What Change? Padres Lose Seventh in Row

The Padre clubhouse door swung open at 5:02 Tuesday afternoon. Thomas Howard walked in and was searching for his locker to dump off his duffel bag when his eyes stumbled upon those of Jerald Clark.

There was a moment of uneasiness when their eyes met, but then Clark stepped toward him, stuck out his right hand and wished Howard luck.

Clark retreated back to his locker, stuffed his baseball equipment in three cardboard boxes, said goodby to a few of his teammates and headed out the door.

Welcome to life on a struggling major league ballclub. When one combination is not working, you try another. When that doesn’t work, you start shuffling people between the big leagues and triple-A team. And if that doesn’t work, you start trading people.

The Padres are in midst of Stage II, and if life doesn’t soon improve, Stage III will be around the corner.

The Padres lost their seventh consecutive game Tuesday, 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates, as a crowd of 33,949 booed lustily when the Padres managed to blow their fifth lead in the past six games.

Bullpen stopper Craig Lefferts, inheriting a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, blew his third consecutive save opportunity when the Pirates tied the game in the eighth and broke it open in the ninth with two runs. It simply was a continuation of Lefferts’ problems, who in his past six outings has three losses and three blown saves. He has has yielded 17 hits and 12 runs over the past 9 1/3 innings, with an 11.57 ERA.

Howard, who started in left field and batted second, certainly did his share by getting his first major league hit and making a running catch into the left-field stands. But it wasn’t enough to prevent the Padres’ from reaching their longest losing streak since June 6-13, 1989. They have now lost eight consecutive home games, their worst such streak since 1980.

The defeat was the latest kick in the gut to the Padres’ sagging spirits. Their skid has reached such depths that it had Manager Jack McKeon searching Tuesday afternoon for a new belt and new hat, you know, just to change the team’s luck.

But, as McKeon quietly noted, “I can’t go up there and hit for these guys or pitch for them.”

Trying to draw some life into his team, McKeon also had his sixth team meeting, and the second in the past three days. McKeon met with the players for eight minutes before the game, and several said that McKeon wanted to reassure them that he is not going to abandon them.

McKeon, who said Monday that he’d like to return to the front-office, told his players Tuesday that unless he’s ordered to leave the field and assume only his front-office duties as vice president/baseball operations, he will continue as manager and general manager for the duration of the season.

“I told them I am the manager and the general manager,” McKeon said, “and that’s the way it’s going to be. That’s it. No more excuses. You’re here to do a job.”

He also stressed to the team that just because they’ve fallen on hard times--12 1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds, their biggest deficit in the NL West since Sept. 28, 1988--it does not mean he has given up on them. In fact, it’s because of his devotion to the team, he said, that he even brought up the idea of returning to the front office, where he best believes he can benefit the organization.

If someone really thought that all he cared about was his own well-being, then why would he be willing to give up a half-year of pension money and sacrifice about $25,000 in licensing money by returning to the front office?

But, he said, if he’s going to stay downstairs and take the aggravation of working 14 hour-days, he’d like some respect in turn.

He told them he wanted to see some hustle for a change. He wants some intensity on the field. If they still continue to lose, so be it, he said, but at least provide him the satisfaction of knowing the team he assembled is better than the one that is loitering in fourth place.

The Padres, perhaps feeling at least a twinge of guilt for their play, out and played one of their steadiest games of the season. But unfortunately for them, it lasted only six innings.

There was catcher Mark Parent picking off R.J. Reynolds at second base, after leading off the game with a double. There was shortstop Garry Templeton forgetting all about his aching knees in the second inning and running full bore on a line drive to left-center, making sure he had a double. There was Bip Roberts beating out a routine ground ball to first base in the sixth, sliding head-first into the bag ahead of the toss to pitcher Doug Drabek. There was first baseman Jack Clark hitting the dirt on ball four, giving Drabek the dirtiest look you can give without cursing as he walked slowly to first base. And as he ran around second on a foul ball, he went back across the infield taking a direct path over the pitching mound. And there was Howard’s running catch into the left-field stands to catch Barry Bonds’ foul ball.

But just like their past three games and five of the past six, the fun didn’t last as they blew another lead of at least two runs.

Ed Whitson, who had retired 17 of the past 18 batters, ran into big problems in the seventh. He reached a two-ball count for the first time in the game to leadoff hitter Wally Backman, then yielded a 3-2 double to left center. Andy Van Slyke further complicated matters by lining a single to left. Bobby Bonilla drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to center, and with two outs, Sid Bream tied the game with a double to center.

But the Padres came right back in the bottom of the seventh when Templeton led off with a double to right-center, was advanced to third on pinch-hitter Fred Lynn’s grounder to first and scored on pinch-hitter Shawn Abner’s sacrifice fly to left.

The Pirates returned the favor in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Orlando Merced led off with a single to right off reliever Mark Grant. That was all McKeon desired to see. He called upon Lefferts, hoping to quickly end this mess.

Instead, Lefferts immediately yielded a single to Reynolds. And after Backman’s sacrifice moved the runners into scoring position, Lefferts intentionally walked Van Slyke, loading the bases. He induced a fly ball to Bonilla to right--but it was long enough to score Merced from third--before getting out of the inning on Bonds’ ground ball.

The Pirates then drove him out of the game in the ninth when Bream opened with a single off third baseman Mike Pagliarulo’s glove. Mike LaValliere sacrificed him to second. Jose Lind was intentionally walked. Jeff King singled. Reynolds hit a run-scoring single, and Jay Bell followed with a sacrifice fly.

Once again, the Padres went home as losers.

“The way we’re going right now,” Whitson said, “we could use some help.”

Next step?

Who knows, but McKeon didn’t get his nickname, Trader Jack, for dealing in card shows.

“I haven’t been able do anything as of yet,” McKeon said, “but don’t rule out anything.”

The Padres continue to have trade discussions with the Kansas City Royals, and sources said once again this week that McKeon and Royal General Manager John Schuerholz talked about the possibilities of a trade that would bring outfielder Bo Jackson and reliever Mark Davis to the Padres in exchange for outfielder Joe Carter.

But McKeon said nothing is imminent, and the two teams likely won’t talk again until the All-Star break next week.

Stay tuned.

The adventure continues.

Padre Notes

Padre catcher Benito Santiago, who’s on the disabled list with a broken left forearm, visited Tuesday with Richard Reed, a 4 1/2-year-old leukemia patient from Oceanside, and is planning to accompany him Thursday when Reed undergoes chemotherapy at the Pediatric Ward of the Naval Hospital at Balboa Park. Reed is looking for a bone marrow donor and is seeking support in the Hispanic community. . . . Just how much do the Padres miss Santiago? They are 5-12 since Santiago sustained the injury June 14, batting .237 with a 4.18 ERA. They were 30-28 at the time of Santiago’s injury, batting .274 with a 3.78 ERA. . . . Padre second baseman Roberto Alomar was kept out of the lineup because of his two-for-25 (.080) slump and then grounded out in the ninth inning. . . . Craig Lefferts was selected as the Padre pitcher of the month in June for the second consecutive month by going 3-1 with three saves. Tony Gwynn was the Padre player of the month, batting .315 with 15 RBIs.