HE BEAT THE HEAT : Padres Needed a Victory, and Whitson Got One

The problem with Ed Whitson is that the guy can’t buy a hit.

Wednesday he was zero for two, which kept his season batting average at .000. He was called on to pinch-hit in the ninth inning Tuesday night and grounded to short.

No matter. His average this season on the mound is 1.000.

Whitson started in Wednesday’s suffocating heat and cooled off a San Francisco Giants team that had the Padres’ heads spinning the previous two days. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight--his high last season.

When he turned the ball over to Dave Leiper in the seventh, the Padres were on their way to an over-the-hump, 4-3 victory.

At game’s end, thanks in large part to Whitson, the Talking Heads were on the clubhouse stereo, and the conversations were flowing freely. As “Life During Wartime” slipped into “Wild, Wild Life” on the speakers, the turnabout of Padre fortunes from the first two games was discussed.

The change was as evident as the Whitson changeup that struck out Terry Kennedy with two on to end the sixth, preserving a 4-1 Padre lead.

It was the first straight changeup Whitson had thrown in at least a couple of months, by his own estimate. “It was the perfect time--it just dawned on me to try it,” Whitson said. “(Catcher) Benny (Santiago) called for a fastball, and I thought, ‘I’m not going to cross him up--the straight change is the same as a fastball, only slower.’ Benny kind of looked out at me after I threw it and said, ‘OK.’ ”

Santiago wasn’t the only one who was surprised. As Kennedy left the plate, he had a few words for the pitcher.

“He told me that was probably the first straight changeup I threw for a strike in years,” Whitson said. “It probably was.”

The Giants entered the game hitting .307, after sneaking up on Eric Show Monday and embarrassing Bruce Hurst Tuesday. The Padres were getting hot under the collars, and it wasn’t just because of Wednesday’s game-time temperature, which approached 100. It was 98 at Montgomery Field, about a mile north of the stadium.

So up stepped Ed Whitson.

“Whit’s one of those guys who, when they go out there, you know you’re going to get 100% from,” said Pat Dobson, the pitching coach. “Every time. That’s the way he is. And on a hot day like this, Whit’s a good guy to have out there.”

Said Whitson: “I knew it would take a good performance to beat these boys. They’ve been hot the last few nights. They’ve been hitting bullets. I wanted to keep them off stride, and fortunately that happened.”

Nothing was easy. Brett Butler led off with a bunt single and stole second while Robby Thompson, the game’s second batter, was still at the plate. The Giants put at least one runner on base in every inning but the fourth. Whitson endured.

Padre-thumper Kevin Mitchell, who was batting .500 with two home runs entering Wednesday’s game, was off stride all afternoon. Feeding him a steady diet of fastballs, Whitson struck Mitchell out all three times he faced him. Mitchell was hitless in five at-bats.

“I don’t think he was seeing the fastball too good,” Whitson said. “Either he was behind on the fastballs, or he was looking for breaking balls.”

Whitson also held Will Clark, hitting .556 Wednesday morning, to zero for two with a walk.

Only Kennedy and Thompson, who each had a home run, really hurt Whitson, who said his only mistake was on the pitch to Thompson, a hanging slider that went over the left-field fence for two runs.

“As soon as I let it go, I thought, ‘Oh no, this man is looking for this pitch,’ ” Whitson said. “And he whacked the hell out of it.”

The pitch Kennedy hit was a slider up over the plate. The next batter, third baseman Matt Williams, was plunked in the arm.

“That was strictly accidental,” Whitson said. “The pitch was meant to come inside and stand him up to where I could work him on the outside corner. We’ve been getting him out with sliders down and away. I asked him three times if he was OK. It was a purpose pitch, not a knockdown pitch.”

Whitson was nonetheless able to enjoy an evening with his wife, Kathleen, and 7-year-old daughter, Jennifer, who were in town to see their man beat the Giants. They return home to Columbus, Ohio, this morning, not to return to San Diego for the summer until mid-June, when Jennifer finishes school.

“Win or lose, I was going to spend time with my family tonight,” Whitson said. “We’re having a barbecue on the patio, and I’ll drink a few beers and play with my daughter.”

And the fact that he went hitless at the plate won’t bother him.

“I’m going to have to go ask Jack if I can pinch-hit in the ninth the night before I pitch every time,” Whitson said, smiling. “It got the early butterflies going.”