Terrell Refuses to Throw In the Towel : Pitcher Hangs In and Ends Losing Streak as Padres Defeat Cubs, 3-2

You wouldn’t have blamed Walt Terrell Saturday if he pulled into his San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium parking place, looked at those beach towels the Padres were giving away and figured they were white flags. The kind you wave when you’ve had enough.

Among the things Terrell brought to the ballpark with him was a seven-game losing streak. He had won just once since April 29.

And then, to make the things seem more cloudy, two of the first three Chicago Cubs he faced hit home runs.

But there he was, standing on the mound in the top of the ninth, surrounded by a beach towel night crowd of 52,883 (the season’s largest) that was furiously waving the souvenirs. And he set down the Cubs one-two-three in to wrap up a complete-game victory, 3-2.

It wasn’t easy. An RBI single from Chris James in the bottom of the eighth was the difference. In the second, James had hit a bases-empty home run.

But James’ good night (two for four, two RBIs) wouldn’t have meant much had Terrell not battled as he did. The Cubs had five hits by the end of the third inning and seven through four. But Terrell allowed just one more in the final four innings to finish what he started.

“Walt pitched a hell of a game,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said. “After the first couple of innings, I didn’t think he had a prayer. But he settled down and took charge.”

Indeed, McKeon ordered Pat Clements to warm up as early as the second. But the call for Clements never came.

“He’s not a great pitcher, but I’ll tell you what,” said Cub Manager Don Zimmer, tapping his heart. “He’s got a lot right here. He gave up those two shots early. A lot of guys would have thrown in the towel.”

Terrell wasted no time digging a hole for himself. Ryne Sandberg, the game’s second batter, swung at Terrell’s first pitch and put it into the left-field seats. The next, rookie Dwight Smith, hit a two-and-one pitch even farther, about three-quarters of the way up into the seats underneath the right field scoreboard.

So there he was, staring at his eighth loss in a row. But Terrell recovered.

How?

“I have no idea,” he said. “I had the same stuff. They just quit hitting it out of the ballpark.”

During the past 2 1/2 months, Terrell has pitched well and lost. He has pitched poorly and lost. He has had average outings and lost.

Through it all, Terrell has kept quiet. He will be a free agent at the end of the year, and his current 5-12 record certainly wouldn’t leave him with much to negotiate.

“Every year, it happens to somebody,” said Pat Dobson, the Padre pitching coach. “You can pretty much bet on it. There’s somebody the team doesn’t score for, there’s somebody who the team doesn’t play that well behind defensively.

“If you’re that guy, you can only hang in there and try to not change what you’re doing. You just pitch well and hope it changes.”

Know this, though, about Charles Walter Terrell, who is tied with Zane Smith (1-12) for the major league lead in losses: He ranks third in earned-run average (3.63) among five Padre starters, behind Ed Whitson (2.62) and Bruce Hurst (3.09) and ahead of Eric Show (4.23) and Dennis Rasmussen (4.53). But Show is 8-6, and Rasmussen has won three games.

“If anything, with just bad luck, he should be 8-8,” Dobson said. “But there are still 71 games left, so hopefully he’ll get 15 more starts. If he could get on a roll, he could go 10-2. He’s capable of doing that.”

As for James, he showed what he thinks he’s capable of.

“Jack (McKeon) tried to get some home runs and RBIs when he got me,” James said. “I don’t consider myself a home run hitter, but I can drive in runs. I think that’s more important than hitting home runs but batting only .230 or .240.”

This morning, James is batting .211. But he feels he is on his way back from a dreadful slump.

“I talked with Jack in Pittsburgh,” he said. “I just didn’t have confidence in myself anymore. I’m just now getting it back. When I get in the batter’s box, I’m going to dig in, and you’re going to have to beat me. That’s the way you have to feel.

“This was a good win for the team. Walt battled and got the victory, and it was a plus for everybody. Championship teams have to win close games.”

After Terrell allowed the two homers, things almost got worse in the first. He walked Mark Grace with two out and, with Damon Berryhill at the plate, Grace went all the way to third when Benito Santiago threw wildly to first.

The throw was so bad that first baseman Jack Clark (who extended his hitting streak to 10 games with fifth-inning single) had no choice but to stand still and watch it sail over his head. It was Santiago’s 13th error of the season; he had 12 all of last season.

Berryhill, though, popped up to Clark, leaving Grace at third.

The Cubs took a page out of the Padres’ playbook in the second, putting runners on second and third with one out and failing to score. Jerome Walton grounded to shortstop, and Sandberg bounced back to Terrell to end the inning.

And that allowed the Padres to tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the second. James led off with a home run to left, his second as a Padre and fourth of the season.

Then, Roberto Alomar and Santiago singled, and Alomar took third on Shawn Abner’s sacrifice fly to center.

That brought Terrell to the plate and the Cub infield in for the bunt. But Terrell swung at the first pitch and hit a chopper that bounced high enough to Grace at first that Alomar had time to score.

Two pitches were all that separated the Padres from a possible lead in the fifth. Luis Salazar led off with a triple, but all that did was set the stage for Smith, the Cub left fielder.

Garry Templeton lofted a fly to Smith in medium left field, but third base coach Sandy Alomar gave Salazar the sign to head for home. Smith’s throw one-hopped into Berryhill’s glove at home in time to double up Salazar. And when Tony Gwynn popped the next pitch up to shortstop, the threat was finished.

SHOW PLACED ON DL

Eric Show will be lost to the Padres until at least July 27 with a pinched nerve in his back. Page 9B