Padres, Whitson Win Big

The way Ed Whitson figures it, it’s simple.

The other team gets paid well to hit the white rat. He gets paid to not let them hit the white rat.

“As I call it,” Whitson says.

Oh. How you can come up with “white rat” for a baseball isn’t easy to figure, but then again, after you pitch a game like Whitson did Saturday, not many folks are going to question you. So leave him alone. Let him ice his arm.

The Padres got plenty of good pitching from Whitson, plenty of good hitting from just about everyone in their lineup and eased to a 9-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves got none of the above.

This came before 53,701 on Sports Bag night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. It was the eighth-largest crowd in team history and the second-largest this season.

The victory moved the Padres alone into second place, one game ahead of the Dodgers. Of course, the Padres are still nine games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

They have won seven of their past nine games, and what a contrast the past two nights have been.

Friday night, the Padres make six errors, give up three home runs and 16 runs. They get 11 runs and still lose.

Saturday, everything falls into place for them. They get a bagful of runs, 14 hits and make no errors.

In the last two nights, the Padres have punched in with 20 runs on 31 hits.

And they are 1-1.

Memories of Friday quickly faded with a few glances at the way Whitson (5-3) was throwing the white rat around Saturday. He was in control all night, scattering five hits and never allowing a Brave beyond second base. His control couldn’t have been much better. He walked just one batter, and of 109 pitches, 81 were strikes and 28 were balls.

“He doesn’t fool around,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said. “He throws strikes. He had great stuff. An excellent breaking ball, good change, and a good fastball.”

It all added up to Whitson’s second shutout this season and the 11th of his 12-year career. It was also his fourth complete game this season, which ties him with Los Angeles’ Mike Morgan for the NL lead.

“Everything was working,” Whitson said. “I was getting ahead in the count, keeping the ball down in the strike zone.

“I felt real good in the bullpen. I felt like I had it.”

Funny thing is, it was his first career complete game against Atlanta. He was 1-2 against the Braves last year, and 6-11 in his career.

On this night, though, Whitson could have given up a few runs and still had plenty to spare. Except for Joe Carter and Jerald Clark, all of the Padre starters--including Whitson--had at least one hit. And Carter, although oh for two, drove in two runs with sacrifice flies.

The first three in the Padre order--Bip Roberts, Roberto Alomar and Tony Gwynn--reached base a total of 10 times.

“That makes a difference,” McKeon said. “When we were on our hot streak last year from August on, those guys were keys. They make something happen, and give the big guys a chance to knock them in.”

Alomar was the biggest instigator. He went three for four, and it was his two-run homer in the first that got the Padres started. It came after Roberts had singled, and it was his first home run in 171 at bats. It was his second of the season, and first since April 12.

By evening’s end, he improved his batting average to .332 and became the 20th Padre to score four runs in a game. Benito Santiago did it Friday. Alomar also walked once.

But Alomar didn’t hog the offensive spotlight:

--Roberts went two for five, extending his career-best hitting streak to 10.

--Gwynn went three for four with two doubles and three runs-batted in. His average is now up to .337.

--Shawn Abner went two for four.

Atlanta’s Derek Lilliquist came into the game 2-6 with a 4.83 earned-run average, but it was apparent early that he wasn’t going to be improving those numbers. He left after just 3 1/3 innings, having allowed eight runs, nine hits and three walks.

He didn’t fool the Padres at all. After giving up Alomar’s homer in the first, he walked two Padres--Gwynn and Benito Santiago, but was able to get out of it by getting ground balls from Carter and Clark. Carter’s forced Gwynn at second, and Clark’s was turned into an inning-ending double play.

But two innings later, the Padres made it 4-0. Alomar singled and scored on Carter’s sacrifice fly to left, and Gwynn singled and scored on Santiago’s single.

Thanks to some aggressive base-running, Santiago moved all the way to third before the inning ended, but stayed there. He took second after his single when Atlanta left fielder Ron Gant threw home in an attempt to get Gwynn. Then he stole third--his first stolen base of the season. But Clark struck out and left him there.

The Padres added four more in the fourth, sending Lilliquist to an early shower. In succession, Templeton doubled, Whitson and Roberts singled, Alomar walked and Gwynn doubled.

Whitson got a run-batted in when Garry Templeton scored on his single, and Gwynn, the first batter to face reliever Dwayne Henry, knocked in three runs with his double off the left-field wall.

The Padres made it 9-0 in the sixth against Marty Clary. Alomar led off with a single and later scored on Carter’s fly to right.

Padre Notes

Injury Report: Third baseman Mike Pagliarulo didn’t start Saturday and probably will not play today, and first baseman Jack Clark may return to the lineup sometime next week. Pagliarulo strained his left hamstring Thursday, and his status has been day-to-day. Padre Manager Jack McKeon said he is planning to give Pagliarulo the day off today. “I want him right,” McKeon said. “I don’t want him to get hurt.” Another reason is that Atlanta is starting left-hander Charlie Leibrandt. As for Clark, out with an injured back and fractured cheekbone, he said Friday that he hopes to return by the end of the current home stand. It doesn’t end until June 14, but McKeon said Saturday he hopes Clark will be back next week. . . . Coach Greg Riddoch returned to the first base coach’s box and batting coach Amos Otis went back to the dugout Saturday. . . . Bip Roberts made three errors in Friday’s 16-11 loss and tipped his hat to the crowd after making a play to end the seventh. He said the cap-tipping was spontaneous. “I was just happy to make the play,” he said, smiling. He took some ribbing after the game for the three errors. “They said, ‘You may as well have made four or five, so people remember you,’ ” Roberts said. “Jack (McKeon) told me that, Joe Carter told me that . . . “ . . . Jim Marshall, former major league player and manager, was at the stadium with three visitors from Japan--two employees of the Orix Braves of the Japanese League and an interpreter. Tsutomu Matsuzaki, the director of marketing and promotions, and Shinya Kobayashi, an Orix outfielder for 13 years, are touring several facilities in the United States and Canada. It was just a coincidence that they arrived in San Diego for Sports Bag Night. “(Matsuzaki’s) first question was, ‘How many bags do you give away?’ ” Marshall said. “When they told him everybody gets one, he was surprised. He figured they gave them to the first 20,000 or 30,000. He thought that was great.” Marshall, who played for six teams and managed the Cubs and A’s in the 1970s, is acting as chaperon. They have already been to some minor league parks in Arizona, Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium. Next stop is Toronto, followed by New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Kansas City and San Francisco. They are midway through a month-long tour. . . . Joe Black, former Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds pitcher, was also at the stadium. Black is now a special consultant to Commissioner Fay Vincent, and he spoke to the Padres before the game about life after baseball. San Diego was the 26th and final stop on Black’s tour. He said he covers three basic areas: money management, education and work. He said the late Bart Giamatti and Vincent started working on the program shortly after former California pitcher Donnie Moore committed suicide last year. . . . The three home runs allowed by Padre pitchers Friday increased the team’s total to 57 allowed for the season, which leads the league by a comfortable--or uncomfortable--margin. Second is Atlanta, with 46. . . . Pitching matchups for the three-game series with Houston beginning Monday: The Padres’ Andy Benes (5-4) vs. Jim Clancy (1-4) Monday; Dennis Rasmussen (5-2) vs. Jim Deshaies (3-2) Tuesday, and Mike Dunne (0-2) vs. Mark Portugal (1-5) Wednesday. Tuesday’s game has been moved to 7:35 p.m. for ESPN.