Lefferts’ Debut No Relief for Padres : Baseball: Pitcher expected to fill Mark Davis’ spot is shelled by Angels in first exhibition appearance.

Craig Lefferts slowly rose from the bullpen bench Tuesday afternoon, far away from the action, but as he began warming up, he suddenly could sense everyone’s eyes focusing on him.

It was supposed to be a casual spring training game, nothing to get excited about, nothing to be concerned about.

But this . . . this was different. This was the debut of Lefferts’ return to the Padres. This was the day Padre fans have been awaiting, anxious to make their own scouting report.

Lefferts is the man who’s supposed to help everyone forget all about Mark Davis, isn’t he? After all, didn’t he predict the day he signed with the Padres that he could achieve everything that Davis had if given the same opportunity?

OK, so Davis had a major league-high 44 saves last season, winning the Cy Young award. He also got 48 opportunities, Lefferts happily notes, with just 18 saves coming when he inherited one-run leads.

“I know I can do the same job if given the chance,” Lefferts said.

When Davis took off for Kansas City, signing a four-year, $13-million contract, the Padres decided this was as good a time as any to give Lefferts the opportunity.

They signed him to a three-year, $5.25-million contract. That just so happened to be $2.45 million more than Davis sought last spring when he requested a two-year extension for $2.8 million. It was denied.

That’s ancient history, the Padres keep telling themselves. Lefferts is their man. A few of them were chortling in the clubhouse Tuesday morning when they heard about Davis surrendering a home run to the first batter he faced Monday in his debut with Kansas City.

After running to the mound Tuesday, Lefferts was set to steal the hearts of Padre fans. It was the seventh inning. He had a two-run lead and his first save opportunity of the season.

“It was the perfect situation,” Lefferts would say later. “Just what I wanted.”

Well, whatever dreams of grandeur Lefferts entertained vanished the moment the Angels’ Chili Davis deposited his second pitch over the center-field fence . . . the outer link fence . . . two rows of cars . . . and up against a service van.

Conservative estimated length: 470 feet.

Welcome back, big guy.

“We’re actually pretty good friends,” said Davis, who was a teammate of Lefferts in San Francisco, “but I like him more as a person than a pitcher.”

It was a surreal moment, especially considering that Davis had managed the same ominous beginning with his new team.

“I immediately thought of that as soon as the homer was hit,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said.

There was one difference in the two scenarios.

Davis never gave up another hit in his two-inning stint.

Lefferts gave up four more in the seventh alone, including a homer to a guy named Dan Grunhard, whose credentials have never allowed him to play in a league higher than double-A.

Pat Dobson, the Padre pitching coach, never even bothered going to the mound during the inning to consult with Lefferts. The reasoning, he said, was simple.

“There’s only one thing I could have told him,” Dobson said. “Don’t throw it. Just hold the ball.”

Catcher Benito Santiago said: “Everything was up. We couldn’t get anything down in the strike zone. They just took advantage, man.”

By the time Lefferts finally got out of the inning, striking out pitcher Willie Fraser, he had faced eight batters, allowing five hits, four runs and two homers.

He couldn’t even duck into the dugout before some fan yelled, “Lefferts, if you’re going to throw batting practice, be here at 10 a.m.”

Lefferts managed to get out of the eighth inning with no problems, but the damage already was done. The Padres were 8-6 losers, and Lefferts had thrown too many pitches to even be brought back for the ninth.

“Obviously, I was disappointed,” Lefferts said, “nobody likes to take punishment like that. We had a lead, and it’s my job to shut the door on those guys.

“I was pretty frustrated, but I’m not one to go out there and rant and rave and show my frustration.

“Besides, it’s only spring training. I’m in the process of getting myself ready. I don’t think anyone can say they’re ready yet, so I’m not going to concern myself with numbers. That’s what spring training is for, just to get your work in.

“It’s just obvious I’m not ready yet, and I certainly didn’t throw the ball the way I’m capable of doing.”

