Padres Turn Day Around, Beat Dodgers

You ever have one of those days where nothing goes right? You know, the kind where your day’s already miserable, and you haven’t even gone to work yet.

Well, Friday just happened to be one of those dog days for Padre center fielder Joe Carter and catcher Benito Santiago.

Carter’s day began on a treadmill at 6:30 in the morning at the Scripps Clinic, where he took a physical required by the incoming Padre ownership group. He returned home and tried to catch some sleep, but his realtor picked this day to show his house to prospective buyers. What was a man to do but leave early and find some peace at the ballpark?

Santiago, meanwhile, knew Friday’s game against the Dodgers was a 7:35 p.m., and strolled into the clubhouse about 4:45. One problem. The team and front-office employees were in left field having a photograph taken for outgoing owner Joan Kroc. Sorry, Mrs. K, it’s going to be missing an All-Star catcher.

So, with all of this havoc, just take a wild guess who were the offensive heroes in the Padres’ 12-6 victory over the Dodgers in front of 34,641 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium?

Yep, Joe Carter drove in three runs, including a two-run homer, and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.

And Santiago just happened to be the one who belted the three-run homer in the seventh, the seventh of the game and the one the Dodgers couldn’t overcome.

Craig Lefferts pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings for the victory, the Padres’ 11th in their past 14 games. And all of a sudden, the Padres (29-24) find themselves just 6 1/2 games behind division-leading Cincinnati. It’s the closest they’ve been since May 12.

The Carter-Santiago duo broke open a 6-6 tie in the seventh, and by the time the inning finally ended, the Padres had sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring six runs. It was the seventh time in the past 11 games that the Padres have batted around in an inning.

Carter, who has seven homers in his past 17 hits, opened the floodgates with one out in the seventh when he hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Alfredo Griffin, which bounced off Griffin’s knee and caromed into foul territory behind third base. By the time the ball was retrieved, Carter was standing on second.

Phil Stephenson followed with a walk, bringing Santiago to the plate. He ran the count to 2-1 against Jim Gott, the Dodgers’ third pitcher of the night. The next pitch was a fastball. It was neatly deposited deep into the left-field seats, just missing the upper deck.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone,” Santiago said, “but I lost it in the lights. I didn’t know it it would be fair, so I looked at the umpire, and I became a happy man.”

It was all the Padres would need, but they continued to pour it on until Tony Gwynn’s two-run single climaxed their third six-run inning in the past 11 games.

The Padres appeared for a while as if they would win in a rout. They were cruising along in the sixth inning with hardly a care in the world.

They had a 5-1 lead.

Ed Whitson, who had thrown just 51 pitches, was on the mound.

The Reds had lost again for the fourth time in five days.

But all of a sudden, with one out, Whitson lost it. He had wrenched his back in the fourth inning on his run-scoring single, and now, of all times, the pain began to emerge.

He issued his first walk, to pinch-hitter Stan Javier. Lenny Harris followed by lining the next pitch into right field, only the third hit allowed by Whitson, and the Dodgers had two baserunners in an inning for the first time.

Next up: Kirk Gibson, who was making just his fifth start of the season after spending the first two months of the season on the disabled list with a torn hamstring tendon.

First pitch: Home run into the right-field seats, Gibson’s first of the season.

Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach, immediately summoned Greg Harris from the bullpen. Harris had not thrown more than a handful of warmup pitches, but because of the injury to Whitson, he was allowed to throw as many as he desired on the mound.

He should have thrown one more.

Kal Daniels hit his first pitch over the center-field fence, and all of sudden, it was tie game, 5-5.

It then became the battle of the bullpens. Neither was pretty, and at times, they looked downright ugly.

But as beleaguered as the Padres’ middle relief has been, they proved Friday that they’ll match bullpens with the Dodgers any night of the week.

The Padres broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth when third baseman Mike Pagliarulo hit his second home run of the season.

That lead lasted, oh, about five minutes. With two outs in the seventh, Chris Gwynn, Tony’s brother, hit an opposite-field home run over the left-field fence.

Most remarkable was not so much that it was the first home run in Chris Gwynn’s career but that Harris had allowed as many home runs in 1 1/3 innings as he had in his previous 79 dating back to Aug. 22, 1989.

“My first thought was, ‘It’s going to be a long drive to the house tonight,’ ” Tony Gwynn said.

Well, leave it to big brother to upstage Chris Gwynn in the bottom of the seventh. Tony’s two-run single assured the Padres of their victory. He now has 12 RBIs in his past 10 games and has raised his batting average to a lofty .327 with runners in scoring position.

The folks in attendance should have known it would be a crazy night from the outset.

Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda was ejected from the game in the bottom of the first when arguing third-base umpire Greg Bonin’s call.

