Padres Narrow Deficit to Five With 3-1 Victory

It was born the evening of Aug. 23 in Philadelphia with no fanfare, little drama, and few expectations.

Just as with any newborn, who was to know its effect and impact? Would it prove to be a celebrated occasion, or raise expectations and hopes, only to be a failure?

Well, it’s still premature to know what its ramifications will be, but, oh, how it’s making life interesting in the National League West.

It’s simply being called around these parts as “The Streak,” and if it continues for another three weeks, it will be remembered forever.

The Padres, wandering aimlessly for most of this season, have maneuvered The Streak to acclaim a status that they never dared possible.

Yes, take a look at your standings; the Padres are in a pennant race.

The Padres, by knocking off the Dodgers, 3-1, Saturday night in front of 32,539 witnesses at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, moved to within five games of the first-place San Francisco Giants for the first time since June 8.

The Streak, which has steam-rolled everything in its path, now has been responsible for 14 victories in the past 16 games, lifting the Padres (76-66) to 10 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 27, 1985.

Never in the Padre 21-year history of the franchise have they had a better record over 16 games.

Never has a Padre team been counted out so many times, as recently as two weeks ago, and thrived in such adversity.

Never has a Padre team been in second place this late in the season and still in the pennant race.

Even when they won the National League title in 1984, there really was no race. The Padres opened the month of September with a 10-game lead and won it by 12. The only other time they’ve even been remotely close was in 1982, when they were sitting in third on this date, 4 1/2 games out. But they proceeded to lose six in a row and finished the season in fourth, eight games behind.

Of course, this ’89 bunch has a distinct advantage over its predecessors. It has The Streak, and not even the ’84 team ever put together a roll like this.

“I really thought we could put one together,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said, “just because we hadn’t had one all season. But for it to go on this long, this well, who could have predicted this?”

Said Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn, who missed the game with a sore Achilles’ tendon: “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy we’ve put this together, but it’s so frustrating because we didn’t do it earlier. If we had played this well all year, who knows where we’d be?”

Well, it’s too late to worry about that now, the Padres say. For now, they simply must focus on the remaining 20 games, knowing that if they extend this streak of playing .875 baseball, they will finish with a 93-69 record, the best in club history.

“I think that would do it,” McKeon said, unable to contain a smile.

This is a team that was 10 games out on Aug. 22, the night before The Streak. This is a team that was 12 games out on July 24, sitting with a 47-52 record after being swept at home by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Now, this is a team that realistically could win the division, which would rank among the greatest comebacks in baseball history, right along with:

--The ’51 Giants, who won 41 of their last 56, making up a 13 1/2 game deficit on Aug. 11, catching the Dodgers and winning the pennant on Bobby Thompson’s homer.

--The ’64 Cardinals, who were 7 1/2 games out on Aug. 31, 6 1/2 back with 12 games remaining, forever haunting Philadelphia Manager Gene Mauch.

--The ’69 Mets were 8 1/2 back on Aug. 14, and won 44 of their final 61, winning the World Series.

--The ’78 Yankees were 14 games out on July 17, and then made Bucky Dent a household name with his home run that clinch the division.

“Can you believe it?” said Ed Whitson, who won his career-high 16th game by yielding just five hits in eight innings. “This is just awesome. This is what it’s all about. The attitude now in the locker room is as hot as it’s ever been.

“You can feel the pressure, now, boy, and I’m sure those guys (the Giants) can feel us coming.”

Whitson, of course, felt a brunt of the pressure for this game. Nagged by a sore right bicep the past few starts, Whitson had won just once in his past nine starts. He was the only starter on the staff not to have won a game during The Streak.

“I must have tossed and turned for two hours last night,” Whitson said, “and then I woke up at 7 this morning. When I came to the ballpark today, I could hardly carry a conversation.

“When you get this chance, you’ve got to make every pitch count. You can’t afford to make a single mistake.”

Opening the game by retiring the side on just eight pitches, the only real mistake Whitson was leaving an oh-and-two pitch over the plate to Eddie Murray in the second. After his double, he would score on a groundout and a sacrifice fly, tying the game, but that would be the last time Whitson ever was in trouble.

He pitched into the ninth, but after he yielded a leadoff single to Lenny Harris, McKeon once again called on the savior of the Padres’ season.

His name is Mark Davis. The Padres have no doubt that they’d be out of the race without him. And suddenly, out of nowhere, he is emerging as a viable Cy Young award candidate.

Davis, who has saved the past seven Padre victories, with just one day off since Sept. 2, made McKeon and his teammates squirm before obtaining his career-high 39th save, tops in the big leagues.

He struck out cleanup hitter Murray for the first out, then got a one-hopper back to the mound from Jeff Hamilton. He reached out and snared the ball barehanded, looked to second, hesitated ever so slightly, and threw the ball past Roberto Alomar into center field. Harris went to third, Hamilton was safe at first, and pitching coach Pat Dobson and trainer Dick Dent went to the mound to check on Davis.

Insisting he was OK, Davis was left in the game and promptly walked Mickey Hatcher on five pitches, loading the bases.

Now, just a single away from a tie game, Davis needed just four pitches to end all of this nonsense. John Shelby flied out to shallow right field for the second out. And when Rick Dempsey flied to center, the crowd erupted while a fellow by the name of Jerald Clark proclaimed himself as the happiest man in the stadium.

Jerald Clark? Clark just so happens to be the rookie who made his first start since being recalled Sept. 2. He hadn’t even swung a bat in a game since his recall, but with Gwynn and outfielder Chris James (jammed shoulder) out, McKeon decided now was as good a time as any to see what the kid could do.

Striking out in his first at-bat, Clark strode to the plate in the fifth inning with the score still tied 1-1, and Benito Santiago standing on second base with one out. Dodger pitcher John Wetteland, a rookie himself, threw a curveball. Clark swung wildly, missing it by a half-foot.

The second pitch was a fastball. Clark drilled it into the right-field corner for a double, scoring Santiago for the game-winner. In the seventh, he was about to add to his heroics when he led off with a double over the head of Harris.

But just when he was thinking about how two doubles were going to look in the box score in the morning paper, he saw the Dodgers appeal the play, claiming he had missed first. They threw the ball to Murray and looked at first-base umpire Gary Darling. Out.

“We saw it,” McKeon said. “The umpires saw it. So did everybody else in the ballpark.”

And, oh, what a long walk that was to the dugout for Clark, who was replaced by Abner before he could go back onto the field.

“I was more nervous the rest of the game than when I was out there,” Clark admitted. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh, man, I hope they don’t get two runs and come back and tie us. Please don’t tie us.’

“You know, I’ve never done that before in my life, and I had to pick that time to do it. Thank God it didn’t hurt us.”

The Streak lives on.

Padre Notes

Padre starting outfielders Tony Gwynn (sore left Achilles tendon) and Chris James (jammed right shoulder) each were kept out of the starting lineup. Each are expected to be out of the lineup today, and are questionable for Monday’s game against the Houston Astros. “There was no way James could play,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said, “and it’s obvious how much Tony’s hurting. Even at the expense of losing a game, I have to give Tony some time off.” Gwynn has been bothered the past month with his Achilles and aggravated it on the past trip to Atlanta and Houston. James injured his shoulder making a diving catch on a ball hit by Willie Randolph in the first inning Friday and was unable to even raise his arm above his head Saturday. . . . Padre pitcher Don Schulze, who was outrighted to triple-A Las Vegas 10 days ago to make room for infielder Joey Cora, was activated Saturday before the game.