The Padres also downplayed their concern. They remember back to all of Lefferts’ previous spring training performances, and McKeon said that if jobs were totally based on exhibition statistics, Lefferts never would have made the club in 1984.

“The first year I was here (in 1988),” Dobson said, “MD (Davis) had the worst spring I think any human being could have. He struggled the whole spring. And look what happened.”

Davis launched his career as the bullpen stopper, saving 28 games and setting up his 1989 Cy Young season.

“He doesn’t have to impress me,” McKeon said. “I know what he can do with the game on the line. You’ll see.”

Said Lefferts: “I can only improve, right? It can’t get any worse, that’s for sure.”

Padre Notes

Padre pitcher Eric Show once again demonstrated that he is completely recovered from his back surgery, pitching pain-free for three innings in his first start since June 25, 1989. Show, who admittedly suffered some anxiety in the first inning, settled down afterward and allowed just one hit and three baserunners in his final two innings. His pitching line: three innings, four hits, two earned runs, three walks, three strikeouts. “I had no pain, so I’m a happy camper,” Show said. “Stamina-wise, I could have gone five or six innings. I’m not worrying about my numbers or anything else. I just don’t do well in spring. I never have. The only good spring I’ve had was in ’85 when I never gave up an earned run, and I don’t think that will ever happen again. I don’t know if it’s the injury or I’m getting older, but I do appreciate it more. And that’s a good feeling. I’m just a happier person now.” . . . Padre third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, prohibited by his previous manager from even facing Angel pitcher Jim Abbott, became just the third left-handed hitter to homer off him. Pagliarulo hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, joining Don Mattingly of the Yankees and George Brett of the Royals. “(Former Yankee Manager) Dallas Green never let me face him,” Pagliarulo said. “He didn’t think I was good enough to face him.” Pagliarulo’s previous homer off a left-hander was on Sept. 23, 1988, against Bruce Hurst when both were still in the American League. . . . Catcher Benito Santiago made his 1990 spring-training debut by becoming the first Padre to play an entire game. He went one for four with a double, scoring two runs, stealing a base and picking off Wally Joyner at first. “I felt good out there,” Santiago said. “Now, I just want to keep playing nine innings. I didn’t play winter ball. I didn’t do nothing. Now it’s time for me to play, not be lazy.” . . . Outfielder Joe Carter went hitless in three at-bats in his first game as a Padre but said to keep an eye on him opening day. He homered in his first at-bat in the first game he played for the Cleveland Indians in 1984.

The National League office made it official Tuesday: the Padres will make up their three canceled games against the Dodgers Oct. 1-3 at 7:35 at Dodger Stadium and pick up three home games against the Cincinnati Reds with a doubleheader at 5:05 p.m. on July 25, a single game at 1:05 p.m. on Aug. 1 and a doubleheader at 5:05 p.m. on Sept. 22. The revised schedule leaves the Padres with a 25-day stretch without a day off from July 12-Aug. 1. It’s the longest stretch of games without an off-day in the majors. The schedule also leaves the Padres playing their final nine games on the road, 16 of their final 20 and 35 of their final 58. . . . The Padres also lost a seven-inning “B” game to the Angels, 1-0. Outfielder Jerald Clark, trying to make the big-league club, went two for four with a double. Starter Calvin Schiraldi pitched three innings, allowing one hit and four walks and striking out three. . . . Padre backup first baseman Phil Stephenson took a giant stride toward winning a job when he went two for four with two runs scored in the “A” game. Stephenson is battling Rob Nelson for the backup job. . . . Padre catcher Mark Parent, who was sick Monday night with the flu, came to the ballpark Tuesday but was excused. “I feel like I want to die,” Parent said. “I was up all night running to the bathroom. I couldn’t wait to get the park today just to get some Pepto-Bismol. . . . There were 17 walks in the “A” game, 10 issued by the Padres. . . . The Padres and Angels drew just 2,433 fans for the game, leaving them with a two-day total attendance of 4,490. The Padres averaged more fans than that a year ago, drawing 5,814 a game.