Hurst’s Victory Gives the Padres a Rare Moment

There were no signs of jubilation in his face Saturday night. There was no exhilaration in his voice. Really, it was as if it was nothing more than a fleeting moment of satisfaction for Bruce Hurst.

It didn’t seem to matter to Hurst that this is being billed as one of the finest outings of his Padre career, throwing a two-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals that enabled the Padres to win, 3-1, for just their second victory in the past 11 games.

It didn’t seem to matter that Hurst (5-7) did not allow any of the last 22 batters he faced to get a hit, and only once after the first inning did anyone reach second base.

And it certainly didn’t matter to Hurst that this was the fourth two-hit game of his career, just missing his career-best performance of April 10, 1989 when he threw a one-hitter against the Atlanta Braves.

“Winning a close game shouldn’t be a relief,” Hurst said, “it should be fun. It can’t be be (fun) when you lose all the time.

“I hate to lose.”

Hurst’s eyes were misty when he talked, and his voice, at times, cracked. How can you be upset after a victory like this, pitching one of the finest games of your career in front of 51,124 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium?

But for Hurst to reveal exuberance after a mere victory, laughing and carrying on as if everything’s all right now, would be hypocritical.

Everything is not OK. This is just his second victory in the past 10 starts. But most important, bigger than anything else in his baseball career, is the fact that the Padres (37-42) need a lot more games like this just to get back into the pennant race.

The Padres still are in fourth place, trailing the Cincinnati Reds by 13 1/2 games, and Hurst is not about to turn around, face reporters with a smile on his face, and proclaim that everything is great in Padre Land.

“I can’t help it,” he said, over and over, his eyes misty. “I wear my emotions on my sleeve. That’s how I’ll always be.”

Hurst, who spent 30 minutes in the trainer’s room before addressing reporters, knows that one game is not going to turn the Padres’ season around, and anyone who thinks so is only kidding themselves. But perhaps, just perhaps, this might turn Hurst’s season around.

“Hopefully, this will bring him out of it,” said Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach. “Mentally, I think a game like this can get him over the hump where he can start getting his act together.

“I think what happened was he got into one of these ruts where we weren’t scoring for him, so what he tried to do was over-achieve. That was the worst thing you can do, and it blew his delivery apart. He tried to pitch a shutout every game, and it completely screwed him up.”

But on this night, Hurst tried his best to relax, and what happened was that the only mistake he made the entire evening was throwing a high changeup to Todd Zeile in the first inning that resulted in the Cardinals’ lone run.

Yet, even with the way Hurst was pitching, it was as if the Padres and the crowd were waiting for a time bomb to go off.

This was Bruce Hurst, remember?

And the Padres are well-aware that strange things always seem to happen to Hurst in the late innings.

Why, twice he had no hitters through six innings, and lost. Once, he had a 5-0 lead in the seventh inning, and left the game in the same inning with the score tied. And although he pitched at least seven innings, allowing four or fewer runs in seven games, only twice did he win.

But a funny thing happened on this night.

Just when it appeared that everything would unravel once again for Hurst, when he became so frustrated in the seventh inning that he was stalking the mound while catcher Mark Parent and pitching Coach Pat Dobson came to calm him, serenity prevailed.

Hurst, who had issued consecutive one-out walks to Jose Oquendo and Dave Collins in the seventh, settled down and induced ground balls by Ozzie Smith and Craig Wilson, escaping the threat.

The Padres kept Craig Lefferts and Greg Harris warming up in the bullpen during the eighth and ninth innings, but never were they needed. Hurst retired the final 11 batters he faced, allowing just one ball out of the infield.

Oh, the Padres still have not scored more than three runs while Hurst has been in the game during his past eight starts, and just three times all season, but this time it didn’t matter.

The Padres tied the game in the first inning in a fashion only they can do. If ever you can score a run and be demoralized, the Padres managed the feat on this night. Heck, even the fans were booing.

Of course, when you get two singles, two walks and two stolen bases in the first inning, and come away with just one run, can you blame them?

Yes, the Padres proved such a feat was possible. Take a look for yourselves:

Bip Roberts led off with a walk. Tony Gwynn singled to left, ending his zero-for-12 slump. And Jack Clark followed with a single to left, driving in Roberts.

Oh, this looked like the makings of something big, particularly when Gwynn and Clark engineered a double-steal, putting them at second and third with still nobody out.

So what happens? Roberto Alomar strikes out. Joe Carter is intentionally walked. Shawn Abner strikes out. Garry Templeton bounced out to pitcher Joe Magrane.

And, just like that, the inning was over.

But, the Padres kept pouring it on . . . well, for them, they did.

They scored once again in the fifth on Clark’s solo homer that just cleared the left-center fence.

And, then in the seventh, they scored another run when Clark opened the attack with a one-out infield single. Roberto Alomar, who entered the game in a five-for-41 slump (.122), tripled off the left-field fence, scoring Clark, and was left stranded when Thomas Howard struck out on a suicide squeeze and Templeton struck out.

Padre Notes

Sandy Alomar, Padre third base coach, has been invited by National League Manager Roger Craig to join his two sons and participate in the All-Star festivities in Chicago. Alomar, whose two sons, Sandy Jr. of Cleveland and Roberto of the Padres made the All-Star teams, will throw batting practice. “I’m too old to get excited about this stuff,” Sandy Alomar said, “but the persons that are really thrilled are my wife and daughter. They can’t wait. Everybody back home (in Salinas, Puerto Rico) is getting excited about this.” And just which son is the most excited? “I’ve got to say it’s Sandy,” Alomar said. “For a rookie to be voted into an All-Star game is some accomplishment.” . . . Padre third baseman Bip Roberts left the game after the fourth inning with a sore right calf.