Alomar Picks Up Padres With Bat in Sweep of Mets

There are times in your life when, for whatever reason, something so good happens that you’re not quite sure how to figure it out.

All that’s left to do is scratch your head and mumble, “I don’t know. . . . “

Sunday was one of those times for Roberto Alomar.

He had a career-high five runs batted in as the Padres outlasted the New York Mets, 13-7, in front of 24,139 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium to complete their first series sweep against the Mets since May 1981.

Mark Grant pitched 3 2/3 innings to earn his first save as a Padre. The winner, Pat Clements (2-1), worked 3 1/3 innings, his longest outing since June 27. Mark Parent had two hits and four RBIs and Tony Gwynn, Bip Roberts and Jack Clark each had two hits.

Alomar did make an error--his 25th of the season--in the first inning, and it led to two runs. But he went three for six, including a two-run homer when he was attempting a hit-and-run. He finished the three-game series seven for 14, with two doubles and two home runs.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m swinging the bat pretty good. I was just trying to stay back and keep my body in, but on the home run, I saw the curve and just reacted.”

The homer came hitting right-handed, where Alomar has been having his troubles. He is hitting .220 right-handed and .309 left-handed this season. But three of his four homers are right-handed.

“I’ve been working hard and seeing (videotape) at home,” Alomar said. “My power side is my right-hand side, but I’ve been struggling from that side. But I can’t say I’m struggling. I have to go up there and say I’m going to beat this pitcher.”

From the right side Sunday, he doubled home Bip Roberts in the third and homered in the sixth, which also scored Roberts. From the left side, he singled home Roberts and catcher Mark Parent in the seventh.

All that came after the error, which put the Padres behind early, and it came at a time when starter Don Schulze was getting hit hard. Schulze lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and six hits.

With one out in the first and runners on first and third, Darryl Strawberry hit what could have been a double-play grounder to Alomar’s right, but the ball bounced out of Alomar’s glove.

“The ball was in my glove, but when I went to throw it to Tempy (shortstop Garry Templeton), it was behind me,” Alomar said.

“Maybe it’s just a bad year for me defensively,” said Alomar, who made only 16 errors last season. “I know I’m having a tough time defensively, but this game is not only defense--it’s offense, too.

“You never know. Maybe I’m having a bad year defensively this year and I’ll have a good year next year. I just try to do the best I can.”

For two innings Sunday, it looked as if it wouldn’t be enough. The Mets took the lead, 4-0, before the Padres scored two runs in the second, two in the third, four in the fifth, two in the sixth and three more in the seventh.

“Great comeback,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said. “You’ve got to give the guys credit. Man, they could have folded their tents. We were down against a good pitcher.”

Bob Ojeda started for the Mets, but left in the fourth with sprained ligaments in his left knee and a lousy statistical line: four runs and five hits allowed. He was examined after the game and is expected to miss a couple of starts.

John Mitchell, Jeff Musselman, Jeff Innis, Don Aase and Randy Myers followed Ojeda, and Met pitchers combined to issue 10 walks--the most allowed by a Met staff since 1985.

“When you walk 10 people, you should get slaughtered,” Manager Davey Johnson said.

And the Padres could have had more, leaving 10 men on base. Roberts had two hits and scored three runs, and Gwynn extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

San Francisco lost to Montreal Sunday, so the third-place Padres (66-64), with their four-game winning streak, moved to eight games back and are two games over .500 for the first time since June 5.

“It means a lot to (sweep), regardless of whether it’s the Mets, Pirates or Braves,” said Gwynn, who improved his league-leading average to .345. “I think we just wanted this series more than they did. When we needed a hit, we got it. When we needed a pitch, we got that, too.”

It seems odd that the Padres would be hungrier than the Mets, who were 2 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago in the NL East Sunday morning. But at least one Met agreed with Gwynn.

“We’re going out there like we’re waiting to get beat,” center fielder Juan Samuel said. “If we’re going to make a move, we have to turn it on.”

It was Samuel who lost Parent’s bases-loaded fly ball to shallow center in the sun during the Padres’ four-run fifth inning. The ball dropped, and all three runs scored.

“I usually hate day games,” Parent said. “It’s hot, bright, and you have to get out of bed and get going. But today, I love them.”

Padre Notes

When the Padres last swept the Mets, the winning pitchers were Juan Eichelberger, Chris Welsh and Gary Lucas. . . . Don Schulze’s 1 1/3 innings Sunday was the shortest outing by a Padre starter all season. . . . Mark Grant’s save was the third of his career. His last save was April 10, 1987, when he was pitching for the Giants against the Dodgers. . . . Sunday’s victory was the Padres’ 35th come-from-behind victory this season. Last year, the Padres came from behind to win 34 times.