Padres Obligingly Lose in Schoendienst’s Return

The St. Louis Cardinals welcomed back an old hand as their new manager Friday night and the Padres provided the perfect gift.

Playing their first game in nearly 10 years under Red Schoendienst, the Cardinals defeated the Padres, 5-3, in front of 16,992 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The victory allowed Schoendienst to join Connie Mack as the only managers to record victories in four different decades.

“That just means I’m old,” said Schoendienst, who began his managerial career with the Cardinals in 1965.

Schoendienst, 67, replaced Whitey Herzog on an interim basis earlier in the day after Herzog resigned because he said he could no longer motivate the last-place Cardinals.

If that is the Cardinals’ problem, what might Herzog say about the vanishing Padres?

“Obviously we haven’t been doing much right all year,” said starter Dennis Rasmussen, who was charged with his fifth loss in 12 decisions. “We get good hitting, we don’t get good pitching. We get good pitching, and we don’t hit. It’s been happening all year long.”

The loss was the Padres’ ninth in 10 games and seventh of eight in their final 10-game homestand before the All-Star break. That dropped their record to 36-42, the first time they have been six games under .500 since they were 40-46 one year ago.

The fourth-place Padres are 13 1/2 games behind the National League West-leading Cincinnati Reds, the farthest they have been out of first place since they trailed the Dodgers by 14 on Sept. 26, 1988.

The pregame notes hopefully pointed out that the Padres have 16 games remaining with Reds starting July 23. But at this rate, even a sweep of those games won’t do the Padres much good. The team’s problems seem to grow more severe each game.

First injuries to Jack Clark and Benito Santiago, then a hitting slump by power hitters Joe Carter and Clark, followed by bullpen failures and now a team-wide hitting slide.

The Padres managed just four hits off four Cardinal pitchers. The first four hitters in the Padre order went a combined zero for 13 with two walks. Even normally reliable Tony Gwynn, the four-time batting champion, is not immune. He has gone hitless in his past 12 at bats, which dropped his average to .309, its lowest since May 10.

Making the effort that much more galling was that Cardinal starter John Tudor, who allowed two runs and three hits in six innings, is the same pitcher the Padres chased two months ago in St. Louis when he gave up five runs in 1 1/3 innings. What’s more, Tudor (7-3) is making a comeback after missing most of last season recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.

“Not taking away anything from Mr. Tudor,” Padre Manager Jack McKeon said, “but he is not the same Mr. Tudor he was a couple of years ago.”

But he was enough to slow the Padres until he was lifted for a pinch-hitter with the Cardinals leading, 3-2. The Padres’ two runs came on home runs by catcher Mark Parent in the third inning and shortstop Garry Templeton in the fifth.

The victory was Tudor’s first over the Padres since Sept. 6, 1987. That was during Tudor’s first stay with the Cardinals, before he was traded to the Dodgers for Pedro Guerrero. He returned to St. Louis this season as a free agent.

Lee Smith, the winning pitcher Thursday, came out to get the final four outs and earn his 11th save.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead off Rasmussen in the first inning. With one out, Ozzie Smith walked, Willie McGee hit a grounder between third and short that Templeton could not get to in time, allowing the ball to skip through for a single.

Pedro Guerrero then scored Smith on a line single past a diving Mike Pagliarulo at third.

Parent broke a zero for 16 streak in the third when he ripped a Tudor pitch 11 rows into the left-field seats to tie the game at 1-1.

Templeton put the Padres ahead, 2-1, two innings later with a leadoff home run off Tudor that carried above 370-foot mark in left-center. The homer was Templeton’s seventh, his most since hitting nine when he was with the Cardinals in 1979.

The Padres had a chance to add to the lead as Pagliarulo followed with a walk and Parent singled to put runners at first and second. But a failed sacrifice bunt by Rasmussen rubbed out Pagliarulo at third, a ground ball by Bip Roberts forced Rasmussen at second, and Gwynn flied to left.

The Cardinals went ahead 3-2 in the sixth with the help of some sloppy play in the field, only the work of second baseman Roberto Alomar kept the situation from getting worse.

After McGee singled with one out, Guerrero hit a single up the middle that Carter came in to field. But he mishandled the ball, kicked it, then had trouble finding it, allowing McGee to right himself after a slide into third and score while Guerrero took second.

