In a Pinch, Padres Show Big Weakness

Padre Manager Jack McKeon has blasted his players until his lungs have hurt. He’s ripped them apart in the newspapers. He’s voiced his displeasure over the airwaves.

But Monday night, perhaps his biggest indictment of his team all season was his moment of silence.

It was the bottom of the seventh inning. The bases were loaded. The Padres, down by two runs, needed a single into the outfield for a tie, an extra-base hit for the lead.

So with two outs, and No. 8 hitter Luis Salazar at the plate, who would McKeon call upon? Would he go to Carmelo Martinez? Hey, how about Rob Nelson? Mark Parent or Shawn Abner, perhaps?

Salazar, who had been hitting .125 with runners in scoring position and had not driven in a run since June 2, awaited his name to be called.

McKeon never uttered a sound.

Salazar was allowed to hit.

Four pitches later, Salazar hit a lazy fly ball to center field, ending the inning, and ruining the Padres’ last hope for a comeback.

The Padres lost, 4-1, to the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 12,483 at Jack Murphy Stadium, and in the process, dropped 10 1/2 games behind the division-leading San Francisco Giants.

In a game in which the Padres made Glenn Wilson (two home runs and a single) look like Babe Ruth, and pitcher Randy Kramer (four hits in seven innings) look like Walter Johnson, there was McKeon, who couldn’t look down his bench.

When McKeon was asked why no pinch-hitter was called upon in such a critical situation, he answered with plenty of questions of his own.

“Did you have anybody in mind?” McKeon asked.

“Did you look at my bench?”

“If you had somebody in mind, why didn’t you call down there?”

Indeed, while the Padres are clinging to what little hope remains of catching the Giants, one look at the pinch-hitting statistics reveals what has become their most glaring weakness.

The Padres’ pinch-hitters are batting .225 this season, which isn’t all that bad. But when you take a look at their power numbers, one home run and six RBIs, you understand why McKeon didn’t call upon any in this situation.

“It’s a difficult role,” McKeon said. “That’s the kind of role you need for experienced guys, and we just don’t have much. That’s what you need when you make a drive for a pennant.”

And that’s why the Padres are closer to the cellar than first place.

Of course, Wilson went a long way in helping cause the Padres’ latest disaster. He entered the game hitting just .205 since mid-June, and was without a home run in his last 32 games since May 25.

Greg Harris, starting his first game of the season in place of the injured Eric Show, quickly made sure that Wilson’s drought would not extend to 33 games.

Wilson, who had never hit against Harris, or even had met him, greeted him in the second inning by lashing a 2-1 fastball over the left-center field wall for a solo homer.

In the fourth inning, Wilson merely hit a single to left, resulting in no damage.

But with the score still tied with two outs in the sixth, Wilson slammed a 3-2 slider over the center-field fence some 406 feet away.

Worse than the one run that went up on the scoreboard was Harris’ psyche that became unraveled for all the world to see.

Gary Redus stepped to the plate, and was walked on four pitches. Mike LaValliere was next, and he walked on four pitches. Rey Quinones, who had driven in just one run in his last 24 games and had four hits in his last 37 at-bats (.108), seemingly gave Harris a huge break when he swung at the first pitch.

Instead, Quinones smoked the ball past Salazar into the left-field corner, scoring Redus and advancing LaValliere to third with a standup double.

Harris, who was the first batter up next inning, was allowed to stay in the game and face Doug Drabek. Drabek flied out to center, and Harris walked off the field shaking his head, and muttering about Wilson.

“I know the sun will come up in the morning,” said Harris, “but right now there’s not a whole lot to be happy about. He just owned me tonight.”

The Padres’ only opportunity to get Harris off the hook occurred in the seventh. Jack Clark, who extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 games with a run-scoring double in the first inning, obtained a one-out walk. After James flied to center, Roberto Alomar singled to right, and Benito Santiago got on with an infield single.

That’s when Salazar, making just his second start since June 27, strolled to the plate. And that’s when McKeon took a chance by leaving him in.

Kramer, who threw just 88 pitches, fell behind 2-0 to Salazar. The next pitch was a strike. The next was hit to center field, leaving Martinez standing in the dugout stretching for nothing.

“Everyone likes to hit in that situation,” Martinez said, “but who’s to say I would have done anything. I was just getting ready to hit because the pitcher was up next.

“Unfortunately, I never got that chance.”