Clark’s Not Hurt But He Feels Pain of Padres’ Defeat

Padre first baseman Jack Clark can’t believe this is happening. He’s torturing himself each day, asking himself why, and feeling a little more depressed than the day before.

It was just six weeks ago when Clark was lying in bed, hoping the excruciating pain in his lower back would fade. Three weeks later, he was hit in the face by an errant baseball thrown by one of his teammates, fracturing his cheekbone. Now, when ruminating about the injuries, he simply shrugs his shoulders and laughs.

A herniated disc? So he can’t bend over as easily.

A broken cheekbone? Nothing a little plastic surgery can’t correct.

Heck, those are physical ailments that can be easily fixed.

But how do you go about restoring confidence in yourself, feeling miserable not only about yourself, but believing that you’ve let down your 24 teammates.

There were plenty of culprits to blame for the Padres’ 5-2 defeat Saturday afternoon to the Dodgers in front of 36,819 at Dodger Stadium, but on this day, Clark was blaming only himself.

Certainly, it’s not Clark’s fault that Padre starter Mike Dunne lasted just 2 1/3 innings, yielding three hits, five walks and three runs.

What could he do but just watch in frustration from second base when the Padres loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning, only to have Mark Parent, Joey Cora and Dunne each go down in order.

And, it wasn’t like he was the only one who couldn’t get a hit off Dodger starter Ramon Martinez, who pitched a four-hit complete game, retiring the last 14 batters in order without allowing a hit after the third inning.

But after watching your teammates go on a winning tear without you, and then witnessing their collapse after your return to the lineup, is there little wonder why Clark is developing a complex?

“Mentally, it’s been real tough for me,” Clark said. “You’re used to playing at a different level, and you try to catch up, but it only gets worse.

“Everything was going so good, and then it’s like I came along and broke up the momentum.

“How would you feel?”

The Padres, which had won 11 of 14 games to climb back into the National League race, scoring nearly a run an inning, no longer even resemble the same team.

They suddenly have dropped four of the past five games, and for the first time since May 30, have fallen into third place.

It’s no mystery why the Padres have crumbled. Just take a look at their offense:

In the past five games, the Padres have scored just nine runs in 49 innings, an average of 1.65 runs every nine innings. Of course, when you’re batting .172 over the past five games with just seven extra-base hits, it makes it a little difficult to score.

It’s as if half of the lineup has fallen into a trance at once:

--Second baseman Roberto Alomar is in a two-for-22 (.091) slump.

--Leadoff hitter Bip Roberts is batting .114 since June 5, and is hitless in his past 15 at-bats.

--Third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, who took batting practice after the game, is batting .130 since June 10.

--Shortstop Garry Templeton is batting .211 since June 9.

--Geez, even right fielder Tony Gwynn is struggling, batting .231 since June 9.

And then there is Clark.

He was the man who was supposed to invigorate the Padre offense upon his return. Why, with the way the Padres were hitting, his presence would surely create the ambience of batting practice when they stepped to the plate, right?

Well, take a wild guess who is hitless in his past 17 at-bats, and is batting just .111 since his return to the lineup June 5?

“I feel I’m hurting the team right now,” Clark said. “Now with Benito’s injury (Santiago’s broken left arm), it’s up to me to pick up the slack, and I’m not doing it.

“This hasn’t been a whole lot of fun.”

Clark, so frustrated at his hitless streak, met privately with Padre Manager Jack McKeon, asking him if he thought the team might be better off without him in the lineup. McKeon told him to just relax, his hitting stroke would return.

“I told him we need him in the lineup,” McKeon said. “We’re not going to make a run at this thing without him, that’s for sure.”

It can’t be proven, of course, but one explanation for the Padres’ collective slump is that the players have sub-consciously relaxed now that Clark is back.

“I feel like saying, ‘Hey, don’t stop just because I’m here,’ ” Clark said. “It’s going to take awhile for me to get in the groove. You know, I wish I could say I was close, but I’m really not.”

McKeon will give Clark another day off today to help him sort out his hitting woes, he said, while stacking the lineup with left-handed hitters against Mike Morgan.

“You know, there’s a lot of managers that wouldn’t do that for me,” Clark said. “That shows me a lot. He takes responsibility for me as a human being, not as just an object.

“I’ll be back, I know I will. It’s just going to take more time than I realized.”

Padre center fielder Joe Carter, who drove in the Padres’ two runs with a second-inning single, said: “I think when Jack was out, it was a chance for the guys to show what they could do. But now that he’s back, we can’t just sit back and let him carry us. Everyone’s got to go to their strengths.

“When he gets hot, he can carry a whole ballclub, but until that happens, it’s up to us.

“Don’t blame this on Jack, if anything, we’re the the ones who are letting him down.”

