Hits Put Gwynn in NL Lead, Lift Padres

Two remarkable comebacks rolled on Wednesday night as the Padres defeated the Montreal Expos, 4-2, in front of 12,348 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

One continues to hold unlimited promise. The future of the other was clouded at least temporarily by the specter of injury.

--Tony Gwynn moved ahead of Atlanta’s Gerald Perry and into the National League lead in batting, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs, including the game-winner. By evening’s end, Gwynn’s average was .3214. Perry, who is hurt and didn’t play Wednesday, stood at .3207.

It has been a long way back for Gwynn, who was batting just .246 on July 2.

“It’s nice to lead the league, but I’m not going to get up every morning and check the paper to see what the other guys are doing,” Gwynn said. “Throughout my career, I’ve tried to be consistent. This year, I haven’t been consistent. It’s lucky the pack came back to me. If I would finish at .370, it’s still not going to erase the first three months of the season.”

--Dennis Rasmussen pitched another solid game as a Padre, allowing both runs, but only one earned, and just four hits in 6 innings of work. Rasmussen, who was 2-6 when he arrived from the Cincinnati Reds on June 8, improved his record to 12-7. He is 10-1 with the Padres in 13 starts, and has won five consecutive decisions.

But Rasmussen was removed when he strained his right hamstring in the seventh inning. The leg was wrapped after the game, and Rasmussen was walking with a limp. It was too early to tell if it would affect his next start.

“I’ve never had leg problems before, so it’s hard to tell,” Rasmussen said. Mark Davis, who relieved Rasmussen, earned his 21st save.

The Padres are now 57-63, within six games of .500 for the first time since May 3, when they were 9-15.

“We’re just concerned with one game at a time,” said Jack McKeon, the Padre manager. “We’ll just sneak up on people. We don’t need no fanfare. We’ll just go out every night, do the best we can and sneak up on them.”

For the Padres, it was the fifth consecutive victory at home over Montreal. And it was Montreal’s fourth consecutive loss after it had creeped to within 4 1/2 games of the New York Mets in the NL East before Sunday’s Mets-Expos doubleheader.

It was a strange night, punctuated when the crowd began chanting, “Clean the plate, clean the plate,” while umpire Charlie Williams neglected his duties in the third inning.

Williams received a rousing ovation when he finally tidied up before the start of the fourth. But it was in the sixth, when the Expos did their impression of “Who’s on first”--and second in this case--that the dirt really began to fly.

Rasmussen, leading off the inning, was safe when he grounded to Andres Galarraga and pitcher Bryn Smith, covering first, missed first base.

Stanley Jefferson followed with a bunt. Galarraga dove, touched it and then let it roll, hoping it would be called a foul ball. No such luck. Jefferson was safe at first, and Rasmussen was on second.

The situation then got worse for the Expos. Roberto Alomar bunted. Expo third baseman Tim Wallach fielded it, turned to throw Jefferson out at second--and froze. Who was on second? Nobody. Second baseman Rex Hudler was covering first for Galarraga, who had charged the plate for the bunt. Bases loaded.

“That was our short-yardage offense,” McKeon said.

Next up, Gwynn, who lined a single to center field to take care of a couple of matters. First, Rasmussen and Jefferson scored to put the Padres on top, 2-1. Second, it was the hit that pushed Gwynn ahead of Perry.

Keith Moreland put the Padres ahead, 3-1, with a deep fly to left that sent Alomar home, and Gwynn scored when John Kruk singled. Benito Santiago got the fifth and final hit of the inning, a single, after which the Expos called on Andy McGaffigan to relieve Smith.

“It was a crazy inning,” McKeon said. “Once you get them on, you’ve got to get them in.”

Montreal had gone in front, 1-0, in the second. Hubie Brooks and Wallach, taking the baseball axiom “good hitters use the entire field” to heart, produced the Expos’ first run by spraying back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning.

Brooks sent a Rasmussen pitch to right field, then Wallach went the other way. The ball Wallach hit was so close to being foul that it kicked up chalk dust on the left-field line. Brooks scored, but Wallach was stranded at second.

The Expos scored their second run in the seventh. Mike Fitzgerald was on first with one out when Luis Rivera grounded sharply into the hole between short and third. Garry Templeton made a lunging stop but turned and fired over Alomar’s head at second. Fitzgerald raced all the way home.

Padre Notes

An important person in the Padres’ future was watching batting practice Wednesday night, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. A gold chain hung around his neck, a “1987 Texas League Champions” diamond ring was on his finger--and a bandage was on his left leg, from the thigh to near the ankle. Catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Sunday, is walking around without crutches and already is undergoing rehabilitation. “Without rushing it, I think I can rehabilitate in 3-3 1/2 weeks,” Alomar said. “If I take days off, it might take four weeks.” The way he’s thinking, he could still be called up to the Padres in September. “I won’t take a chance if I’m not completely healthy, but I think I can do it,” Alomar said. One of the men who will ultimately make the decision, Padre manager Jack McKeon, isn’t so sure it will happen. “What would be the logic of taking a guy who’s been out a few weeks and then putting him in a big league game?” McKeon asked. “The doctor said it would take 4 to 8 weeks, and I’ve yet to see a guy come back in four from that kind of surgery.” So, then, what are the chances Padre fans might get a glimpse of Alomar Jr. behind the plate this year? “Slim,” McKeon said . . . Alomar said he had a feeling he was going to get hurt. “I was getting beat up lately,” he said. “I was getting drilled with pitches--hit by pitchers and by foul tips.” If you think that’s weird, here’s something else: Alomar had a swollen toe the day he was injured, and Las Vegas manager Steve Smith told him to take the day off. Alomar Jr. declined. . . .

GWYNN’S HOT STREAK

THROUGH JULY 1

AB H HR RBI Avg. 224 55 3 22 .246

JULY 2-AUG. 17

AB H HR RBI Avg. 168 71 3 31 .423

CURRENT TOTALS

AB H HR RBI Avg. 392 126 6 53 .321