McKeon Runs Out of Patience : Padres: After an 11-5 loss in St. Louis, manager lets players know what he thinks.

Padre Manager Jack McKeon somehow has managed to keep his composure throughout these four weeks, remaining calm after defeats, serene after victories.

It’s too early to become incensed about his team’s play, he would always say. Instead, he’d light up another cigar, claim how there’s no reason to panic and tell everyone to have a good day.

Oh, how he has remained patient, surprising even himself at times.

But after the Padres’ performance Wednesday in their 11-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, not even the Pope himself could have stopped himself from unleashing his frustrations if he managed this team.

Now maybe he wouldn’t have used quite the same words as McKeon, and he might have spoken in softer tones, but no human could have remained calm after this baby.

McKeon closed the doors after the game and filled the clubhouse for six minutes with a verbal tirade that let the players know that if they don’t quickly shape up, they may be finding themselves with new employers.

Certainly, McKeon said, he’s not going to put up with this any longer.

“This thing’s been building up for a while,” McKeon said, “but after this one, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. We can’t keep playing like this.

“You know what it is, it’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing knowing that you club is better than this.

“And this game was really embarrassing.”

The Padres had a 5-0 lead, and considering that the Cardinals had scored just six runs in their past four games, it looked as if they had a laugher.

They knocked John Tudor (4-1) out in the second inning, and by the time the inning was over, they had five runs, eight hits, five doubles and a homer.

But when Padre starter Andy Benes leaves the clubhouse saying, “I feel like strangling someone,” and outfielder Tony Gwynn says he can’t think of any worse way of celebrating his 30th birthday, you get the idea that this game ultimately proved to be their worst nightmare.

It would have been a miserable enough feeling just blowing a 5-0 lead, but when you perform in such a way that the crowd of 19,717 at Busch Stadium actually is laughing, you know the time has come for a good, old-fashioned chewing-out.

“It’s ugly, it’s real ugly,” Gwynn said. “If we don’t turn ourselves in a hurry, our hole will be too deep to ever come out of.”

Said third baseman Mike Pagliarulo: “We’ve got all the talent in the world in here, but unless we start playing as a team, we’re not going anywhere. It’s that simple.

“You hear people saying it’s early. That’s a bunch of bull. It’s never early. Early is spring training.”

The Padres (12-15), the team that was expected to win the National League West and maybe more, have now lost nine of their past 12 games, dropping to three games under .500 for the first time this season.

“There’s no reason for this, no reason at all,” McKeon said. “We have to be mentally prepared. We have to be mentally alert. But as you can see, that’s not happening.

“This meeting tonight covered a multitude of things that I had filed away, not just tonight, but last night, the Chicago series and the whole season.

“The big thing is this is a better club than it’s showing, and if we don’t hurry up and show it, it’s going to be too late.”

The Padres, who have been outscored, 25-8, in the past three games, outdid themselves on this night. They committed a season-high four errors. They gave up as many runs in one inning as the Cardinals had attained in their previous 45.

Just how bad is it going for the Padres?

Pagliarulo forgot that there were only two outs in the fifth inning, walking off the field while another run was crossing the plate.

“I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life,” Pagliarulo said. “I’m still shocked by it.”

But after watching the fifth, there’s no reason for anyone to be surprised by anything the Padres do the rest of the season.

It was an inning beyond belief, now known in the Padre clubhouse simply as The Inning from Hell.

Remember, the Padres had a 5-0 lead going into it, with Benes on the mound, and the Cardinals had managed just three baserunners the previous four innings.

It started off with Milt Thompson lining a single to right, and Todd Zeile following with a single to center. No big deal, McKeon figured.

But Benes then walked No. 6 hitter Jose Oquendo. McKeon no longer was calm. He telephoned the bullpen, and Greg Harris quickly began warming up.

But even with the bases loaded, Ozzie Smith (.192) was up, and pinch-hitter Denny Walling (.162) was on-deck. No problem, right?

Take a look:

Run 1: Benes immediately got ahead of Smith on a 1-2 count, but after fouling off a pitch, he slapped the next one just past the outstretched gloves of third baseman Pagliarulo and shortstop Garry Templeton into left field, scoring one and leaving the bases loaded.

Run No. 2: Walling drilled a single to right, scoring one run and keeping the bases loaded.

Runs No. 3 and 4: Vince Coleman hit a routine double-play ball toward shortstop. Templeton reached out to make the play, but, oops, the ball hits the dirt seam and bounces crazily over his glove, scoring two more runs. “I’ve never seen that happen before in my life here,” Templeton said.

Run No. 5: Harris relieved Benes and promptly gave up a single up the middle to Willie McGee. The Padres no longer have a lead.

Run No. 6: Terry Pendleton hit a ground ball to first baseman Joe Carter, who tried for the double play and threw the ball in the dirt past Templeton at second base, scoring another run.

Run No. 7: Pedro Guerrero made the first out, grounding to Templeton. Yes, they had an out. Thompson, the 10th batter in the inning, was intentionally walked, loading the bases.

Zeile hit a one-hopper to Pagliarulo. He stepped on the bag and started walking toward the dugout. One problem. There were only two outs. McGee scored. Pagliarulo looked toward the skies.

The inning mercifully ended when Oquendo hit a grounder to Alomar, who flipped to Templeton, who stepped on the bag. Yes, kids, now there were three outs.

The fans stood on their feet, wiping their eyes in disbelief, while the Padres ran into the dugout, hiding in embarrassment.

The rains came in the bottom of the sixth, delaying the game for 27 minutes, during which McKeon figured his team could regroup. It only got worse.

The Cardinals batted around once again in the sixth inning, scoring four runs on one hit, four walks and, this time, a physical error by Pagliarulo.

“I think we’re all glad the meeting happened,” Benes said. “It’s almost like somebody had to wake us up. But I’m taking the responsiblity for this one.

“I know I’m better than this, and whether it takes me to hit somebody in the ribs with a pitch, throw behind somebody or throw to the backstop, I’m going to do it.

“I’m not going to take any more of this.”

Padre Notes

Padre first baseman Jack Clark did not suffer any disc damage to his lower back, according to the results of the magnetic resonance imaging test. Clark suffered a severe strain of his lower back muscles Saturday in Chicago against the Cubs. He will continue receiving treatment in San Diego, and the Padres are hopeful that he will return this weekend against the Montreal Expos.