Harris Has Gotten Started, but Relief Now Is Welcome

When pitcher Greg Harris walked to the mound to start Thursday afternoon’s game against Houston, he knew exactly what he wanted to do: Throw a changeup when the situation called for a fastball.

That situation came up in the first inning. Two were out, and Bill Doran was standing at the plate with a three-and-one count. So Harris kicked, tossed a changeup and . . . ball four.

Harris struck out the next batter, Glenn Davis. But he still trailed by a run after Doran stole second and scored when Benito Santiago’s throw sailed into center field.

Of course, the Padres came right back with four runs in the bottom of the first and went on to a 13-3 victory.

And Harris’ statement was already made despite walking Doran.

“I wanted to put it in the back of their minds that they would see something other than a fastball,” Harris said. “In my first three starts, I used a fastball in a fastball situation. (The hitters) don’t get paid for nothing.”

Harris was predictable in those first three starts after he was thrust into the rotation when Eric Show’s back gave out in late June. And so were the final results--all losses.

But he pitched well Thursday, allowing just three runs (two earned) and six hits in eight innings for his second consecutive victory.

And for this, he will likely return to the bullpen.

“Chances are,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said.

Said pitching coach Pat Dobson: “We’re going to use him in the bullpen in New York next week. The first time we’ll need a fifth starter isn’t until Saturday in Montreal. Actually, we don’t have to make a decision until Thursday.”

The Padres’ first four starters are Bruce Hurst, Dennis Rasmussen, Ed Whitson and new addition Andy Benes. Don Schulze will likely remain the fifth.

It isn’t that Harris is being banished to the bullpen. That’s where the Padres like him.

“The worst thing is people think I’m being demoted,” Harris said. “I don’t look at it that way. Me and Mark Grant come in in key situations, we split things. Everybody is almost looking down on it, and that sort of hurts.

“I just want to be a part of winning. If there’s a situation where I can become a great part of the team as a reliever, I prefer that. When you start, it’s almost sentimental. It’s my turn to pitch, here’s the ball, go out there and win my game. There are times I want to be a starter.”

Harris has appeared in 36 Padre games this season, starting five. Overall, he is 5-6 with a 2.76 earned-run average.

“When he first became a starter, he didn’t carry his aggressiveness from the bullpen to the mound,” Dobson said. “In the last two games, he has been aggressive.”

That’s because, Harris said, he has learned a few things about how to pitch. He uses all four of his pitches--fastball, curve, changeup and slider--when he starts. When he relieves, he can rely on the fastball.

“You have to establish yourself earlier in the game when you start,” Harris said. “As a starter, you have to adjust throughout the game.”

That’s what Harris did Thursday. His only rough inning was the fifth, when he gave up two runs on three hits. And that, he thought, was because he quit using his changeup in the third when the Padres were ahead, 8-1.

“All of a sudden, I was in a bases-loaded situation, and I didn’t have the feel for my changeup anymore,” he said.

So he battled, kept the ball low and was able to get out of a jam.

In doing so, he ran his career record to 4-0 vs. Houston. He had a season-high seven strikeouts.

“Last year, people could say, ‘Well, they’ve never seen him,”’ said Harris, who won two of those games against Houston last September. “Now, I’ve faced them. They know what I’m doing. It makes you feel like an established pitcher.”