Show Knows What to Do With Davis but Doesn’t Do It in 6-2 Padre Loss

The situation called for a consultation.

Eric Davis, fresh off his six-RBI cycle the night before, was at the plate for Cincinnati with two outs and two on in the sixth inning of a tie game Saturday night.

Padre catcher Benito Santiago walked to the mound to talk with starting pitcher Eric Show. His advice, he later said, was simple: Keep the ball down and off the plate.

One pitch later, Davis was triumphantly rounding the bases, his ninth homer having easily cleared the wall in left center.

For the third time in five games against the Padres and the second night in a row, Davis hit a three-run homer against the Padres. This time it led to a 6-2 victory in front of 35,378 at Riverfront Stadium.

The loss, combined with San Francisco’s 4-0 victory in Atlanta, dropped the Padres 3 1/2 games behind the National League West-leading Giants and kept them in fourth, two games in front of the fifth-place Dodgers.

The pitch Davis hit was neither low nor fast nor away from the plate.

“I ended up throwing what turned out to be a mediocre fastball high in the strike zone to a guy who can definitely hit a home run,” Show said. “I’m not sure it was Eric as much as what I gave him.

“I would have liked a shot at that pitch myself.”

Show said he was trying to give Davis a sinkerball, the same pitch Davis grounded into a force play in the first.

“It wasn’t the (pitch) selection,” Show said. “It was the way I threw it and who I threw it to.”

The pitch was everything Santiago said he told Show to avoid.

“It was a mistake, a big one,” Santiago said.

Making it worse, Show did it again two batters later. After right fielder Paul O’Neill hit a line drive down the right-field line that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, rookie left fielder Rolando Roomes took what Show said was another misplaced sinkerball even deeper to left center to give the Reds a 6-1 lead.

“Another mistake pitch,” Show said. “Generally speaking, guided sinkers high in the strike zone are mediocre pitches. They are hit out of the park more than any other pitch I throw.”

The homer was Roomes’ third since he was called up from the Reds’ triple-A team in Nashville, Tenn., May 3. Roomes, acquired in an off-season deal with the Chicago Cubs, is hitting .364 since joining the Reds.

Show got Jeff Reed to fly out to center to end the inning, but he left for a pinch hitter in the seventh having allowed six runs on eight hits.

For the second time in a week, Show was foiled in his bid to break Randy Jones’ team career record of 92 victories by a six-run, six-inning performance. And for the second night, Davis had clobbered the Padres.

“That is one guy you can’t let beat you,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said. “Don’t give him anything to hit, let him walk him.”

McKeon said the number of teams that have pitched to Jack Clark was an example of how to treat Davis. Clark has a league-leading 48 walks.

Show said he considered pitching around Davis but decided against it because of his history against him (.259, seven for 27, with three home runs).

“Not with the stuff I had to work with tonight and the way I have handled him in the past when I have pitched to him the way I should,” Show said. “I did not feel threatened by him.”

The Padres had plenty of chances to score, leaving a runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings. But it was the Reds who scored first.

First baseman Todd Benzinger opened the fourth with a double that bounced off the wall in left center. He moved to third on Show’s wild pitch before scoring on shortstop Barry Larkin’s short fly to right.

Tony Gwynn came right back to tie the game at 1-1 in the fifth with his third home run. The homer was his first off winning starter Rick Mahler (7-5) and his first since hitting homers in consecutive games against Atlanta April 10-11.

The ball easily carried over the right-center field fence to the left of the 375-foot sign. It was Gwynn’s fifth homer in Riverfront Stadium, more than he has hit any park outside of San Diego.

The game stayed tied until the sixth, when Davis and Roomes connected off Show to give the Reds a 6-1 lead.

An inning later with the Reds at bat and one out, a rain shower caused a 38-minute delay. It was too late to help the Padres, who added their final run with the help of four consecutive singles in the eighth.

But this was a night when man matched nature’s thunder. Asked if he saw any lightning during the game, McKeon said: “Only when (Davis) was at the plate.”

Padre Notes

Chris James, the third baseman/outfielder acquired from Philadelphia Friday night, arrived in the Padre clubhouse about 45 minutes before the game. He met for about five minutes with Manager Jack McKeon before making a sweep to introduce himself to his new teammates. “I told him he doesn’t have to worry about carrying the team,” McKeon said. “I told him to relax and have some fun.” That has not been easy for James, who has been under pressure in Philadelphia since he became the man counted on to take over for recently retired Mike Schmidt. James was zero for 31 before the trade, and his average had dropped to .207, but James is counting on the change of cities to give him a fresh start. He made his first appearance for the Padres as a pinch hitter in the ninth, popping out to second. The Padres, too, are hoping the trade will give him new life. They want James to recover the power stroke that led him to hit a team-high 19 home runs for the Phillies last year and 17 in 115 games in 1987. One of those was a 465-foot home run off Eric Nolte in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium that bounced off a seat in the first row of the left-field second deck. It was the last home run hit into the second deck and only the sixth since the Padres started play there in 1969. James will wear No. 18.

Gary Green, who was recalled from triple-A Las Vegas Friday night, beat James to the Padre clubhouse, by about 45 minutes, and into the game--he replaced shortstop Garry Templeton to start the seventh. Green began the day in Colorado Springs, Colo., where Las Vegas was playing a weekend series. He said he did not learn of the recall until after the Stars’ game Friday night. Green started the season with the Padres but was sent down to Las Vegas May 7 after hitting .176 (three for 17) with two doubles. Green played nine games, starting four at shortstop. He again is expected to be used as a late defensive replacement and spot starter for Templeton. . . . Bip Roberts doubled to lead off the game, marking the fifth consecutive game he has led off for the Padres with a hit. . . . Jack Clark had a single in his last at-bat to extend his season-best hitting streak to eight games.