Padres Shoot Down Astros, Climb to .500

If the Padres are to be part of a pennant race, it has to begin right here, right now.

This morning, after a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros, the Padres are a little closer, while the Astros--also chasing the division-leading San Francisco Giants--are fretting about a lost chance.

With Monday’s victory in front of 27,603 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, the third-place Padres moved to within eight games of the Giants, while the Astros are two games back.

As has been the case lately, Chris James was the big man for the Padres. He was three for four with two runs batted in. Those came in the fifth inning, and put the Padres ahead for good, 3-1.

James had a double and two singles, extending his hitting streak to 11 games and 15 hits in his last 40 at-bats (.375).

And how about James leaving his feet in the seventh, while at the plate, on a hit-and-run attempt?

Leaving his feet?

“I did,” James said.

Astro pitcher Jim Deshaies (10-6) noticed Jack Clark, on first base, starting to move toward second, so he made a half-hearted pitchout attempt. James twisted his body, left his feet, reached outside, swung . . . and sent a single into right field.

“The ball wasn’t even close to the plate, but I just threw my bat out trying to distract the catcher,” James said. “I think they had a feeling we were going to hit and run, so they tried to pitch out but just didn’t get the ball where they wanted to.”

The single set up a Mark Parent ground ball that scored Clark.

There were other highlights as well, including Parent’s home run in the sixth.

And how about second baseman Roberto Alomar getting plunked by the baseball twice? First, he was hit in the elbow by a pitch in the third. Then, in the sixth, he bunted and was hit in the back when Deshaies attempted to throw him out at first.

Starter Bruce Hurst (11-8), facing the Astros for the first time, limited Houston to five hits in winning his third in a row. His seventh complete game ties him for the league lead.

Hurst cruised with relative ease. He loaded the bases in the first on a pair of walks and an infield single, but got out of it. He never allowed more than one hit an inning, the most damaging a solo home run by Glenn Davis in the fourth.

“Bruce would tell you he didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but he’s a gamer,” Parent said. “He made the pitches when he had to.”

Hurst walked four and struck out seven. But it was good enough to lift the Padres to the .500 mark (56-56) for the 14th time this season.

Astro Manager Art Howe held a closed-door meeting after the game.

“It’s frustrating when you look at the scoreboard and you see the Giants losing and we can pick up a game,” Howe said later. “That doesn’t happen very often.”

The Padres didn’t get off to a good start Monday. Their second inning was yet another clinic in the art of leaving runners on base. Three on with none out remains a situation for the Padres to master.

Clark led off with a walk, and James doubled him to third. Carmelo Martinez worked the count to 3-0 before Deshaies intentionally walked him. Martinez was carrying a seven-game hitting streak and had 12 hits in his previous 21 at-bats, so the Astros decided they’d rather load the bases than give him anything good to hit.

It worked. The other Padre hitters aren’t in the same groove as James or Martinez. Mike Pagliarulo (.178) followed with a popup to second. Parent (.168) swung at strike three, and Hurst (.060) looked at a third strike.

In the second, the Astros helped take care of the Padre offensive woes by making three errors--two on the same play.

Alomar was hit by a pitch and, with one out, took off for second. Catcher Craig Biggio’s throw bounced, hit Alomar and bounced again into center field. Alomar got up, took off for third, and scored when Astro shortstop Rafael Ramirez fumbled the ball trying to pick it up.

Score it a stolen base, an error on Biggio and an error on Ramirez.

The entertainment continued during Clark’s at-bat with two out. Clark hit a routine fly to left, but the ball dropped cleanly on the grass between left fielder Billy Hatcher and center fielder Gerald Young. Clark ended up at second, but he was left there.

The lead didn’t last long as Davis hit his 25th home run into the left-field seats to open the fourth and make it 1-1. It was just the third homer Hurst has allowed in his last 11 starts.

The Padres loaded the bases again in the fifth, this time with one out and James at the plate. He promptly drove a Deshaies pitch into center field, scoring Garry Templeton and Tony Gwynn and putting the Padres back on top, 3-1.

And the damage could have been worse had the Astro outfield not turned in a couple of spectacular plays. The first came when Young leaped to snare an Alomar drive against the center-field fence to lead off the inning. The second came with two out, Clark on second and James on first. Pagliarulo split Young and right fielder Mark Davidson, but Davidson made a sprinting catch to end the inning.

The Astros scored a run in the sixth when Ken Caminiti came in from third on a wild pitch. Parent’s homer to left in the bottom of the inning made it 4-2.

Parent’s ground ball to second with the bases loaded in the seventh made it 5-2. And once again, James played a pivotal role in the scoring. Clark led off with a walk and James moved him to third with a single. The Padres loaded the bases when Pagliarulo was walked intentionally.

Padre Notes

Tony Gwynn was in center field Monday for the first time since June 24. Manager Jack McKeon said Gwynn’s outfield status--center or right field--will be on a day-to-day basis as long as Carmelo Martinez and Chris James remain hot. Martinez started in left field Monday and James was in right. “We’ve been looking for someone to get hot all year,” McKeon said . . . McKeon said Dennis Rasmussen and Bruce Hurst will likely start Friday’s doubleheader against Atlanta. Rasmussen will take his normal turn Friday, and Hurst would be pitching on three days’ rest.