Padres Get Nowhere With Drabek, Lose : After Watching Three-Hitter, McKeon Ponders Deals That Might Fix Offense

When Padre Manager Jack McKeon was invited two weeks ago to be on the National League coaching staff for the 60th All-Star game Tuesday, he broke into an expansive grin. This would be great, he figured. Spend two leisurely days in Anaheim, light up a few cigars and enjoy the festivities.

Little did he realize that five days before the game, he’d be spending his Friday afternoon on the telephone, furiously dialing as fast as his fingers would allow him.

Instead of lining up dinner reservations, McKeon was arranging trade talks. He scheduled appointments with two teams during the All-Star break to discuss deals, and if he’s fortunate enough, he said, he’ll have a few more before heading to Anaheim Monday morning.

“I’ve got to do something,” he said. “I can’t keep on watching this. I just can’t.”

Once again Friday night, the Padres showed their urgent need for another hitter, losing, 3-0, to the Pittsburgh Pirates while making another pitcher look like Walter Johnson.

Doug Drabek (6-6) allowed just four baserunners, and for those of the 18,907 fans who arrived just a couple minutes late to Three Rivers Stadium, they missed the Padres’ complete scoring threat.

Tim Flannery reached base on a one-out walk in the first and went to second on Tony Gwynn’s groundout. And when Marvell Wynne popped up to third, little did the Padres realize that they had reached second base for the last time in the game.

“This stinks,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “We’re just not getting anything going. It was so bad tonight that we couldn’t even get frustrated about leaving runners on, because there were no runners who could get on in the first place.

“Right now we’re just all looking at each other wondering what’s going on.”

The Padres, favored by many to win the National League West, have lost four in a row and six of their past seven, falling to their lowest point in an already long season.

The Padres, 10 1/2 games behind the division-leading San Francisco Giants, sunk to six games below .500 (40-46) for the first time since Aug. 17, 1988. They have suddenly come to the realization that they are barely better off this year than they were a year ago, when they finished 11 games out.

“The only difference is that last year after 46 games, we knew we were pretty much out of it,” Gwynn said.

And this year?

“It’s too early to say that,” he said. “It’s definitely more frustrating, though. Everyone thought we were going to have a good year. And we thought we were going to have a good year. But nothing’s happened.

“We keep saying to ourselves, ‘We know we’re better than this.’ But how many times can you say that before you quit believing it? I think right now, some doubts are creeping in.

“Maybe because we were out of it so early (last year), that’s why we played good baseball (later). There was no pressure on us. Now that there’s pressure on us, look at us.”

It leaves McKeon at the delicate crossroads of deciding whether he should make trades to help them get back in the race in the second half or blow it off and shoot for 1990.

“We need immediate help,” McKeon said. “I’m tired of looking for prospects.”

McKeon still remains highly interested in Chicago Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston, and he made a telephone call Friday to the Cincinnati Reds to inquire about the availability of outfielder Kal Daniels.

Although he refused to discuss specific players, McKeon expects that the Giants, Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets also will be active in trade talks.

And if there’s any position that McKeon would like to strengthen, he said, it would be shortstop. Although Garry Templeton is hitting .256, he’s 33 years old, and McKeon is skeptical of his durability.

“There’s no question we need a shortstop,” he said. “If you could get another good year out of (Templeton), it would be great. But he’s the guy who could go down any day. He’s been hanging on for seven years battling knee problems, and you just don’t know how much longer you could go.”

Perhaps then there would be a possible matchup with the Expos. They are shopping shortstop Hubie Brooks, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, and McKeon said the Expos are in need of a pitcher and a catcher.

“I’m going to tell them, ‘Get your thoughts together, and we’ll talk,’ ” McKeon said. “Who knows, maybe we can work something out.”

You can be assured that Benito Santiago, the Padres’ All-Star catcher, will be discussed a lot. The latest annoyance between the two occurred Friday when McKeon batted Santiago eighth in the lineup.

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on,” Santiago said. “I’ve never batted eighth in my life. Never. I don’t know what’s on that guy’s mind.

“When I saw the lineup, I say, ‘What is that? Come on. I’m a better hitter than that.’ But he runs the club, not me.

“Maybe he doesn’t want me anymore, I don’t know. I’d like to keep playing in San Diego, but if they don’t want me anymore, what can I do? I’m only a player.”

McKeon said he batted Santiago eighth simply to shake up the lineup. “No one else was doing the job down there,” he said, “so I figured I’d give Benny a try.”

It was of no help, either. Santiago went zero for three, extending his hitless streak to 14 at-bats. But there was some small consolation. For the first time in 11 at-bats, he managed to hit the ball out of the infield with a fly to right in the eighth.

“We keep saying and saying it’s going to happen,” McKeon said, “but who knows, maybe I’ll be saying the same thing in September. I just don’t have any answers.”

Padre starter Bruce Hurst (7-6) was unable to offer any advice either, but after watching his teammates score three or fewer runs for him for the 11th time this season, the frustration is wearing on him as much as anyone.

This was just the first time in his past five starts that he failed to pitch at least nine innings, but even allowing three runs in seven innings usually is good enough for a victory on most teams. As Hurst has discovered since joining the Padres as a free-agent, this is not like most teams.

“I don’t even want to think about that kind of stuff right now,” Hurst said. “You can’t throw zeroes up there every time. You just can’t.”

And as Hurst found out once again Friday, any time he’s not perfect and allows as much as a run, he has to pay the consequences.

Welcome to the Padres, big guy.

Padre Notes

Jack Clark was kept out of the lineup for the second consecutive day with a slight hamstring pull. His status is day-to-day. He was replaced in the lineup by Carmelo Martinez, who was starting at first for just the fourth time this season. . . . Hurst allowed six consecutive singles at one point, but just one run scored, thanks to two pickoffs. He leads the league with seven. . . . Padre left fielder Bip Roberts got a close-cropped haircut Friday, but the problem was that it was too short. Equipment manager Brian Prilaman had difficulty finding a hat small enough to fit his head. . . . Padre relievers Mark Grant and Mark Davis went to a T-shirt shop in Pittsburgh and had T-shirts made with a picture of Grant with a deranged look on his face. It read: “I’m good. I’m real good.” They purchased a third T-shirt for fellow reliever Greg Harris. . . . Second baseman Roberto Alomar purchased a book on the art of hitting, written by White Sox hitting coach Walt Hrniak. So intrigued were Tony Gwynn and Shawn Abner that they had the clubhouse man make two sets of copies of the 120-page book for them. . . . Padre shortstop Garry Templeton, whose bruised index finger had sidelined him the previous two games, was back in the lineup Friday. . . . The Padres own an 86-75 record in the second 80 games of 1988 (one second-half game was not played) and the first 81 games this season. The Cincinnati Reds own the best mark over the same span, 91-70. . . . The Padres will play the second game of their three-game series against the Pirates at 4:05 p.m. (PDT) today. Ed Whitson (10-6) and Jeff Robinson (5-6) are the scheduled starters. Their 12-game trip ends Sunday with a 10:35 a.m. game against the Pirates. Dennis Rasmussen (3-6) and Randy Kramer (3-4) are the probable starters.

DAVE DISTEL

For sale or trade: A Padre catcher with great potential. Must see Tuesday at the All-Star game. Page 9A.