Padres Vent Frustrations, Score 17 Runs

It was as if the Padres suddenly could take no more. No more embarrassment. No more humiliation. No more frustration.

When they trudged off the field and into the dugout Tuesday night in the fifth inning, hearing the sarcastic cheers of the home crowd, the Padres reached their breaking point.

It has been tough enough to be criticized by everyone from their manager to their wives to the media, but now, their own fans were laughing at them.

By the end of the night, the 15,126 in the crowd were rubbing their eyes in disbelief. This was their team? Come on, who’s really in those brown-and-white uniforms?

But there it was, glittering on the scoreboard: Padres 17, Pittsburgh Pirates 4.

It was the most runs in a nine-inning game in the Padres’ 20-year history (the previous record was 16 twice, the last against San Francisco in 1983) and tied the 15-inning record set in 1970, also against the Giants. They just missed their most hits in history with 22 (24 against San Francisco in 1982), and Padre officials were checking to see whether they missed any other records.

“Every time I looked at the scoreboard, there were no outs,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said. “We’re starting to swing the bats like we know we can, but I don’t think we’ll get 17 runs every night.

“Everybody decided to kick in tonight. I hope they don’t lose the formula.”

It was a game that probably belongs more to the archives of the Twlight Zone than the Padres’ record book. Everything imaginable that could have happened, did.

--Chris James, the same fellow who was struggling to hit .200 this season, went four for five with a grand slam and five RBIs.

--Jack Clark, who a month ago was wondering if the Padres even wanted him any longer, went three for four with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored.

--Benito Santiago, who two weeks ago was the subject of trade rumors and wondering aloud if maybe he’d be better off somewhere else, went four for five with three RBIs.

Just go down the list. Four players in the Padre lineup had at least three hits, everyone in the lineup had at least one, and eight different players had RBIs.

There was plenty of slapping congratulations in the clubhouse afterwards, but really, the Padres said, it was the 2 1/2 innings of slapstick baseball that awoke them.

Clark and James instigated all this in the bottom of the fourth with the game still scoreless. Clark led off by slapping a single to center, extending his hitting streak to 13 games, his longest since 1982.

It was about the last bit of normalcy for the next two innings.

James followed with a a half-swing that left the ball rolling slowly toward third. Bobby Bonilla picked it up and fired toward first. Oops. The ball sailed past first baseman Gary Redus, allowing James to reach first, and Clark sauntered to third.

Roberto Alomar then hit a twisting foul ball to left. Barry Bonds moved over, made the catch and threw to home as Clark tagged up. The ball was right on target, and in plenty of time, but catcher Junior Ortiz never moved to catch it. The ball bounced past him into the dugout, and not only did Clark score, but James was awarded third.

That brought up Santiago, who hit a sinking line drive to left. Bonds reached down to make the shoestring catch but couldn’t come up with it. James, staying at third in case Bonds caught it, broke late. Bonds threw home, but even though the throw was late, James appeared to veer out of his way, elbow Ortiz in the face and then cross home plate.

The Padres, ready for their turn in this night of comedy, managed to produce plenty of laughs on their own when they took the field in the top of the fifth.

There was Gary Redus hitting a triple off the center-field fence when no one backed up Marvell Wynne. Redus scored when Bonilla singled to left. Ortiz attempted to bunt him over second but got much more than he bargained for when second baseman Roberto Alomar was late covering the bag and Clark’s throw whizzed past him, moving both runners into scoring position.

Rey Quinones singled to left, scoring Bonilla, but it was then that James kicked the ball. Ortiz, trying to stifle his laughter, scored from third and Quinones went on to second.

It was just the beginning to this night of craziness.

Pitcher Bob Walk, learning from Ortiz just what can happen when you attempt a sacrifice bunt with these guys in the field, put one down in front of Padre pitcher Bruce Hurst. Hurst wheeled around and went to third, trying to get the lead runner, but instead he threw a tad too late. Everybody was safe, and Hurst was fuming.

Bonds made him even madder by lining a single to center, padding the Pirates’ lead to 4-2. Still there was nobody out.

But the Pirates took quick care of that. Walk was picked off second by Santiago. Bonds was caught off first by Hurst and was thrown out at second by Clark. And Jose Lind mercifully ended the inning by popping up to Clark, causing the crowd to give the Padres a rousing, sarcastic ovation.

“I was really upset when I walked off the field,” James said. “I take a lot of pride in my defense. And when I got there, Jack really got on me. It made me even madder.

“I knew I was going to knock the crap out of something.”

The inning began when Wynne hit a soft grounder to first. Redus flipped the ball to Walk, who forgot one little thing. He never stepped on the bag. Wynne was safe.

Whether this is what unnerved Walk or not, he never was able to recover. Garry Templeton, Tony Gwynn and Clark hit back-to-back-to-back singles, scoring one run and bringing James to the plate.

Two pitches later, James was hammering the ball with such force that it rattled around the seats and bounced back on the field.

It was James’ second grand slam of the season and the third of his career. He is the first National League player to hit more than one this season.

The fun was just beginning and never stopped until after the eighth, when the Padres sent 12 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs on seven hits with homers by Clark and Carmelo Martinez.

And just how giddy were the Padres? Well, when was the last time you heard McKeon quote Shakespeare?

“A lot of you guys wanted to cross him off the board,” McKeon said while talking about James. “Like Shakespeare said, ‘How poor are they that have no patience.”’

Yeah, it was that kind of night.

Padre Notes

With the victory, the Padres passed Cincinnati and went into third for the first time since May 31 . . . Padre Manager Jack McKeon said that he too talked with the Cincinnati Reds about acquiring outfielder Kal Daniels, but the Reds were not interested in any of the pitchers offered by McKeon. “I really like his bat,” McKeon said. “I would have taken a flyer on him. But you can’t make a deal if you don’t have the bodies. They just weren’t interested in any of the pitchers we offered.” . . . Pirate Manager Jim Leyland was hoping to give third baseman Bobby Bonilla just his second day off this season, but starting third baseman Jeff King came down with a stomach virus in the fourth inning, and Bonilla was back in action. . . . Padre third baseman/outfielder Bip Roberts was out of the lineup for the third consecutive game Tuesday with a pulled left rib cage muscle. He’s still hopeful he can play by the end of the week, but right now he’s capable of only running.