Padre Notes

Padre left fielder Bip Roberts, who was ejected in the sixth inning Friday night by umpire Gary Darling for arguing a called-third strike, apologized Saturday when he went out to the field. “That wasn’t right what I did,” said Roberts, who’s in a four-for-32 slump. “It was just a lot of frustrations that built up.” . . . When Roberts arrived at the clubhouse Saturday morning, he found a present in his locker, courtesy of pitcher Dennis Rasmussen. It was the perfect gift: “Revenge of the Umpire, a tear-apart stress doll.” Really. “Sharon (his wife) and I were shopping the other day, and as we walked through the perfume department, we saw hundreds of boxes of these things,” Rasmussen said. “Sharon said, ‘Come on, you’ve got to get some of these for the guys, Dennis.’ I didn’t want to buy 24 of them, so I decided to buy one. I guess when I get back now, I’ll be buying some more.” . . . The Padres’ No. 2 spot in the starting rotation is 0-8 this season, with Eric Show being 0-5 and Dunne 0-3. “That slot’s killing us,” McKeon said. “If those guys were .500, we’d be in good shape. But what can you do, but keep running him (Dunne) out there.” . . . Show pitched his first 1-2-3 inning in the eighth inning since April 22 against the San Francisco Giants. “I almost forgot what it was like,” Show said. “But it was a good thing for the confidence, especially since I was facing their No. 2-3-4 hitters.” . . . Dodger pitcher Jim Poole, who made his major league debut Friday by striking out Tony Gwynn, sent a ball over to the Padre clubhouse Saturday for him to autograph. Poole, a left-handed reliever, immediately was removed from the game after striking out Gwynn, and replaced by Jim Gott in the 11th inning. “I heard the crowd yelling,” Gwynn said, “and here comes (Dodger pitching coach Ron) Perranoski. I said, ‘Geez, he makes me look like an idiot, and he looks like the hero.’ Oh, well, there was nothing I could do about it. He dropped two hammers (curveballs) on me, and he had me bailing.” . . . Padre shortstop Garry Templeton was scratched from the lineup Saturday because of a jammed right shoulder suffered Friday when sliding into third base. He’s not expected to play today, either. “It was hurting all night,” Templeton said, “I couldn’t even throw. But the crazy part is Joey (Cora) didn’t get one ball hit to him all game. Now, how do you figure that? If I was out there, with my luck, I would have had balls hit at me all day long.” . . . Padre pitcher Andy Benes, on the fact that his only two successful bunts this season have been against Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela and St. Louis Cardinal pitcher John Tudor. “I’m OK against the guys who can’t throw 85 m.p.h.,” Benes said, laughing. . . . Dodger center fielder Kirk Gibson received his cash settlement for winning his bet against pitcher Pat Perry on the NBA championship series. “I can’t believe they (the Trail Blazers) win one game in Detroit,” Perry moaned, “and go home and get swept.” Said Gibson: “That’s what you get for dealing the Bad Boys.” . . . Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda has spent he past two games in the third-base coaching box because Joe Amalfitano has the flu. . . . The Padre pitching staff has hit five batters this season; reliever Greg Harris is responsible for three of them. . . . The Padres will conclude their three-game series against the Dodgers at 1:05 p.m. today. Dennis Rasmussen (6-3) and Mike Morgan (6-5) are the scheduled pitchers.

Dodger Notes

Juan Samuel, hitless in his last 30 at-bats, was benched Saturday and could remain on the sidelines for several days. Lenny Harris was moved to second base and Mike Sharperson played third despite the presence of right-handed Padre starter Mike Dunne. Sharperson responded with an RBI single. “I think (Samuel) needs to sit down for some games, get himself back together,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “You could tell he is really, really trying. Maybe it would be better for him if he just watched for a while.” Samuel’s infield partner Alfredo Griffin had just one hit in his last 28 at-bats, but he is still the only Dodger to appear in each of the team’s 62 games. Samuel is batting .207. Griffin is batting .243 . . . Hubie Brooks was sidelined for a third straight game Saturday with a sore right wrist that he said will take a few more days to heal. Brooks said he hurt the wrist last month, but continued to play. He said doctors told him the wrist contained calcium deposits, but that the injury is probably not disabling. Stan Javier had a single and an RBI in Brooks’ place Saturday, making him 4-for-13 with a home run, a double and three RBIs since taking over right field three games ago.

One day after Dodger rookie reliever Jim Poole struck out his first major league hitter, San Diego’s Tony Gwynn, Poole asked Gwynn to autograph a baseball . . . Third baseman Jeff Hamilton’s shoulder is still sore, and, according to Dodger Vice President Fred Claire, his first attempt at throwing is not planned for at least a week to 10 days. This means Hamilton, who has been out since April 16 with a torn shoulder, could miss as much as another month.

Ray Searage was scheduled to make his fourth rehabilitation start at Class-A Bakersfield Saturday night. He is then scheduled to throw at Dodger Stadium Monday, and then make what he hopes is his final rehabilitation start Wednesday for Bakersfield in San Bernadino.