Giants Cap Padres’ Streak, 6-4 : Baseball: After losing four in a row to Padres, Mike LaCoss and the Giants break through in front of Cap Night crowd of 54,387.

The conversations in the Padre clubhouse were a little quieter and Manager Jack McKeon’s post-game cigar puffs were a little softer Saturday night.

The Padres lost to the San Francisco Giants, 6-4, in front of a Cap Night crowd of 54,387--the fourth largest regular season draw in team history.

They learned you can’t have a happy ending every time you play the Giants.

The Padres had won four in a row this season against San Francisco. Their offense helped spread the word that the Giant bullpen was shaky, mainly by three come-from-behind victories last weekend in Candlestick Park.

But Saturday, Mike LaCoss shut the Padres down on one hit and one run through the first six innings, and Jeff Brantley and Steve Bedrosian finished them off.

It was Bedrosian’s first save of the season, and first since learning the second week of April that his 2-year-old son Cody has leukemia.

He kept the game ball.

“This one was for Cody,” Bedrosian said with a lot of emotion. “It was good to get out there and throw the way I’m capable of. With Cody, we have a long battle still, but I have to go out there and pitch.”

When he arrived in San Diego, he found a little inspiration tucked inside of his suitcase.

“My wife put a note in my suitcase that said, ‘We’re OK here. Now go out and kick butt,’ ” Bedrosian said.

As for LaCoss (3-0), he has won three consecutive starts for the first time since 1980, when he was with Cincinnati.

“They’ve got a good ballclub,” McKeon said. “You can’t take them for granted. They’re the National League defending champions. You don’t just go and tear them up every night. They can turn on you right quick.”

The Giants got things started when Will Clark turned on Bruce Hurst. Turned on a first-pitch fastball, actually, with one on in the third. The ball landed in the right-field seats, the Giants led, 2-0, and, other than a seventh-inning rally, the Padres never really threatened.

Hurst stalked around behind the mound after Clark’s second homer of the season, disgusted. He picked up the resin bag, and fired it back down. He kicked the dirt.

Hurst lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and six hits. His record is 0-2; his frustration level is even worse.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled afterward. “I got beat. There’s not a lot of fun in giving up two-run homers. There’s not a lot of joy in that.”

There hasn’t been much joy yet in this young season for Hurst, who probably wouldn’t know what to do if he pitched while the Padres were leading.

He threw six innings of no-hit ball on opening day but lost, 4-2. He went 6 2/3 innings in his next outing, but didn’t get a decision in a 5-3 loss.

“The problem is, we’ve got to get the guy a few runs,” McKeon said. “Any mistake he makes is magnified, because we don’t get any runs for the guy.”

Certainly not against LaCoss Saturday. Tony Gwynn went two for three. Jack Clark, Joe Carter and Benito Santiago each added singles, and that was it. Five hits.

Quiet night.

“Typical Mike LaCoss,” Gwynn said. “He was changing speeds, setting everything up off his fastball. Once he got a big lead, he tried to get ahead of the hitters. Then he started having control problems.”

Three of the Padres’ hits came in the seventh, but Brantley and Bedrosian quieted things down in the final three innings.

“Brantley came in and shut the door,” Gwynn said. “He had a lot more steam on his fastball tonight than in Candlestick.

“You’ve got to give their bullpen credit. This time, they shut us down.”

Plus, the Giants moved second baseman Robby Thompson into the second slot in the batting order and dropped outfielder Kevin Bass to fifth.

“That helped their offense,” Gwynn said. “They have a good offensive club--they put six runs on the board. It’s tough to come back when you’re down five runs.”

The Padres got a run back in the fourth after Clark’s homer in the third without the benefit of a hit. Roberto Alomar walked and stole second. Then, Gwynn grounded to first, allowing Alomar to take third. He scored when Clark flied to left.

But it didn’t matter. The Giants got to Hurst in the sixth, and the Padres couldn’t recover. Thompson singled. Clark flied to right, but Kevin Mitchell followed with a double, putting Giants on second and third and sending Padre pitching coach Pat Dobson to the mound. Calvin Schiraldi started warming up in the bullpen.

