Mets Shake Padres, Whitson by Rallying to Win in Ninth

Ed Whitson stood dazed on the infield grass Tuesday night, watching players from the New York Mets’ dugout pour onto the field. He didn’t know what was happening. He later said he had been in shock, oblivious to the surroundings.

The Mets first mobbed Barry Lyons, who scored the winning run in the Mets’ 3-2 victory, and then ran out to greet Kevin Elster, who drove in the game-winner with a double.

Whitson picked up the ball that was lying in front of home plate, watched the Mets ramble into their dugout and up the tunnel to the clubhouse, and then stared into the outfield.

Whitson slowly walked toward the Padre dugout, listening and watching the fans point and taunt him, and finally ducked out of view.

Once inside the clubhouse, Whitson pulled out the stool in front of his locker, grabbed a pack of cigarettes that lay inside and began slowly puffing away. Still fully dressed in his uniform, he sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Not wanting to eat. Not wanting to talk. Not wanting to move.

This is a city Whitson has despised for the past five years, but most of his hostility always had been directed toward the area 15 minutes across the Harlem River, Yankee Stadium, where he once played.

But as ugly as the experiences and aggravation he endured there were, he said none rivaled what occurred on this night.

A night that was just two outs from becoming one Whitson would forever cherish--the night he would win his career-high 15th game--instead became a night he said would be impossible to accept until morning.

“I’m still in shock,” he said, still sitting in front of his locker after most of his teammates had already showered and dressed. “I probably won’t realize what happened tonight until morning when I wake up and figure what the hell happened.

“All I remember is standing there, picking up the ball and surrounded by Mets’ players. That’s the first time I realized, damn, the game’s over.

“That’s when it hit me.”

It figures to be a game the Padres long will remember over the winter, one that perhaps will be known as the defeat that sealed their fate.

The Padres (59-60) dropped nine games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West race with just 43 remaining, and now only a miraculous finish could save their season. Even if the Giants played slightly less than .500 baseball (21-22) the remainder of the season, and the Astros also collapsed, the Padres would have to go 30-13 (.698) just to tie for the division title.

“The fact of the matter is that the Giants can afford to play .500 baseball,” Padre first baseman Jack Clark said. “We can’t. Even if we play .500 on this (nine-game) trip, it’s probably over.”

What could have been a game that launched the Padres onto a successful trip, perhaps even igniting the winning streak Padre Manager Jack McKeon long has awaited, was instead of microcosm of their frustrations.

The Padres, thanks to a seventh-inning bases-empty homer by Chris James, carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth, and McKeon seemingly had every advantage in his favor. Bullpen stopper Mark Davis, who has been successful in 12 consecutive save situations, was warmed up. The entire bench was still intact. And the Mets’ No. 4-No. 6 batters were due up, having just one single and one fly ball off Whitson the entire game.

McKeon decided to strengthen his team defensively, bringing in Marvell Wynne to play left field, Shawn Abner to play center and moving Carmelo Martinez to first. The only defensive move he left untapped was bringing Mike Pagliarulo in to play third.

McKeon went to home, informed umpire Harry Wendelstedt of the moves and decided that Davis would be left in the bullpen.

“Eddie was pitching pretty damn good,” McKeon, knowing that the only pitch that had hurt him was the hanging curveball that Howard Johnson hit for his 28th home run in the sixth. “I wanted to see him win. He was pitching so damn good.

“You know, the guy we were worrying about was (Darryl) Strawberry. If Strawberry would have led off with a single, I would have taken (Whitson) out. I wish to hell he would have now.”

Strawberry instead hit a weak popup to second baseman Roberto Alomar for the first out. Next up was Kevin McReynolds. He had singled in the second but failed to even get the ball out of the infield in his next two at-bats.

Whitson, who had been successful throwing McReynolds fastballs on the inside part of the plate all night, came back with another, down and in.

McReynolds sent it up and out.

Coincidentally, it was Davis, standing in the bullpen, who caught the ball. It was also the only action he’d see on this night.

McKeon decided to let Whitson continue because of the right-handed batters coming to the plate. Whitson gave up a single to catcher Barry Lyons but then struck out Keith Miller for the second out.

Kevin Elster, who was hitting .234 as the Mets’ No. 8 batter, stepped to the plate. Whitson threw the first pitch for a strike, but Elster hammered the next into the left-field corner.

Wynne ran over to retrieve the ball, started to pick it up and bobbled it. Mets third base coach Sam Perlozzo, seeing Wynne’s troubles, decided to send Lyons lumbering home.

Lyons, admittedly surprised, rounded third wildly, and was closer to the Padre dugout than the third-base line. But here he came.

“All we need there is a good throw, just a decent throw,” McKeon said, “and he’s out by 10 feet.”

Whitson said: “I’m thinking, first and third, two outs. At the very worse, second and third. No way does he score.”

But after making mistake No. 1, Wynne then committed his second blunder by throwing over the head of cutoff man Garry Templeton. Fortunately for the Padres, third baseman Bip Roberts was standing about 10 feet behind Templeton and caught the ball.

Now, standing about 70 feet away and with Lyons still a good 15 feet from home, Roberts wheeled around and fired. Oops. The ball skipped about five feet in front of the plate. Catcher Benito Santiago blocked it, but it bounced off his chest protector to the right side. By the time Whitson picked it up, Lyons had crossed the plate and was in the arms of Gregg Jefferies, who was standing in the on-deck circle.

“What can you say,” Templeton said. “We had one bad throw. And then two bad throws. It’s a shame. It’s a hell of a shame.”

Roberts said: “I wasn’t even supposed to be there in the first place, but I had the ball in my hand and the opportunity to rectify the situation. I had the guy dead if I make a good throw. I didn’t do it.”

Said Wynne: “I was just trying to get the ball into the infield as fast as I could. If everything goes right, I have him at the plate. Obviously, it didn’t go right.”

And just like that, the Padres had another ninth-inning defeat at Shea Stadium, their third in four games, and another chapter in the New York book of nightmares for Whitson.

Whitson, still sitting in front of his his locker while most of his teammates had departed, was picking at his right hand when he discovered that a blister had formed on his middle finger.

“Look at this . . . ,” he said, “here comes that damn blister again. Man. Someone put me on the nearest bird and the fastest SOB out of here.

“Please.”

Padre Notes

Padre third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, traded from the Yankees three weeks ago, was surrounded by about a dozen New York reporters the moment he set foot in the clubhouse. “I thought he got traded or something,” said teammate Marvell Wynne, who had the misfortune of being in a locker near Pagliarulo. “Man, what a mob.”