Padres Impress Nobody

Padre Manager Jack McKeon felt rotten enough sitting for 3 1/2 hours Saturday night watching his team get pummeled, 11-0, by the New York Mets.

He was upset enough just watching shortstop Joey Cora commit three errors in the first 3 2/3 innings, contributing directly to three unearned runs while making every ground ball an adventure.

He was disappointed enough knowing that doctors confirmed preliminary reports that first baseman Jack Clark will be out for about another two weeks with a broken upper cheekbone.

But what really thoroughly disgusted him on this cold, damp evening was knowing the consequences of Saturday’s effort in front of the 26,498 fans at Shea Stadium.

Here he was, trying to showcase a few of his players for New York Yankee scout Fred Goodman, and what happens? They all fall on their faces.

“It’s going to be tough for me to sell anybody (on their talent) now,” McKeon said. “When you’re on display, do something, for crying out loud.”

The Padres and Yankees talked again for the third consecutive day Saturday, and at least the fifth time in the past two weeks, about consummating a trade.

The Yankees have been scouting outfielder/first baseman Jerald Clark and relievers Calvin Schiraldi and Mark Grant. The Padres told them they have interest in right-handed reliever Eric Plunk and left-handed reliever Greg Cadaret. And, yeah, if the Yankees are interested, reliever Eric Show also is available.

So what happens?

Schiraldi gets hammered for five hits and four runs in just two innings and walks four for good measure.

Show gives up four hits and one run in his two innings of work.

And Clark goes hitless in three at-bats.

“It was one of those nights where you had to run for cover,” McKeon said.

So just what is the Yankees’ interest now?

“This might have killed everything,” a source close to the negotiations said.

No matter how many team meetings the Padres may have, no matter how many times McKeon loses his temper with them, the Padre middle-relief corps has remained consistently awful.

Try digesting these numbers:

The $2 million Kerosene Quartet of Schiraldi, Show, Grant, and Pat Clements have yielded 78 hits, 42 runs (36 earned), 37 walks and eight homers in just 60 innnings for a whopping 5.40 ERA.

And as McKeon quickly is finding out, you’re not going to win too many games when your middle relievers are allowing an average of 1.9 baserunners per inning.

“You’re damn right I’m disappointed in those guys,” McKeon said. “These guys did a good job for us last year, and I heard from their agents how great they were. So we gave them all raises during the winter. I mean, we paid them good on what they did last year.

“We picked up (center fielder Joe) Carter, and brought some other guys in to make what we thought would be a good team. But we don’t have any consistency from our relievers, and that’s what you have to have if you’re going to compete.”

The way the Padres (20-22) are playing, they’re doing everything they can just to hang onto third place, dropping to a season-high 10 1/2 games behind the runaway Cincinnati Reds. Even if the Reds somehow falter and play just .500 the remainder of the season, they would still win 90 games. The Padres would have to play .583 baseball, winning 70 of their final 120, just to have a shot.

And now, if the Padres didn’t have enough problems, they learned Clark will have to undergo an operation to repair his cheekbone, the zygomatic arch, which was fractured in three places. Clark is expected to return in about two weeks, although Padre trainer Dick Dent said it will take about four weeks for the fractures to completely mend.

“He could play with it still not completely healed,” Dent said. “The only risk is if he gets hit in the face again, but what’s the chance of that happening?

“We’re hoping he’ll be back in two weeks, but it could be as early as 10 days, or it might be as long as 10 weeks.

“He can play with it. The best news is that, luckily, there was no vision impairment.”

Remember, this is the same guy who sustained an inflamed disc in his lower back May 5, was placed on the disabled list May 13, suffered a pinched nerve in his back May 22 and now gets hits in the face by an errant ball thrown by Clements.

What’s a manager to do?

McKeon didn’t feel like crying, so he tried laughing, putting on his best slapstick routine of the year:

McKeon on Jack Clark: “I think it’s the first time ever that a guy on the disabled list got hurt on the field.”

McKeon on Cora, who has teamed up with starting shortstop Garry Templeton to combine for six errors in three games at Shea Stadium: “We’re in New York, so I guessed he tried to match (Mike) Blowers,” the Yankee shortstop who made four errors May 2 against Cleveland.

McKeon on catcher Benito Santiago, who suffered a bruised left ankle in the first inning while chasing a foul ball to the backstop: “He didn’t know where the wall was. The same wall’s been there the past four years since he’s been in the league. They haven’t moved it.”

Yes, it was that kind of night, certainly one that Cora likely will not soon forget. When the New York crowd is cheering enthusiastically every time you step to the plate and is chanting, “We want Joey, we want Joey,” at the end of the game because of your assistance to the Mets, it doesn’t exactly give you goose bumps.

“It was a tough night at the office,” Cora said. “I screwed up. I’ve got no excuses. I didn’t give our team a chance to win the ball game.”

Cora’s errors certainly helped ruin Mike Dunne’s Padre debut as a starter. Really, Dunne threw just one bad pitch in his four-inning stint, a changeup that Gregg Jefferies hit for a home run, but by the time he left the Mets already had a 6-0 lead.

Padre Notes

It turns out that although Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn was chastised the most by his teammates during the team meeting Thursday, sources said, there also was criticism directed at two other players. Padre captain Garry Templeton and first baseman Jack Clark berated pitcher Eric Show, and third baseman Mike Pagliarulo criticized catcher Benito Santiago. . . . Gwynn was hit in the right elbow by a fastball thrown by Met winning pitcher Sid Fernandez in the fourth and was forced to leave the game in the sixth. “My elbow just went numb,” Gwynn said. “I tried to tough it out, but I couldn’t go any more because of the swelling. I should be OK Sunday, though.”