads the team in game-winning RBIs with four. Martinez started Sunday because first baseman John Kruk injured his right thumb diving for a ball Saturday night. But McKeon could have easily shifted the lineup around so a left-handed hitter such as Tim Flannery played in Martinez’s place. “No way,” McKeon said. “I feel as much for Carmelo as I feel for anybody on this team. He has not played much and has not complained. I’m getting him in there every chance I can get. I’m using everybody. I want these guys to realize, it takes 24 to make a team.”

Martinez already realizes. “Jack’s not going to tell us before every time we play, we won’t find out until we get to the ballpark, but I can get used to that,” he said. “I can get used to it as long as I know I always have a chance to play. I’ll never get in my mind that I can’t hit right-handers, either. I’ll always think I can hit them, and just wait for my chance for it.” After Martinez’s double Sunday, he looked over to third base and saw Keith Moreland grinning and shaking his fists. “More than anybody, I feel for Carmelo,” Moreland said. “Shoot, I came here and took his job. But he doesn’t complain and he’s ready every day to play. I’m rooting for him.”

McKeon wouldn’t say whether he will play Martinez today against San Francisco right-hander Kelly Downs, but don’t be surprised if he’s in there. “I’m going to keep them guessing,” said McKeon, who didn’t reveal Kruk’s sore thumb even to his public relations people for fear Kruk might have to pinch-hit and the Dodgers would take advantage of that knowledge. . . . Whatever McKeon is doing, the bench players are appreciating it. “There is no way nine guys can carry a team, and Jack is showing that,” Flannery said. “This finally feels like a team, all of us are involved. The guys we traded for are being used in the roles that we traded them for. It’s all working.”