This Padre Loss Makes It Official : Reds’ Victory Eliminates San Diego From Pennant Race

He threw his glove. Honest to goodness, as Jimmy Jones might say.

Times being what they are for the Padres, you figured it was bound to happen, and it did. Jones, the pitcher whose four-letter word for anger is “darn,” left the Riverfront Stadium mound in such a huff Tuesday afternoon that when he reached the dugout, he actually took off his glove and flicked it against a wall.

“I did?” Jones said later.

Another day, another game, another Padre wishing to take a Brillo pad to his memory. Tuesday, the Padres lost a second consecutive contest by a second consecutive 7-2 score, falling again to the Cincinnati Reds and respectability.

For those keeping count, it’s 4 losses in a row, 7 in 8 games. For those keeping count, stop keeping count. As of 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the Padre were eliminated from the pennant race.

And, by the looks of things, they were glad of it.

“We’re going through the same problem all clubs in the second division go through,” pitching coach Pat Dobson said plainly. “It’s like we can’t wait for the season to get over.”

Tony Gwynn, who took the afternoon off on doctor’s orders, had two more words for it.

“We’re flat,” Gwynn said. He paused to check his mental thesaurus. “We’re dead .”

Later, Gwynn said, “It looks to me like we’re more concerned with what’s going to happen after the end of the season than with finishing the season. And anybody who has watched us play the last 10 days would say that.”

Such as Jack McKeon. OK, the manager didn’t exactly say that; he doesn’t know enough discouraging words. But he’s obviously disappointed by the scuff marks on his miracle workings.

“This game was ugly, there are no excuses,” he said after Jones allowed 8 hits and 6 runs in 4 innings, while the Padre offense couldn’t touch a struggling rookie pitcher named Norm Charlton, who has a 4.73 ERA.

And then there was a reprise of that recently popular sideshow: The Padres In The Field. Twice in the first two innings, the Padres threw to the wrong base. Another time during that period, third baseman Chris Brown had a double-play ball in his hands and didn’t throw at all.

The Padres now have their reached longest losing streak under McKeon. And with this 2-game sweep by the Reds, they have been swept in 2 series in the past week. They had not previously been swept since McKeon took over as manager May 28.

The slump began, coincidentally, the same day McKeon was offered that three-year managerial contract he later signed.

“This is one time I’m not too happy,” McKeon said Tuesday. “We got Jimmy (Jones) falling behind in the count to guys and then trying to throw the ball past them, in which case they will always get him. Then we got hitters all trying to hit the ball out of ballpark and ending up with nothing.

“I’ll tell you what, the same guys who complain about not playing regularly, well, now they are getting their chance.”

Part-timers who played and struggled again Tuesday were Marvell Wynne (bad throw from center field, 1 for 9 in his past two starts) and Brown (1 for 4, making him 1 for 12 in his past three starts).

Since taking over as manager, McKeon has held just 1 team meeting, June 24 in Atlanta. It was so stormy that players still talk about it. When asked about the possibility of a second meeting to discuss the latest crisis, McKeon smiled.

“You never know, you never know,” he said. “Tell you what, I plan to have one before the year is over.”

Look for that meeting to be held in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse this afternoon, as the Padres prepare for a today’s doubleheader with the division leaders. Of their 12 games remaining, none will have more importance than these; the Dodgers are on the verge of clinching the title.

These Padres know something about that. They were on the same field with San Francisco last season in San Diego when the Giants clinched their title.

“I tell you what, if we aren’t ready to play in L.A., something is really wrong,” Gwynn said. “The last thing we want them to do is clinch against us. I’ll never forget last year; it really stunk.”

The Padres at least appear to be taking hard looks at themselves, particularly one of their most troubled members, problem child Jones. The problem is, he is no longer a child. After 2 full seasons, days such as Tuesday seem increasingly inexcusable.

“I consider myself young, but I’ve been around,” said Jones, 24, whose problems have been often passed off as immaturity. “If you put me in the rotation, I’ve got to do the job, I don’t care if I’m 16. And I haven’t been doing the job.”

In his past 2 starts, he has lasted a total of 7 innings, allowing 10 runs and taking the Padres out of both game before they had a chance. Overall, he has won just twice in 10 starts since July 24. He is 9-14 with a 4.12 ERA and is representative of a faltering starting staff that, in the past 7 games, has lasted 31 innings and allowed 28 runs.

“I haven’t been pitching well, and I have been thinking about it a little more,” Jones said. “I’ve felt good, but I haven’t been getting anybody out. I can have bad games, but I’ve got to stop having terrible games, where I give up 5 or 6 runs.”

According to Dobson, that means that Jones, who has inexplicably lost velocity on his fastball, must start using his head.

“He keeps trying to get that fastball by hitters when he is behind in the count--and he’s just asking to be smoked,” said Dobson, who has been working with Jones on a new slider to replace the fastball. “But then he won’t throw the slider because he says he doesn’t have confidence in it yet. But how can he have confidence in it if he doesn’t throw it?”

Padre Notes

Shortstop Dickie Thon strained his right hamstring sliding into third base in the first inning Tuesday and was replaced by Garry Templeton. Thon’s status has been listed as day-to-day, but because he doesn’t play against right-handers, and the Padres will be facing several in a row, he won’t be needed until early next week, anyway. . . . How bad has the Padre pitching staff been? They have made a hero, and possibly a record-breaker, of a .249-hitter named Paul O’Neill. The Reds’ right-fielder collected hits in his last 3 at-bats against the Padres Monday and then went 4 for 4 Tuesday for 7 consecutive hits, 3 shy of the National League record shared by 8 players. “I’ve been hitting the ball hard, but right at somebody, until Ron Oester told me to try sleeping on the other side of the bed,” O’Neill explained. “I did, and it worked.” One problem with that theory. “Now, what happens if I go into a slump again?” O’Neill asked. “I don’t have any other sides of the bed.”