Padres Getting Tough, Bully Houston, 13-3

There was a time, well, just a couple of months ago, when the Padres were considered a bunch of nice guys who played a friendly style of baseball.

Teams loved coming to this town. Catch a few hours of sun in the late morning and early afternoon, maybe even ride a wave or two. Grab a cab to the ballpark. Listen to the tranquil fans during batting practice. Play the laid-back Padres.

Intimidating? Come on, not the Padres.

Oh sure, they tried to beat you just like everyone else, but hey, you didn’t mind so much losing to these guys. Knock you down on the base paths? No way. Slide in with spikes flaring at second? Uh-uh.

Why, it was almost as if the Padres were apologetic when they won, making sure to wish everyone a nice flight home at the end of each series.

“Maybe we were too nice before,” Padre shortstop Garry Templeton said. “Maybe people took us for granted. But you know, I think that’s changing. I think that’s changing fast.

“We’ve got some guys who can intimidate now, guys who are hard-nosed, guys who aren’t afraid of knocking someone down.

“What we’re doing now is playing some good ol’ style baseball.”

The Houston Astros were the latest to witness the metamorphosis that the Padres have undergone Thursday afternoon, leaving town with a 13-3 beating in front of 16,760 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The Padres scored seven runs in the first two innings, and even with an 8-1 lead after three, there was no Mr. Nice Guy to be found. They kept pouring it on, scoring three more runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh, completing the rout.

The only batter in the lineup who didn’t contribute to the offensive bonanza was starter Greg Harris (5-6), who was busy shutting down the Astros. Instead of easing up, Harris retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced, and Dan Murphy pitched a one-two-three ninth inning in his major-league debut.

You never would have guessed the Padres had a 10-run lead with the way they were playing to the last out, with left fielder Bip Roberts running down Eric Anthony’s fly ball as if it was a tie game in the 15th.

The box score reveals that it was a game in which the Padre hitters got fat off Astro pitching, particularly starter Bob Forsch, who has given up 25 hits and 17 earned runs in his past 8 1/3 innings for a 18.36 ERA:

--Center fielder Tony Gwynn went three for five, driving in a season-high-equaling four RBIs, as many as he had produced in his previous 32 games.

--Shortstop Templeton obtained a season-high-equaling three hits, scoring three runs and driving in another, and was just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

--Second baseman Roberto Alomar went three for five with two RBIs.

--Mike Pagliarulo went two for four with two RBIs.

--Chris James went two for four with a RBI

--Bip Roberts went two for four with an RBI.

Beyond the box score, however, far more significant to the Padres’ hopes of creeping back in the National League West race, is just how they are winning.

There’s a side to the Padres that’s lurking beneath their success of late, resulting in 11 victories in their past 16 games, pushing them over the .500 mark (58-57) for the first time since June 6.

“I don’t what you call it,” pitcher Dennis Rasmussen said, “but it’s there, it’s there.”

Said Alomar: “I think people thought we were a good team before, but I don’t think we intimidated anyone. I get a feeling we are now. We’re still the same guys, but when we go between the white lines now, we act like we don’t have friends.

“We don’t care who’s coming in, because now is when the bell rings.”

The Padres’ tear, not so coincidentally, began in Cincinnati. It was there that Reds pitcher Rick Mahler hit Padre catcher Benito Santiago with a pitch in the fourth inning. Rasmussen, who had a perfect game going, retaliated by throwing his first pitch of the inning at Mariano Duncan.

There was no bench-clearing brawl. No one even emerged from the dugout. But the message was loud and clear.

“That was a good sign, a real good sign,” said Templeton, the Padre captain. “It tells the other team that we’re not backing down from anyone.”

The Padres can hardly be considered arrogant, nor do they want to be perceived in the same way as the New York Mets, but they’re sure letting the rest of the National League know that times have changed.

And it’s no secret that much of the transformation is directly attributed to the Eastern influx, James from Philadelphia and Pagliarulo from New York.

You can ask Dodger catcher Rick Dempsey about James, who lowered his shoulder and bowled him over Sunday. Or ask Pirate catcher Junior Ortiz, who received a forearm shiver from James in their last visit to town.

“His style of play has rubbed off,” said Templeton, who was raised on this style of play since coming up in 1977. “Pags is the same way. We got two hard-nosed players right there.”

While James’ style, not to mention his 14-game hitting streak (.412), is beginning to earn the adoration of Padre fans, Pagliarulo’s aggression is legendary.

It was just a couple of years ago when Pagliarulo was hit square in the bridge of his nose by a Curt Young pitch. It took almost 10 stitches to mend, and even then, his nose bled most of that Friday night and off and on Saturday during a Yankee day game. On Sunday, Pagliarulo was back in the lineup, hitting a home run.

“I think I’ve played a lot of baseball games with a broken nose,” Pagliarulo said. “When I was a kid, the only way you’d get a field to play on was to fight for it. We scrapped for the fields, we scrapped for the equipment, and we scrapped in the game.

“You hear guys now say, ‘Hey, let’s go out and have run and relax.’ For me, fun is knocking guys down, getting your uniform dirty, breaking up double plays. That’s fun. That’s how you’re supposed to play, isn’t it?”

Well, it sure is now, and the Padres have never had a better time.

Winning three of four games in this series, and seven of their past nine series, the Padres now are within five games of the second-place Astros and eight games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants.

“They’re going to have to go like hell to catch the Giants,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said, “but I had a feeling they’d come together at the All-Star break, and I think they have.

“I also think you’re seeing a different team out there.

“And I like what I’m seeing.”

Padre Notes

The Padres drew 16,760 in an experimental 3:05 p.m. start, one home-plate umpire Bruce Froemming said he hopes never to see again. “The last three innings, you couldn’t even see the ball,” he said. “To play this time of day, you’ve got to be nuts.” . . . The Astros, who were completing a 10-game trip, also were quite irritated. They didn’t leave the stadium until 6:30 p.m. and weren’t scheduled to arrive home until 1:30 a.m. “That’s great,” second baseman Billy Doran said, “but if you want to experiment, why don’t you experiment with a team going up to Los Angeles.” . . . Padre officials already are bracing themselves for The Who concert Aug. 22 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. They’ve informed the players that they still can leave their cars at the stadium during the trip that begins Aug. 14 but advised against it. . . . Doran on his slump, in which he’s hitting .131 since June 25: “I’ve given the word ‘slump’ a whole new meaning. Instead of saying, ‘I’m in a slump,’ people are going to say, ‘I’m in a Billy Doran.’ ” . . . The Astros, who were vying for the division lead for the first time since June 12 when they began their three-city trip, instead went 3-7 and were outscored, 59-32, including 54-12 in their seven defeats.

GETTING STARTED Greg Harris, normally a reliever, wins second start in a row. Page 7D.