Todd Zeile then hit a hard ground ball behind second for a single that Alomar dove for and prevented from going into the outfield. But the Padres chances for a possible inning-ending double play were lost when Terry Pendleton’s hard grounder bounced off Clark’s chest at first. Luckily for the Padres, Alomar was there to recover the ball and toss it to Clark to beat Pendleton at first, but Guerrero was able to score the go-ahead run.

“We make a mistake and it opens up the door,” McKeon said. “The way we’re going, we can’t afford to give any extra bases, any extra outs.”

The Cardinals chased Rasmussen an inning later when Craig Wilson, batting for Tudor, singled with one out. Dave Collins then singled and Ozzie Smith doubled to left center, scoring Wilson to make it 4-2 and prompting the Padres to bring in Mark Grant from the bullpen.

After Grant intentionally walked McGee, Guerrero hit a sacrifice liner to center that scored Collins for a 5-2 lead.

The Padres got a run back in the seventh after Tudor’s replacement, Ken Dayley walked Pagliarulo and Parent to start the inning and was replaced by Tom Niedenfuer.

Fred Lynn, batting for Grant, advanced Pagliarulo to third on a fly to center before Roberts’ foul out into the Cardinal bullpen in right scored him to bring the Padres to within, 5-3.

But Lee Smith was able to calm the Padres in the end, getting pinch-hitter Phil Stephenson to ground into a game-ending double play.

Padre Notes

After hitting sixth for the past two games, his lowest position in the batting order this season, second baseman Roberto Alomar was moved to fourth for the first time. Alomar, who has also batted first, second and third, was sandwiched between Jack Clark and Joe Carter, the Padres two slumping power hitters. . . . Padre Manager Jack McKeon said he has not decided if Eric Show will rejoin the starting rotation after the All-Star break. Show, who has been relegated to the bullpen since May 13, picked up his first victory after six losses with five innings of strong relief Wednesday. Show came in place of Mike Dunne, who has taken over the fifth spot in the rotation. . . . Starting time for the July 27 home game against Houston has been changed to 7:35 p.m. to allow time for festivities honoring former Padre owner Joan Kroc. . . . For the first time since he was called up Tuesday from triple-A Las Vegas, Thomas Howard did not start in left field. Bip Roberts was back in left and Mike Pagliarulo started at third. . . . Minor league news from Thursday: Third baseman Eddie Williams had two hits, including his 15th home run, but Las Vegas lost at Edmonton. . . . Cardinal outfielder Vince Coleman elected not to appeal his seven-game suspension for a run-in with umpire Ed Montague Wednesday in San Francisco. Coleman will be eligible to return July 16 against the Dodgers.

PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard

FIRST INNING

Cardinals--With one out, Smith walked. McGee singled to left, Smith stopping at second. Guerrero singled to left, Smith scoring, McGee stopping at second. Zeile flied to center. Pendleton struck out. One run, two hits, two left. Cardinals 1, Padres 0.

THIRD INNING

Padres--With one out, Parent homered to left, his second. Rasmussen struck out. Roberts flied to right. One run, one hit. Cardinals 1, Padres 1.

FIFTH INNING

Padres--Templeton homered to left center, his seventh. Pagliarulo walked. Parent singled to left, Pagliarulo stopping at second. Rasmussen forced Pagliarulo. Roberts forced Rasmussen. One run, two hits, two left. Padres 2, Cardinals 1.

SIXTH INNING

Cardinals--With one out, McGee singled to center. Guerrero singled to center, McGee scoring on centerfielder Carter’s fielding error, Guerrero taking second. Zeile beat out a grounder to second. Pendleton grounded to first, Guerrero scoring. Oquendo flied to center. Two runs, one earned, three hits, one left. Cardinals 3, Padres 2.

SEVENTH INNING

Cardinals--With one out, Wilson, hitting Tudor, beat out a grounder to second. Collins singled to right, Wilson taking third. Smith doubled to left, Wilson scoring, Collins stopping at third. Grant replaced Rasmussen on the mound. McGee was walked intentionally. Guerrero flied to center, Collins scoring. Zeile forced McGee. Two runs, three hits, two left. Cardinals 5, Padres 2.

Padres--With Dayley pitching, Pagliarulo and Parent walked. Abner pinch hit for Grant. Niedenfuer replaced Dayley. Lynn, hitting for Abner, flied to center, Pagliarulo taking third. Roberts fouled to right, Pagliarulo scoring, Parent taking second. Gwynn grounded to short. One run, no hits, one left. Cardinals 5, Padres 3.