A batter later, he was summoned. Bass lined a single into right, scoring Thompson and moving Mitchell to third. Out went Hurst, in came Schiraldi.

The Giants weren’t impressed. Matt Williams lined Shiraldi’s first pitch into center, scoring Mitchell and sending Bass to third. Then, with Gary Carter at the plate, Williams took off for second. Alomar broke toward the bag . . . and Carter hit a liner right where Alomar used to be.

Hit and run.

Perfect.

Score Bass, and put Williams on third.

By that time, nothing was working right for the Padres. Jose Uribe grounded to Schiraldi, who threw to second in attempt to start an inning-ending double play. Shortstop Joey Cora, who entered the game with Schiraldi in a double-switch, took the throw at second but was slow in getting the ball out of his glove on the throw to first.

Uribe was safe and Williams scored.

LaCoss finally ended the inning with a foul to first, but the Giants had four runs on five hits.

The Padres continued to chip away, getting three back in the seventh. Gwynn led off with a walk, and Clark’s double sent him to third. Each moved forward when LaCoss was called for a balk.

Then, Carter sent a full-count LaCoss pitch into left field for a double. Clark scored, making it 6-3, and Brantley replaced LaCoss.

Brantley got Fred Lynn to ground to short, but Carter’s hard slide at second made Thompson’s throw to first a bit late, and Lynn was safe.

Up stepped Santiago, with one out. He singled to right, sending Lynn to second. Lynn took third and Santiago second on a passed ball, and Phil Stephenson, batting for Schiraldi, grounded to second. Lynn scored, making it 6-4. Cora struck out to end the inning.

Padre Notes

Look for pitcher Mike Dunne to be sent to Las Vegas (triple-A) on a rehabilitation assignment soon. Dunne threw a simulated game Saturday and did well, according to pitching coach Pat Dobson. Dunne threw five innings--73 pitches. “We’ll evaluate him (today),” Dobson said. “If he hasn’t suffered any setbacks, we’ll probably get him ready to go out and pitch.” Dunne is due to throw on the side Tuesday and pitch Thursday. Dobson said Las Vegas is on the road until Wednesday, so Dunne will probably throw in San Diego Tuesday, and then possibly start in Las Vegas on Thursday. The rehabilitation assignment would be subject to Dunne’s consent. Dunne underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right (pitching) shoulder in November. . . . Lost between Jack Clark’s big night Friday and Ed Whitson’s complete game was the fact that second baseman Roberto Alomar went zero for three. Not normally a noteworthy statistic, except that it was the first game this season in which Alomar failed to hit. . . . Alomar was charged with an error in the first inning Saturday, his first of the season. Entering the game, the Padres had just three errors--second in the major leagues to the New York Yankees. . . . Alomar said he planned to call his brother Sandy, and congratulate him on his big day Saturday. Sandy Alomar Jr., the catcher sent to Cleveland last winter, had a home run, a double and five RBIs for the Indians Saturday. . . . An instructional video featuring Tony Gwynn is due out May 1. According to Gwynn, there are two different tapes featuring hitting, fielding, throwing and baserunning. He wasn’t sure whether the two tapes come as one package, and he hasn’t watched them yet. “I’m kind of nervous about it,” he said. “I’ve never done anything like this before.” . . . Gwynn also had a new toy in his locker for his new hobby: A fishing rod, courtesy of coach Greg Riddoch. . . . The Giants have decided to start left-hander Atlee Hammaker (0-1, 2.25 earned-run average) in today’s game. Right-hander Scott Garrelts was supposed to start, but the Giants scratched him Friday after he felt pain in his neck while throwing on the side. Garrelts suffered muscle spasms in his neck at the end of spring training. Hammaker will face Eric Show (0-1, 3.38) in today’s 5:05 p.m. game. It will be broadcast live on ESPN. . . . Candy Sierra, the pitcher sent to Cincinnati for Dennis Rasmussen in 1988, has been re-signed by the Padres and picked up a victory for Riverside (A) Friday night. . . . Saturday’s Cap Night crowd was the second time this season that the Padres drew more than 50,000, and the 21st time in team history. On opening night, 52,254 watched the Padres and Dodgers.