Padres Again on Strike in 3-2 Loss to Astros

As the Padres reached the 60-game mark Wednesday night and their major league-leading strikeout count hit 385, Manager Jack McKeon said that enough was enough.

His team had just lost to Houston, 3-2, in front of 17,199 in the Astrodome. The loss, their fifth in the past six games, was the kind that has been trying McKeon’s patience.

It was another case of the Padres not only stranding runners but leaving them in scoring position. More than once, the culprit was a strikeout.

The Padres left nine runners on base and stranded one in scoring position in all but two innings. Three times, scoring chances were ended by a strikeout. This after they left 12 men on base in a 7-4, 10-inning loss Tuesday night and struck out to end four innings with runners in scoring position.

It all helped launch McKeon into a controlled but pointed lecture on the value of making contact.

“If you put the ball in play in some of those times, you never know, they might make a mistake, they might boot a ball,” McKeon said. “We’ve been striking out too much with men on base.”

McKeon had a ready explanation for the excess of strikeouts--including the eight Wednesday--but no instant cure.

“How do I explain it? Guys having no idea of what the situation is,” McKeon said. “I guess you can teach it, but it has got to come at an earlier age than right up at this level.”

McKeon cited Tuesday’s loss in which the Astros tied the game in the ninth with the help of four consecutive walks.

“Our guys wouldn’t let them do that,” McKeon said. “We’re going to hack away and swing at first pitches. Some guys you can help; some guys, it is a hopeless case.”

Adding to McKeon’s frustration was that most of the chances came against Astro starter Mike Scott. Except for yielding two runs in the second, Scott was able to pitch out of trouble.

“When you got Scott out there, you have got to cash in early,” McKeon said. “We had plenty of chances--we just have to get somebody to come through in the clutch in a close game.”

Scott lasted until he walked Jack Clark to start the eighth, long enough to earn the victory. That raised his record to 10-3 as he joined Rick Reuschel of San Francisco and Dave Stewart of Oakland as a 10-game winner in the majors.

The victory was Scott’s third in six days. He beat the Dodgers, 1-0, Friday, and pitched one inning of relief Sunday in a 7-6 victory over the Dodgers.

The Padres wasted another respectable performance by starter Walt Terrell (4-7, 3.47 ERA). He allowed three runs on seven hits, struck out two and walked one in eight innings. But he took the loss after allowing consecutive two-out RBI hits in the sixth--a triple by Glenn Davis and a double by Terry Puhl.

The Padres, 1-5 on this 10-game trip, dropped to .500 (30-30) for the first time since they were 21-21 after a 6-5 victory in Montreal on May 17. The Padres remained fourth in the National League West, four games out of first, but slid to within a half game of the fifth-place Dodgers. And they are missing a fine pennant race going on above them.

The Astros’ victory, their 12th in past 13 games, combined with Cincinnati’s 12-5 victory over San Francisco to create nearly a three-way tie for first in the division. The Reds (32-24, .571) technically are first, percentage points ahead of the Astros and Giants (both 33-25, .569).

The Padres, who had not beaten Scott in 12 Astrodome decisions before a 5-4 victory April 9, jumped on him for two runs in the third.

Terrell opened with a single to center. Roberto Alomar doubled him to third with one out.

The Astros opted to load the bases by intentionally walking Tony Gwynn, who had singled in his first at-bat to extend his hitting streak to nine games. But the strategy failed when Clark singled to center, scoring Terrell and Alomar for a 2-0 lead.

Scott got out of further trouble when Marvell Wynne fouled to first and Benito Santiago flied to right.

The Astros got a run back in their half of the inning when catcher Alex Trevino scored from third on Gerald Young’s one-out grounder to second.

The Astros went ahead, 3-2, on Davis’ triple, which bounced off the base of the wall just to the right of the 400-foot mark in straight-away center field. That scored Billy Hatcher, who singled to left to leadoff the inning.

Davis scored when Puhl lined a double to center. It the second double of the game for Puhl, who entered as a .167 lifetime hitter (two for 12) against Terrell.

Scott, meanwhile, hit his stride after the Padres’ two-run third.

He did allow three doubles over the next four innings, but the Padres could not score. They wasted two-out doubles by Gwynn in the fifth (Clark ended the inning with a strikeout) and Chris James in the sixth (Garry Templeton popped to second).

Terrell opened the seventh with a double to right center that eluded Young. But Scott stranded Terrell, who eventually reached third, by retiring Luis Salazar and Alomar on ground outs and getting Gwynn to fly to left.

Scott was replaced by Dan Schatzeder after he walked Clark to start the eighth. Schatzeder was the first of three relievers who combined to retire six of the final seven Padres in the eighth and ninth on two popups, three strikeouts and a grounder to first.

Dave Smith pitched the ninth to earn his 11th save. He allowed a one-out single to pinch-hitter Tim Flannery but struck out pinch-hitter Rob Nelson and Alomar to end the game.

“We have got to cash in,” McKeon said. “We are getting the opportunities. We have just got to capitalize. Somebody has got to come to the front beside Tony Gwynn and Jack Clark and knock in some key runs.”

Padre Notes

Starting time for tonight’s game in Houston has been moved 30 minutes to 5:05 PDT to accommodate an ABC regional telecast. The game will be carried live in San Diego on Channel 10 (although it probably will be joined in progress after a speech by President Bush). Eric Show (6-6) will make his third attempt at breaking the Padre record for career victories. He is tied with Randy Jones with 92. Show will opposed by Bob Knepper (3-6). . . . Jack Clark’s four walks Tuesday tied the club record accomplished seven times, most recently by Tim Flannery against Cincinnati on Oct. 3, 1985. But Clark went hitless in his other two at-bats, ending a 10-game hitting streak.

Andy Benes, the Padres’ No. 1 draft choice last season, lost for the second time in nine decisions at double-A Wichita. Benes pitched six innings, allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits, struck out three and walked two in Wichita’s 4-2 loss to Midland. Benes’ ERA moved up to 1.14.

Padre Manager Jack McKeon said he generally plans to replace third baseman Chris James with Luis Salazar when the Padres are ahead late in a game, as he did Wednesday night in the sixth, for defensive purposes. James, acquired from Philadelphia last week, has played most of his career in the outfield and moved to left when Salazar came in (Marvell Wynne moved from left to right and Bip Roberts left the game).