Padres Tell Alomar to Sit Down : Baseball: After 7-2 loss in Chicago, Riddoch sends ‘tired’ infielder to bench and also learns that pitcher Mike Dunne will be out indefinitely after suffering a broken leg.

The signs have been painfully evident the past four weeks. The player’s batting average was plummeting. His errors were rising. His entire game was deteriorating by the day.

Finally, in the closing innings of the Padres’ 7-2 defeat Tuesday afternoon to the Chicago Cubs, Padre Manager Greg Riddoch decided it was time.

While all but one of the players had dressed and showered, with the team bus long gone, Riddoch’s office door remained shut. Riddoch talked for 35 minutes, discussing all of the deficiencies he had seen in the player’s game, the flaws in his attitude.

Then, before opening the door, he also informed him that he would be benched for at least two days, maybe even longer.

Roberto Alomar, the Padres’ All-Star second baseman, becomes the first official member of Riddoch’s doghouse.

“I hadn’t liked what I’ve seen, not at all,” Riddoch said. “I just don’t know what’s going on. I talked to him, gave him some of my observations, and now I’m going to sit him down for a few days and see what happens.

“It just looks to me like he’s tired. . . . and tired takes in a whole lot of different definitions.

“We’ll give him some time off here, and just see how he reacts.”

And if it wasn’t a difficult enough day for Riddoch, having to chew out an All-Star player whose father just so happens to be on the coaching staff, Riddoch learned early Tuesday evening that pitcher Mike Dunne had fractured the fibula in his right leg during the loss to the Cubs and will be out for the rest of the season.

Dunne, pitching in relief in the sixth inning, suffered the injury when Marvell Wynne, a former Padre, hit a ball so hard up the middle that it smashed off Dunne’s leg and caromed all of the way to Jack Clark at first base.

Dunne was immediately helped off the field and taken for X-rays, which revealed the shattered fibula. The Padres officially are saying that he could be out of the cast in six to eight weeks, but realistically, they know he’s finished for the season.

“I saw the X-ray myself,” Dunne said, “and that thing is shattered. Really, I knew it was broken as soon as it happened. I told everyone that it was broken. The thing was cracking and popping every step from the first step I took.”

The Padres have yet to announce a roster move, but they are expected to purchase the contract of reliever John Davis from their triple-A club in Las Vegas.

“Nobody ever said this job would be easy, did they?” asked Riddoch, shaking his head.

Certainly, Riddoch, 45, has had more pleasant ways to celebrate his birthday than by losing for the 15th time in 18 games, 17th in the past 21.

It’s the first time the Padres (38-48) have been 10 games below .500 since July 30, 1988, and instead of even worrying about the National League West anymore, they have decided to concentrate on 1991.

“If you want to be realistic,” Riddoch said, “looking to see how many games back we are (17 behind Cincinnati) and what kind of streak we’d have to put together, we’re going to have to find out about our players for the future of the San Diego organization. We want to know how they’ll all fit in the picture.”

So Riddoch started Shawn Abner in center field, Alomar at shortstop, Bip Roberts at second base, Eddie Williams at third and Tom Lampkin behind the plate. It was important, Riddoch said, to see if these players fit into their 1991 plans, and in particular to determine whether Alomar can make the adjustment to being an everyday starting shortstop.

The problem is that Alomar not only appeared uninterested playing shortstop, he looked as if he didn’t care about playing at all. It would be one thing if this was an unusual incident, but it’s becoming much too common these past few weeks.

Hitting: Alomar was hitless in four at-bats Tuesday, including striking out with the bases loaded. He’s batting .175 (17 for 40) with two RBIs since being told July 5 that he would make the All-Star team. Since June 10, he’s batting just .228 with 11 RBIs. His .300 batting average this season is the lowest since May 5.

Fielding: Alomar committed his 14th error of the season and has made a league-high 13 errors at second base. He made five errors the first two months of the season but has made nine since June 1.

Attitude: Riddoch wasn’t the first person to question his work habits Tuesday. Many veterans have privately voiced their annoyance with Alomar the entire season. Too often, they say, Alomar is contented solely by his personal statistics. Too infrequently, they say, is he bothering to put in extra time to improve his game.

And now that the Padres want to see Alomar make the adjustment from second to shortstop, he doesn’t want to play the position and has said that he would prefer they trade for a young shortstop if they want to ease out starter Garry Templeton.

Hmmm. Little wonder Alomar made one error Tuesday when he dropped a double-play flip from Roberts, missed Andre Dawson’s ground ball that went past him for a run-scoring single, made a low throw to first baseman Jack Clark, costing Clark an error, and misjudged a pop-up by Shawon Dunston when he drifted out into shallow center.

“I talk to him every day and tell him things,” Templeton said, “but if he doesn’t want to do it, it’s not going to happen for him. Most shortstops are groomed in the minor leagues and then brought up. It’s not easy making that adjustment, but it’s a whole lot harder if you don’t want to make it. If you’re not happy there, you’ll always make mistakes.

“You can talk all you want, but if your head isn’t in the game, you’re not going to be successful. And sometimes, I just don’t know where his head is.”

Alomar, 22, took the news of his benching quite calmly. Maybe, he said, he does need a rest. Maybe he does need to refocus his attention toward the game. Maybe he has been treating this game too lightly, relying on his raw talent.

“I’m not going to lie. Two days off might feel good to me,” Alomar said. “I’m not mentally prepared like I should be. If we start winning when I’m on the bench, maybe they should leave me there.

“I’m glad we talked, really. Greg’s a great guy, and he talked to me like a friend, almost like father-son. I know he’s trying to help me, and maybe this will be the best for me.”

Time will tell, just as you can say about a whole lot of other guys on this team.

Padre Notes

Although Padre officials are not saying anything publicly, they now believe that catcher Benito Santiago will be out of action until possibly as late as Sept. 1. Santiago, who sustained a broken left arm June 14, originally was expected to return Aug. 1, but that now has been ruled completely out. Santiago, who still is wearing a cast on his arm, said the earliest he could possibly return is mid-August. . . . If nothing else this season, the Padre pitching staff at least has learned patience. Once again Tuesday, they were victimized by shoddy defense, with just two of the seven runs scored being earned. “It’s been tough, believe me,” said Andy Benes (6-7), the losing pitcher. “It’s been aggravating and frustrating at times, but the worst thing you can do is press, and that’s what I’ve been doing. You can’t bury yourself with all of the negative things that have happened.” . . . Tom Lampkin, starting at catcher in place of Mark Parent, obtained his first major league hit in the fifth inning off winner Shawn Boskie (4-5). “It was a great feeling,” said Lampkin, who went two for four. “I knew I’d get it sooner or later as long as I stayed up, but it was something I’ll always treasure. I just wish I could have gotten it under more pleasant circumstances, and we had won.” . . . Eddie Williams, who made his first start Tuesday against a right-handed pitcher, went one for four with his second homer of the season. He now has two homers in 14 at-bats, compared to fellow third baseman Mike Pagliarulo’s three homers in 199 at-bats. . . . Cub Manager Don Zimmer, giving advice to Riddoch: “Be yourself. As long as you’re manager, however long that is, just do what you think is best. You don’t want to listen to everybody else and be sorry later.” . . . The Padres will conclude their season series against the Cubs at 11:20 a.m. (PDT) today. Dennis Rasmussen (7-6) and Greg Maddux (4-9) are the scheduled pitchers. The Padres will conclude their trip with a four-game series beginning Thursday in St. Louis.