Benes Makes Run at One, Too : Padres: Dodgers get first hit in seventh, and Schiraldi, Lefferts finish 3-1 victory.

It’s still too early to call him the ace of the Padre pitching staff. It’s a bit silly to call him one of the premier pitchers in the National League. And it’s downright ludicrous to say this guy could be a 20-game winner this season.

Come on, isn’t it?

Andy Benes, the 22-year-old kid from Evansville, Ind., once again came to the Padres’ rescue Wednesday night, shutting down the Dodgers at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and providing the Padres their first victory, 3-1.

Benes pitched a no-hitter for six innings and was so dominant that he allowed a grand total of just two balls to be hit out of the infield until the seventh. He left the game in seventh with a two-hitter, watched Calvin Schiraldi stymie the Dodgers for two innings and then cheered as Craig Lefferts obtained his first save by retiring all three batters he faced.

Not a bad night for the kid, huh?

“Oh, God, that’s an understatement,” said Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn, who hit an opposite-field home run in the eighth inning, his first homer in 322 at-bats. “He’s got unbelievable poise. I’m telling you right now, he’s going to be a guy to watch.

“He’s the type of guy that when he goes out there, you’re feeling good about your chances.”

Said Tom Romenesko, Padre director/player development, who signed Benes as the No. 1 pick in the 1988 June free agent draft: “Let me put it to you this way, by the end of the season, he’ll be one of the top five pitchers in the National League.”

Certainly, the Dodgers aren’t about to argue. They’ve faced the guy three times now and have lost each game, scoring a total of one run in 21 innings.

“They might be awfully tired of him before his career’s over,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said.

The only real flaw in Benes’ performance was in the first inning, when he struggled with his control. He was nervous, anyway, arriving at the ballpark four hours before game time, about an hour before most of his teammates.

“I was driving myself crazy at home,” Benes said. “I figured I might as well do that here.”

Benes opened the game by striking out Juan Samuel, but then walked Willie Randolph and Kal Daniels on five pitches apiece. Next up was Eddie Murray.

Padre pitching coach Pat Dobson, sensing trouble, came to the mound to settle him down.

“He came out and told me, ‘Hey, the worst thing that can happen is that he hits a home run, and we’re down 3-0,’ ” Benes said. “ ‘And we can get that back easy. Don’t worry about it. So just throw a strike.’ ”

Still, Benes continued to struggle, falling behind, 3-1, to Murray. With runners on first and second, he could see Murray salivating at the plate.

“I had to come in with a fastball,” Benes said, “and I’m sure he knew it, too.”

Murray guessed correctly, but the pitch jammed him, resulting in a high pop-up to third baseman Bip Roberts, and Murray cursed himself all the way back to the dugout.

“That was the break I needed,” Benes said. “I was able to relax after that.”

Benes proceeded to strike out the next four batters he faced, retiring 16 of 17. The only man who reached base after the first inning and before the seventh was Daniels, who walked again on five pitches in the fourth.

Otherwise, Benes was perfect, allowing just two balls out of the infield, while striking out seven through the first six innings.

Oh, yeah, and he still had a no-hitter intact.

“You know, I wasn’t even thinking I had it anymore,” Benes said. “I guess I figured with all of the guys on base, there must have been a hit somewhere.”

But Daniels--Benes’ nemesis the entire night--ruined any chance of Benes becoming the first Padre pitcher to throw a no-hitter when he lined a double into the gap in left center on Benes’ second pitch of the inning.

Murray followed with a single to left field, scoring Daniels and ending Benes’ string of 21 consecutive shutout innings against the Dodgers.

McKeon had to make a quick decision: Leave the kid in the game and let him try to get out of his own jam. Or pull him.

Just three days ago in their season-opener, McKeon allowed Bruce Hurst to continue pitching, and he gave up a home run to Hubie Brooks on his 90th pitch.

He checked Benes’ pitch count. Guess what? He had thrown 89.

Benes was lifted.

“We were going to let him go as long as he had his no-hitter,” McKeon said. “Once he gave up a hit, we were going to get him out.”

McKeon then turned to his bullpen and called upon Schiraldi. Three batters came up. Three batters went down.

Schiraldi pitched a one-two-three eighth inning, aided by catcher Benito Santiago’s nab of Alfredo Griffin attempting to steal second. He started the ninth, but when Randolph opened with a single to left, out came Schiraldi, in came Craig Lefferts.

Lefferts, the $5.25 million free-agent reliever the Padres signed to replace Cy Young Award winner Mark Davis, sprinted from the bullpen as the crowd of 29,872 cheered. They had already been informed by the scoreboard that Davis had saved Kansas City’s 2-1 victory over Baltimore earlier, and now they were curious to see how Lefferts would react.

Daniels struck out.

Murray grounded out to third.

Brooks grounded out to third.

The Padres finally had their victory, and Lefferts finally got his opportunity.

“The anticipation had been building for three days,” Lefferts said. “It felt so good just to get out there. I wasn’t wondering so much when I was going to get my first save, as when I was going to make my first appearance.”

The Padres also finally got some encouraging signs from their offense, which had gone 14 consecutive innings without scoring until Garry Templeton’s bases-loaded double in the fourth drove in two runs. Gwynn then added insurance with a home run to left-center, his first opposite-field home run, Gwynn said, in five years.

“I was probably as surprised as anybody in the ballpark,” he said.

Padre Notes

Reserve first baseman Rob Nelson, who ended the Padres’ season-opening defeat Monday against the Dodgers by striking out, was watching a replay of the game Tuesday at his home when a comment from broadcaster Ted Leitner caught his attention. “He said, ‘He’s got as much a chance of getting a hit here as I do of winning the lottery,’ ” Nelson said. So guess who went out and bought a Lotto ticket Wednesday, sending it to Leitner along with a handwritten note? Nelson, shrugging his shoulders, said: “I just told him to make sure he gave me half his winnings.” . . . Padre pitcher Mike Dunne, on the disabled list because of off-season arthroscopic shoulder surgery, drew rave reviews after pitching a three-inning simulated game Tuesday. “We’re going to work him in gently, but he’s really throwing the ball well,” said Pat Dobson, the Padre pitching coach. “He’s got a great, great sinker.” Dunne is scheduled to pitch a four-inning simulated game Tuesday in Cincinnati and then will make three more simulated starts before the Padres allow him to pitch in a game. The Padres then likely will request that Dunne accept a rehabilitation assignment in triple-A Las Vegas for 30 days. Dunne, who was selected by the Padres in the major league draft after he was left unprotected by the Seattle Mariners, has the option of refusing the assignment and electing to become a free agent. If he accepts the assignment, the Padres must put him on their 24-man roster after 30 days or offer him back to the Mariners. The decision, of course, might be a lot easier if the owners decide to expand the rosters to 25 instead of 24 after May 1.