Giants Are Swept by Dodgers but Still Win NL West : Reds Beat Padres in 13th Inning, Ending All Hope

For two months, the San Diego Padres have battled the inevitable.

Finally, it is over.

The Padres, who momentarily had fate in their hands, were eliminated from the National League West race Wednesday night when they lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1, in 13 innings.

They are four games out with three to play. It doesn’t take a mathematician, or even Yogi Berra, to say, “It’s over.”

For the Padres, perhaps the most painful aspect of the defeat was that they actually had a chance to gain a share of the division title.

When the scoreboard flashed the final score from Los Angeles in the ninth inning of the Padres’ game--Dodgers 1, San Francisco Giants 0--the Padres saw their chance.

All they had to do was defeat a team that entered the game with a 73-85 record to remain in the race and get a crack at the Giants in a three-game series this weekend in San Diego.

Instead, in the words of Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn, “It turned into our worst nightmare.”

The Padres’ defeat was perhaps a fitting climax to their season. This was a team that looked lethargic for the first five months. But during these past seven weeks, with 27 victories in 36 games, they have been one of baseball’s best teams.

So, how do you figure the Padres would lose two of three at home to the Reds and collapse when they still had a chance to win?

And certainly the crowd of 17,136 that left San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium had to be wondering why in the world the Padres were pitching to Eric Davis in the 13th inning.

The situation was this: Herm Winningham was standing on second base with two outs in the 13th when Davis came to the plate in a 1-1 game. He has hit 34 home runs and driven in 100 runs this season, including six homers and 20 RBIs against the Padres.

Padre pitching coach Pat Dobson went to the mound to consult with Calvin Schiraldi.

“We talked about what we were going to do with him,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said. “We gave Schiraldi a choice of who he was more comfortable pitching to, and he said he’d rather pitch to Davis.”

Davis slapped a 1-and-0 pitch off the left-center-field wall, scoring Winningham. Todd Benzinger, the man who Schiraldi opted not to face, flied to center for the final out.

The Padres made one last gasp when Gwynn opened the bottom of the 13th with an infield single, then was sacrificed to second by Phil Stephenson.

Chris James hit a grounder to shortstop for the second out while Gwynn ran to third. But he advanced no farther as Garry Templeton swung at a third strike.

At 10:56 p.m., the Padre season was over.

The Padres were three outs away from elimination in the ninth, when they were trailing, 1-0.

It came down to three outs of a season that started seven months ago, a winning streak that began seven weeks ago and a work-day that began seven hours ago when the Padres started filtering into the clubhouse.

Bip Roberts, who has been as responsible as anyone for the Padres’ comeback, stepped to the plate to face John Franco. He said later it was the biggest at-bat of his life.

Franco was in control, working the count to 1 and 2. Roberts hung in there to line a single to left field.

Roberto Alomar tried to advance him with a bunt. He failed twice. So, he swung at the third pitch and stroked a single to center, with Roberts stopping at second, not about to challenge Davis.

That brought up Gwynn, the league’s most prolific batter over the past six seasons but who was in a two-for-17 slump. Last Friday, when Gwynn was faced with a similar situation, he elected to hit away. He popped up to shortstop, and the Padres wound up losing, 3-2, to the Dodgers.

This time, he bunted Roberts to third and Alomar to second.

With first base open, the Reds intentionally walked Jack Clark, bringing up James, who was in the midst of an 0-for-15 slump.

James slapped a 1-1 pitch to shortstop Jeff Richardson, and Roberts took off. Richardson scooped it up and thought briefly about throwing home. He decided not to chance it and went to first to get James.

With two outs and first base open, the Reds walked Templeton to bring up Benito Santiago.

The count went to 3 and 2.

The crowd then let out a cheer, and Franco stopped, looked around to see what the commotion was all about. It was because the scoreboard had announced that the Dodgers’ victory was official.

They cheered even louder.

Franco toed the rubber, set, threw to the plate, and the runners took off.

Santiago jumped away from the pitch. The crowd screamed. Alomar danced across the plate.

Sorry. Strike 3.

Twice the Reds threatened, loading the bases in the 10th, putting runners on first and second in the 11th. Twice they failed.

It appeared that the Padres finally were going to break through in the 11th. They were one hit, or one walk, or one balk, or one sacrifice fly, or just about one anything away from winning.

Alomar opened the 11th with a single to center. Gwynn bunted, and first baseman Benzinger couldn’t pick it up. Everyone was safe. That brought up Stephens, who had pinch-run for Clark in the ninth. Stephens bunted the runners along, leaving them at second and third with one out.

Norm Charlton, who started the inning, intentionally walked James, bringing up Templeton. Franco’s first pitch was a ball. The second pitch was slapped to Luis Quinones at shortstop. He threw to home and forced Alomar, who jarred the ball from catcher Jeff Reed, but he already was ruled out.

Pinch-hitter Carmelo Martinez, representing the Padres’ last hope in the 11th, slapped another ball to Quinones. He picked it up, hesitated, then threw to second, just getting James.

It seemed like almost an eternity since Tony Siegle, Padre vice president for personnel, had received a conference call at 8:30 Wednesday morning from National League President Bill White.

It was time, he said, for the coin flip, deciding where a one-game playoff game would be played, if needed.

Giant President Al Rosen was asleep when White telephoned his hotel room in Los Angeles and told Rosen that since his club was in first place, he could make the call.

Rosen: “Tails.”

White: “Heads.”

Siegle: “Al, I hope this isn’t the only thing I win from you.”

Sorry, wait till next year.