Roberto Alomar was on second base and Tony Gwynn on first when Dodger starter Tim Belcher threw a pitch into the dirt that bounced by catcher Mike Scioscia. Scioscia recovered quickly, however, and threw to third baseman Lenny Harris. Alomar dived into third a step too early, and Harris put down the tag. Bonin ruled he missed, and the argument began.

Harris started it, and Lasorda finished it. And just so that the Dodgers couldn’t get any further riled, home-plate umpire Jim Quick went to the Dodger dugout and ordered an ESPN technician to turn off the monitor showing the replay. It didn’t matter--the replay was unclear, anyway.

In the second, Dodger right fielder Hubie Brooks was fooled on Whitson’s changeup and flung his bat above the Dodger dugout. Who did it hit? The big boss himself, Fred Claire, Dodger vice president of player personnel.

And, just think, all that fun was before even the first home run was hit.

Yes sir, it was that kind of night.

Padre Notes

Unless the Kansas City Royals make a drastic turnaround, Royal General Manager John Schuerholz said that he will start trading away some of his high-priced veterans, which may include former Padre pitcher Mark Davis. The Royals’ $24-million payroll is the highest in the major leagues, with Davis (four years, $13 million) being their highest-paid player. “The fact that we created the highest payroll in baseball is not a badge that I wear proudly,” Schuerholz said. “We’ve responded to the marketplace, but I think it’s gone too far when we’ve become the highest-paid club in the smallest market. If we don’t win a championship with that, it just doesn’t add up. That’s why we may have to have to look to look at building ourselves up for a year or two, and my preference is not to build ourselves up with free agents. We don’t want to keep mortgaging the future with young players to keep trying to get that one piece of the puzzle to put us over the hump.” And Davis? “I haven’t talked with anyone about trading Mark Davis,” Schuerholz, “but that’s not to say somewhere down the road I wouldn’t think about it.” Said Padre Manager Jack McKeon: “He knows my number.”

Padre pitchers Mark Grant and Greg Harris said that they are planning an excursion to Anaheim on their off-day Monday to visit Davis when the Royals play the Angels. “We’re going to try to cheer him up,” Grant said. . . . Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher who broadcast Friday’s game for ESPN, provided a couple of thrills for the Padres. He walked up to Padre pitcher Andy Benes before the game, introduced himself, and said, “Hi, I really wanted to meet you. I enjoy watching you pitch.” The other thrill? Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach, walked up to his former teammate and asked him to autograph a baseball. . . . Padre real estate update: Second baseman Roberto Alomar just bought a four-bedroom house in Carmel Mountain Ranch; outfielder Joe Carter has his Poway home already up for sale, looking to purchase a bigger one; right fielder Tony Gwynn said he and his family are about two months away from moving into their new Poway home; first baseman Jack Clark and his wife are looking for a home in the San Diego area, and prospective owner Tom Werner just signed a lease to rent a home in San Diego. . . . Padre outfielder/first baseman Jerald Clark caught 11 fish on his day off, including a three-pound bass and three-pound trout. “I must have about 30 in my freezer,” Clark said, “I’m going to have to start giving some away.”

Dodger Notes

Even though Mike Maddux was hit hard in his three innings against Atlanta Wednesday, allowing six of 12 hitters to make good contact, he will likely get another chance to start Tuesday in Houston. The Dodgers don’t have anybody else they trust as their fifth starter. The only other candidate, Tim Crews, entered this season with a career 6.75 ERA against the Astros. Maddux allowed the Braves two runs on three hits in three innings in the Dodgers’ eventual 7-5 victory Wednesday. It was his first start in nearly a year.

Maddux said he talks to his brother Greg, a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, about once a week. “We talk about hitters we have faced. We give each other tips,” Mike said. “The only thing we don’t discuss is players on our own teams. That would be betraying the trust of our teams.” When Greg’s name is mentioned to Mike, he sometimes looks strange, and not because he is jealous of his more acclaimed brother. “It’s because I don’t call him Greg, I call him ‘Nate,’ a nickname he’s always had,” Mike said. “Everybody who has known him for a long time calls him ‘Nate.’ Sometimes I have to remember that I know a Greg Maddux.”

Ramon Martinez’s most visible souvenir from his 18-strikeout performance is a blister on the middle finger of his right hand. Trainers worked on it Friday, and it should cause him no problems in scheduled start here Sunday. . . . Orel Hershiser is accompanying the team on this six-game trip because he wants to continue his daily work with therapist Pat Screnar. . . . Shortstop Jose Offerman continues to be the Dodgers hottest minor league prospect. He recently hit .517 in one week for triple-A Albuquerque to improve his average to .400 after 52 games. He has committed 14 errors. Scouts are also impressed with third baseman Dave Hansen, who is hitting .344 with four homers and 36 RBIs in 52 games.