Brown Hesitates, Padres Are Lost; Braves Win, 4-2

Whether he is sitting the bench, as he has done for more than 40% of the Padres’ games this season, or playing third base, as he did Wednesday night for the first time in a week, Chris Brown has an uncanny knack for being at the center of controversy.

This time, it was an eighth-inning error that led to three unearned runs as the Atlanta Braves broke an eight-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory in front of 15,061 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The loss also ended a three-game Padre winning streak and wasted what had been another strong pitching effort by Andy Hawkins.

Until the eighth, Hawkins and the Braves’ Zane Smith had been locked in a duel, each having settled down after allowing a first-inning run.

But the end for Hawkins and the Padres began when Ron Gant led off the eighth with a single to left.

Ken Oberkfell then dropped a sacrifice bunt down the third base line not far from the plate, and Brown fielded it cleanly on the run. As he came up, he made a motion with his right arm as if he was going to throw the ball to first, but he never released it, and Oberkfell was safe at first.

Brown was charged with an error that helped fuel what became a three-run inning for the Braves. It was not the way he wanted to be remembered in his first start since he was hit on the right hand during a game July 27 against Houston.

Brown said he had a firm grip on the ball but hesitated throwing because he did not have a clear view of second baseman Roberto Alomar, who was covering first.

“I glanced up, and I didn’t see Robby,” Brown said. “When I looked up again, I saw him, but by then Oberkfell was two or three steps from the bag. I didn’t think I could get him, so I put the ball in my pocket.”

Brown also said his view of first was obscured by Hawkins, who also had come charging in to make the play.

“He cut right across in front of me,” Brown said.

But Hawkins said he was so close to the ball because Brown did not call him off the play until the last moment.

“I was going after the ball,” Hawkins said. “It was just a sacrifice bunt. I was in good position, and I fully expected to make the play. He called me off at the last second.”

Jack McKeon, the Padre manager, said he did not know what happened on the play but was bothered that Brown did not make the throw.

“He had the ball in his hand,” McKeon said. “You have to ask him why he didn’t throw.

“(Oberkfell) is one of the slowest guys in the league.”

Brown, whose many injuries were a source of agitation for former manager Larry Bowa and the grist for a clubhouse scuffle with Marvell Wynne earlier this season, said his taped right hand did not cause him to hesitate.

“It was just that by the time I saw Robby, it was too late,” he said.

After Oberkfell reached first, Hawkins walked Perry on four pitches to load the bases and was replaced by Lance McCullers.

Dale Murphy continued his struggling ways when McCullers struck him out on three pitches for his fourth out of the game and his 12th in as many at bats in the series.

But then the Braves did their damage.

Andres Thomas drove a fly ball deep to left, scoring Gant to break the tie and allowed Tom Glavine, who was pinch running for Oberkfell, to take third. Perry stole second, prompting the Padres to intentionally walk Dion James to load the bases.

The plan backfired when Ozzie Virgil dropped a bloop single between a charging Stan Jefferson in center and a retreating Alomar, scoring Glavine and Perry for a 4-1 lead. Terry Blocker ended the inning with a groundout to short.

The Padres did get one run back in the eighth. With one out, Jefferson singled to center to extend his hitting streak to seven games, and Alomar doubled to left to put runners at second and third.

But after Tony Gwynn grounded to second, scoring Jefferson, Keith Moreland grounded to third to end the threat. It was the last chance of a frustrating game for Moreland, who fouled out with Gwynn on second with one out in the first, grounded into a double play in the fourth and struck out in the sixth.

He, as did most of the Padres, had tough time with Smith (5-8), who limited them to six hits in completing his third game of the season.

“We just couldn’t do anything with that guy’s pitching,” McKeon said. “He had good stuff, but the first few innings we were swinging at a lot of bad pitches.”

The Braves struck first with the help of two soft singles to right by Gant and Oberkfell to start the game.

Gant scored the game’s first run when first baseman Gerald Perry, the National League’s leading hitter, forced Oberkfell at second. But Hawkins avoided further trouble when he got Murphy to ground into a double play to end the inning.

The Padres came back to tie the score in their half of the first. With one out, Smith hit Alomar. Gwynn then doubled into the Padres bullpen in left field, scoring Alomar.

Gwynn was stranded when Smith got Moreland and Carmelo Martinez to pop out.

The score remained tied, 1-1, through the seventh inning. The best Atlanta could manage in the second, third and fourth innings were two-out singles.

And when the Braves finally did get their leadoff hitter on base in the sixth on Alomar’s throwing error, they wasted no time eliminating him with risky base-running.

Oberkfell reached first when Alomar threw past Moreland at first on a routine ground ball to second. But Alomar made up for his mistake with next batter, going deep into the hole near first to make a diving stop of Perry’s sharply hit grounder, then getting up to throw Perry out.

As Alomar made the throw, Oberkfell, who was running on the pitch, had rounded second and was headed toward third. But Moreland, seeing that Oberkfell was beyond the point of return, pivoted and threw to Brown at third. All Brown had to do was wait for Oberkfell’s slide to tag him out and end the Braves’ best threat since the first.

Atlanta did get two runners on base in the seventh when James singled with one out and stole second with two outs and Blocker walked. But Smith grounded to short to end the inning.

The Padres were having no more success against Smith. At one point, he retired eight Padres in a row before Gwynn hit an infield single to lead off the fourth. But Gwynn quickly was erased when the next batter, Moreland, grounded into a double play.

The Padres’ next best chance for a run might have been in the sixth, when Jefferson led off with a walk, and Alomar sacrificed him to second. Gwynn grounded out to second, allowing Jefferson to move to third, but the inning ended when Smith struck out Moreland.

The Padres again got a leadoff walk in the seventh as Martinez reached first and moved to second on Benito Santiago’s sacrifice. But he went no further because Brown, who entered the game 2 for 28 lifetime against Smith, struck out swinging, and Garry Templeton flied out to right.

Padre Notes

Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn was named National League player of the month for July, the third time in his career he has been selected. Gwynn batted .406 in 26 games (43 for 106) with 15 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 17 runs batted in, including 5 game-winners. Gwynn, who is batting .305, was hitting .246 on July 2. Gwynn also was player of the month in April, 1984, and June, 1987. . . . Chris Brown made his first start at third base since he was hit on the hand by a pitch in the ninth inning against Houston July 27. It was his 56th start and 64th game of the Padres’ 108 games. . . . The Padres are to travel to Cincinnati today to begin a 10-game trip, starting Friday with a three-game series against the Reds. The Padres, who were 3-15 on the road with Larry Bowa as manager, are 15-16 since Jack McKeon took over May 28. The Padres’ next home game is Aug. 16, when they start an eight-game home stand with a three-game series against Montreal.