Show Getting Started : Padres: He earns first victory as a starting pitcher since June 19, 1989, and his team wins its fourth in a row, beating Houston, 8-2.

His place in the Padre record book secure, Eric Show went out Thursday night and put in a few good pitches toward keeping his place in the starting rotation.

As far as seasons go, this one has been rough on Show. He has listened to he boos and endured the nasty comments. He has started and lost. He was banished to the bullpen, where he sat staring at his future. Then, after the All-Star break, he started some more. And this was the winningest pitcher in Padre history, with 95 victories.

Shuffled here, juggled there, it didn’t matter. If he was starting, Show couldn’t find a victory if somebody stuffed it into his locker.

That was until Thursday, when he walked out to the mound and into a near-perfect script, an 8-2 victory over Houston in front of 13,538.

The Padres have had a dead-solid perfect script lately. They have won four in a row and outscored their opponents, 30-7, in those games.

Show lasted 7 1/3 innings, his longest outing since June 19, 1989, when he pitched his last complete game, against Los Angeles. It was also the last time he started and won.

But there would be back surgery less than two months later, on Aug. 2, to remove a disc. His season was finished.

He rehabilitated and looked toward 1990. It arrived. Show went out and lost his first five starts. He went to the bullpen and lost some more. The Padres were losing patience with their winningest pitcher.

He finally got his first victory this season on July 4 against Pittsburgh but came out of the bullpen to get it.

He was reinserted into the starting rotation after the All-Star break, but lost July 16 in Chicago and then Saturday in St. Louis. Even then, there were finally some reasons to smile. He wasn’t perfect, but opponents weren’t dominating him as before.

Then came Thursday. In his 7 1/3 innings, Show (2-8) allowed seven hits and two runs. He walked four and struck out three. He lost a shutout in the eighth. At the end of the seventh, he had scattered four Astro hits.

“It’s like we talked about in Chicago,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “It was a big obstacle to start there. He had some things to build on. Maybe he’s climbing out of this on his own accord.”

Said Show: “I’ve just been trying to get myself in a groove and keep the team in the game. I think if anybody’s been watching me, I think they can see I still have the same ability.”

Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach, thinks Show’s improved performances have come from a better mental outlook.

“He’s concentrating a lot better, and his intensity is a lot better,” Dobson said. “Subsequently, he’s pitching better. Concentration makes better pitches.”

It also helps to get some runs, and he got plenty from the Padres. Jack Clark was three for three and hit a three-run homer in the fifth. Joe Carter and Mike Pagliarulo added two runs batted in apiece.

And then there was Tony Gwynn. He was two for three with an RBI before leaving in the seventh with a migraine headache and blurred vision.

You would think that the pitchers he has been facing lately would be the ones with migraines. Gwynn now has seven hits in his past nine at-bats. He is batting .380 in his past 16 games and .322 for the season.

“Jack Clark is a quiet leader, and Tony Gwynn is a quiet leader,” Riddoch said. “They don’t step up and say a lot, but they lead by example. And the peripheral characters have been chipping in. Everybody’s contributing.”

As recently as a month ago, who would have thought Show would be doing so? The trade rumors were flying around as much as balls hit by opposing batters.

“I haven’t read about any of the trade rumors,” Show said. “I’ve heard about them, though.

“I feel that once I got over the anger and bitterness--the way I was used in the bullpen--I just never quit on myself.

“I think if they got rid of me, I’ll understand it with all that’s happened, but I think it would be a mistake.”

The Padres got three hits and a walk against Houston starter Mark Portugal in the fourth but managed just one run. They had the bases loaded, and none out. A perfect situation lately . . . for Padre opponents.

Roberto Alomar and Gwynn each singled, and then Clark walked. Carter flied to left, deep enough for Alomar to score, but that was it. Pagliarulo singled, but Mark Parent followed with a grounder to first that Ken Oberkfell returned home in time to force Gwynn. Garry Templeton struck out to end the inning.

But the Padres got four runs an inning later and quickly forgot about the lost opportunity, Bip Roberts scored from second on Gwynn’s single to left, and Clark’s three-run homer to left-center field, his 15th, broke things open.

The Padres added three more in the seventh on singles by Thomas Howard, Clark and Pagliarulo and a Carter double. Two runners scored on Carter’s double.

The Astros scored two in the eighth, both against Show. Casey Candaele, batting for pitcher Dan Schatzeder, and Eric Yelding singled, and both scored when Bill Doran followed with a double.

But while it ruined Show’s shutout, it wasn’t enough to ruin his evening.

Nor, for that matter, would it put a damper on anyone’s evening. Riddoch turned down the sound on his office television as reporters entered, then nodded his head toward the clubhouse.

“I can’t kill that sound,” he said, referring to the music pounding from a rock and roll radio station. “That’s the sound of WIN.”

Padre Notes

Roberto Alomar extended his hitting streak to eight games, and Bip Roberts extended his to seven games. . . . The Philadelphia Phillies, desperate for a clean-up hitter, have narrowed their choices down to Padre first baseman Jack Clark and outfielder/designated hitter Rob Deer of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Padres have placed Clark on the trading block in recent weeks. . . . Catcher Benito Santiago worked out Thursday for the second day since having the cast removed from his broken left arm Tuesday night and said it felt better than it did Wednesday. It was still weak, he said, and is sore when he catches, particularly backhanded. Santiago played long toss, ran some sprints and had coach Rob Picciolo pitch to him. Santiago isn’t yet sure when he will be able to return. Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said he figures it will be at least two or three weeks. Santiago will accompany the Padres on their next trip, Aug. 2-12 in Cincinnati, Atlanta and Houston. But he didn’t stay around to watch Thursday night’s game. “I just want to have more time with my kids,” he said. “We don’t have too many off days, you know?” Santiago has a daughter, Benny Beth (4) and a son, Benito Jr. (1).

Third baseman Eddie Williams walked past Santiago before Thursday’s game and gave him a friendly push on the arm. Williams’ eyes widened in horror when he remembered Santiago injury, but it didn’t matter--he got Santiago’s right arm. “Can’t hurt the franchise,” Williams told Santiago. . . . Houston right fielder Javier Ortiz left the game on a stretcher in the top of the third after a collision at home with Padre catcher Mark Parent. Ortiz was attempting to score from second on Eric Yelding’s two-out single, but Carter’s throw beat him by three or four steps. Ortiz injured his left knee and shin and was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital for X-rays. Glenn Wilson replaced him in right field. . . . Pre-game festivities for tonight’s Joan Kroc salute begin at 7 p.m., with the Padres-Astros to follow at 7:35. There will be fireworks afterward.