Padres Lose to Atlanta Again, 4-1

The ball was high in the sky and the bat was hurtling through the air.

The cause of all of this was moving down the baseline, but Tony Gwynn never reached first base. Instead, he exited stage right into the Padre dugout.

Bip Roberts stood on third, helpless. He would exit toward the dugout one batter later.

A lousy popup. It was the first one of the year for Gwynn. And it certainly won’t be the last. But, oh, what a time to pop up. Third inning, one out, runner on third, Padres down a run.

It was the little things Thursday that doomed the Padres to a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The popup. The feeble hitting. Another error.

That was the story from San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, where 18,596 watched a couple of cloudy teams play on an overcast day.

Atlanta took care of the Padres for the second day in a row, dropping their record to 5-5. The game featured many guys who usually watch from the bench. Both managers rested some regulars because a day game followed a night game.

That’s why Roberts started in right field and was on third after his triple to center with the Padres trailing, 1-0.

Up stepped Gwynn, who went for the first pitch and popped it up.

This was a day when Jack Clark was talking about bunting and Gwynn was talking about power hitting after the game. Weird.

“Stupidity, that’s all it was,” Gwynn said of his popup to shortstop Andres Thomas. “I went up there and said, ‘Be selective, get a pitch I can hit, and don’t try to do too much.’ Then the ball got there and I tried to hit it 55 miles.”

If there had been no backstop, that’s how far Gwynn’s bat might have traveled. The bat zipped past plate umpire Terry Tata before hitting the fence behind home plate.

“I almost hit Terry Tata with the bat,” Gwynn said. “That scared the crap out of me. It was just a stupid at-bat.”

Atlanta left-hander Derek Lilliquist (1-0) survived a rocky first inning in his major league debut to become the second pitcher in two games to handcuff the Padres, holding them to one run and three hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Lilliquist, 23, walked two in the first, but got out of it. He allowed Mark Parent’s single in the second. And Roberts’ triple in the third. Then he retired 15 in a row.

“(Catcher) Bruce (Benedict) did a good job behind the plate of moving me in and out,” said Lilliquist, who was Baseball America’s College Pitcher of the Year as a junior at the University of Georgia in 1987. “I used what got me here. Location and changing speeds.”

It was another rough day for Clark, who walked, grounded to the pitcher and struck out twice, dropping his average to .133. He was booed after each strikeout.

“The way I’m hitting, I deserve to be booed,” Clark said. “I’m booing myself. It’s frustrating because you spend a lot of time taking extra hitting, you take extra hitting in spring training, and then the game comes and you’re not doing what you’re capable of doing.

“If I have to drop a couple of bunts down to get things going, I’ll do it.”

Lilliquist’s day spoiled the home debut of Walt Terrell (0-2), who allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings.

One of those runs was unearned. Shortstop Gary Green booted his first fielding chance of the season when the game’s first batter, Tommy Gregg, punched a ball up the middle. Green got to the grounder in plenty of time, but it skipped off his glove for the Padres’ 15th error in 10 games.

“I just messed it up,” Green said. “It really wasn’t that tough of a play.”

Dale Murphy, batting second for the second game in a row, then struck out and Gerald Perry grounded to third, but Thomas singled to right to drive home Gregg.

Terrell kept Atlanta quiet until the sixth when, with two outs, Murphy, Perry and Thomas each singled. Murphy scored, making it 2-0.

“The three pitches were all right down the middle of the plate,” Terrell said.

Two runs were all Lilliquist needed. He sailed along until the seventh, spotting his pitches well enough to keep the Padres guessing. Then, with one out in the seventh, Luis Salazar pinch-hit for Terrell.

“He was pitching everyone away,” said Salazar, who spent the first few innings watching the game in the Padre clubhouse. “He was keeping the ball down.”

So Salazar, looking for an outside pitch, put Lilliquist’s second delivery over the left-field fence.

It pulled the Padres to within 2-1 and ended their scoreless-inning streak at 19. It sent Atlanta Manager Russ Nixon to the mound to bring in right-hander Joe Boever. It also brought up Roberto Alomar, who was batting .000 (zero for 10) against left-handers and .357 (10 for 28) against right-handers.

Alomar drilled a single to right, putting the tying run on base. But Marvell Wynne, batting for Roberts, struck out and Gwynn, after Alomar stole second, grounded to second. Gwynn’s hitting streak ended at nine.

Dave Leiper replaced Terrell in the ninth and was greeted by Perry, who sent a 2-0 pitch into the right-field stands. A walk and Dion James’ single produced another run to finish the scoring.

All of which combined to put a screeching halt to the momentum the Padres had earlier this week. After taking the first two games of the series against Atlanta, San Diego winds up with a split.

“Our pitching has been great,” Gwynn said. “Our pitching has been good enough that we should have won more than five games so far. We’ve just got to cash in our opportunities.

“It’s so simple, really. A runner is on third with one out and the infield back, all you need is a ground ball. All you’ve got to do is put the ball in play somewhere to get the run in. But guys are just trying to do too much.”

Padre Notes

Greg Harris is scheduled to pitch on the side before tonight’s game. His side is feeling better and he said he’s ready to pitch. . . . Walt Terrell faced former Detroit Tiger teammate Darrell Evans three times Thursday. Evans flied deep to right and then struck out twice. Terrell said the two didn’t exchange words when Evans batted, just “smirks.” But, said Terrell, “He was laughing after I batted at a couple of swings I took. I was laughing, too.”. . . Saturday’s game against Cincinnati will be broadcast nationally on CBS radio.