Templeton’s Homer Is Grand; Padres Beat Astros, 7-3

Padre shortstop Garry Templeton took a casual peek Monday afternoon at the Houston Astro lineup before the game. He blinked his eyes and took a hard look.

There was no Glenn Davis. There was no Glenn Wilson. There was no Craig Biggio. There was no Rafael Ramirez.

Four Astro starters were out of the lineup? In the midst of a pennant race? What gives, Templeton wanted to know.

The reasoning was simple: Each of the players is in the midst of a heavy-duty slump.

Templeton smiled, started to giggle, and then began laughing until his stomach hurt. Slumps? Come on. If you want a slump, he said, take a look at his numbers.

He was hitting .114 in his past 12 games. He had driven in just one run. He had 14 strikeouts.

While so many have contributed during the Padres’ winning streak, Templeton was hitting .179 with just three RBIs.

“If they took you out for that,” Templeton said, “I’d have been out a long time ago.”

Proving just why Padre Manager Jack McKeon’s patience never waned, Templeton put together one of the finest offensive performances of his career, leading the Padres past the Astros, 7-3, and keeping their playoff hopes intact.

Templeton, hitting his first grand slam in five years, went two for four with a double to go along with his homer, driving in a career-tying-high four runs.

“I’ve been pretty consistent all year putting the ball in play,” Templeton said, “I don’t know why I picked the end of the year to go into a rut.

“Today, I just sat down and tried to look at some of the things I’ve done since the All-Star break. I’ve tried to look at the positive things I’ve done, rather than dwell on the negative.”

And, oh, how timing could not have been better.

Hanging onto a precarious 1-0 lead in the sixth, the Padres broke open the game against Astro starter Jim Deshaies, who has as much trouble against the Padres as Ivan Lendl in Grand Slam championship finals. This is a guy who defeated the Padres the first two times he faced them, but has not beaten them since 1986, losing his last seven decisions.

Templeton made sure there was no exception on this night.

Bip Roberts, the catalyst of the Padres’ offense during their 15-3 streak, opened the inning by drawing a walk. He went to second on Roberto Alomar’s bloop single to center, which extended his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games. Tony Gwynn, playing for the first time in three games because of a sore achilles’ heel, flied to left for the first out.

No matter. Jack Clark hit a double into the left-field corner to score Roberts and send Alomar to third. It was Clark’s 19th RBI in his past 15 games, and his team-high 86th of the season.

Chris James, also playing for the first time since jamming his right shoulder Friday, strode to the plate. With first base open, and Templeton on deck, the logic was simple: Intentionally walk James to load the bases.

Astro Manager Art Howe then walked to the mound and called upon reliever Danny Darwin. Darwin took the ball from Howe, threw eight warmup pitches, and then peered at Templeton.

Surely, the last thing Darwin was thinking about was allowing a grand slam. Templeton, in fact, said it was even the last thing he was thinking about.

“Jack (McKeon) told me before I went up there,” Templeton said, “just to put the ball in play. That’s all I was trying to do.”

Sounds reasonable. After all, his last grand slam had been July 29, 1984, when Mike LaCoss was still pitching for the Astros. Heck, he had hit just one home run in his past 168 at-bats this season.

He figured he could throw a fastball past Templeton, and keep it low to make sure that it would stay on the ground. Instead, Darwin wound up jerking his neck, looking over his left shoulder after Templeton swung at the first pitch.

The ball didn’t land until it reached the right-field seats.

The crowd of 12,705 screamed in delight, making as much noise as they possibly could, surrounded by 46,000 seats.

Alomar, Clark, James and Templeton came across the plate, all becoming part of the historic grand slam. It was the fifth of the season for the Padres, the most in their 21-year franchise history, and the most in the National League this season.

“Anytime you hit a grand slam, it’s a little special,” Templeton said. “It isn’t too often you get to hit one.”

It proved to be plenty enough for Padre starter Calvin Schiraldi (6 1/3 innings, four hits, three runs), who won his second consecutive start since joining the team two weeks ago. It marked the first time he has won back-to-back starts since July 23 and 28, 1988.

“I felt like I threw the ball all right,” Schiraldi said. “My pitches were down, and we had great defense behind me. Bip made a couple of real nice plays: one highlight film, and one to protect his life.”

Yes, what Padre victory would be complete during this stretch without the heroics of Roberts?

Roberts, just a part-time player until six weeks ago, is as responsible as anyone for the Padres’ pennant run. Roberts is hitting .329 during their streak, with a .420 on-base percentage. He has reached base in 24 of his past 39 plate appearances, and is hitting .444 with 12 runs scored in his past 10 games.

“When we go back and look at who is the most pleasant surprise of the year, it’s probably him,” said McKeon, calling Roberts the best leadoff hitter the Padres have had since Alan Wiggins in 1984. “Bip’s hitting for a better average, but Wiggins was a better base-stealer.”

Said Templeton: “I’ll tell you what, we sure wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now without Bip. He’s been the sparkplug we’ve needed. You can’t underestimate the job he’s done for us.”

But on the night of Sept. 11, let the record show it was Templeton who took the curtain call, allowing the Padres’ playoff hopes to live a little longer.