Clark Produces Rare Padre Comeback

Manager Greg Riddoch settled back in his chair and savored the moment.

As many games as the revived Padres had won lately, this was special. A two-run home run by Jack Clark off Dave Smith in the eighth inning gave them a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros Sunday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, and Riddoch could hardly believe it.

“It’s about time we won one like this,” Riddoch said. “I swear I can’t remember the last time we turned around and stole one from somebody.”

Riddoch wasn’t stretching the point. The Padres hadn’t done anything like this since June 6, when they came up with three runs in the ninth for a 3-2 victory over the same pathetic Astros.

“If you’re going to build character, you have to win games like this,” Riddoch said. “And how fitting it was that the Ripper (Clark) did it off their ace reliever.”

A paid crowd of 19,506 saw the Padres make it six out of seven since ending the eight-game losing streak that pushed them perilously close to last in the National League West. Clark’s homer only brought them within 15 games of leader Cincinnati, but the fans reacted as though they had won the World Series.

And why not? The return of the long-absent, late-inning rally was ample cause for celebration.

Smith, who attended Poway High School and now lives in Olivenhain, was brought in by Astro Manager Art Howe specifically to face Clark. Tony Gwynn had just forced Roberto Alomar for the second out against Juan Agosto, who had taken over at the start of the inning from starter Jim Deshaies.

Agosto being a left-hander, Howe didn’t want him to face right-handed Clark. And Smith is one of the best closers in the business.

Clark ran the count to 3-2 before teeing off. Along the way, Gwynn stole second, and Clark got into an argument with umpire Eric Gregg over a called strike.

Gregg’s call made it 2-2 instead of 3-1, and Clark gave him a bad time.

“I was afraid Jack might get thrown out,” Riddoch said. “The pitch looked low and away, but I’m glad Jack kept his cool, and Eric kept his patience.”

After throwing ball three, Smith came back with the same kind of pitch that Gregg had called strike two. It wasn’t quite as low and not quite as far away, so Clark hit it into the left-field seats.

Clark thought the ball he hit was a changeup and called it “a pretty good pitch.”

Smith disagreed on both counts, saying, “It was a forkball. He (Gregg) gave me that pitch before, so I threw it again, because I knew Jack would have to swing at it. The first one was four inches off the ground, and he’s not going to hit that pitch out.

“The trouble was, I pushed it, and it stayed up. It was right there, a hanger. It was a lousy pitch.”

Howe, shaken by yet-another blow in a season of total disaster, said of Smith, “He’s the man I wanted out there in that situation. He has great numbers against Clark.”

Clark was quick to agree, saying, “I haven’t had many hits off Smith over the years. I don’t know if I ever hit a home run off him.”

The homer was Clark’s 17th and third in four games. This was his 68th game, and he didn’t hit No. 17 last year until his 109th game.

“I’ve had some good swings lately,” said Clark, who now has driven in 16 runs in his past 19 games. “I just went through that real bad period, and those oh-for-30 slumps will set you back pretty quick.”

Clark has been mentioned in many trade rumors; the deadline for deals without waivers is Tuesday.

“I hear all that stuff and read it in the papers, but I don’t think I’m going anywhere. It doesn’t bother me one way or another. My first priority is to stay here.”

As for the immediate future of the team, Clark said: “We have to put together a good second half, so we can bank on certain things for next year. I like our team, and I like our lineup. I wish we were in the position the Giants are in right now (5 1/2 games behind the Reds), but our next game is with Atlanta, and we have to make every game count for the future.

“If we keep going, we can get back to .500, and that’s our goal right now.”

The Padres will have to climb a steep hill if they are to reach .500. They are 11 games under that figure now--a deplorable statistic for a team that was supposed to win the West.

Bruce Hurst went seven innings for the Padres--as did Deshaies for the Astros--despite having suffered from the flu for two days. Hurst left with the score 2-2, having given up home runs to Franklin Stubbs and Bill Doran.

“I was weak, and my legs felt heavy,” Hurst said. “But I had good control (seven strikeouts and no walks), and I just wanted to stay out there as long as I could.”

Greg Harris pitched the eighth and surrendered the lead run on pinch-hitter Terry Puhl’s squeeze bunt, but Clark’s heroics gave him his fifth victory.

Actually, there was still work to be done.

Harris warmed up in the ninth, but only to give Craig Lefferts extra time to get ready. Then Lefferts came in, and after he had struck out Ken Caminiti and Glenn Wilson, singles by Craig Biggio and Mark Davidson put runners on first and third.

It was here that second baseman Alomar saved the game with one of the more remarkable plays of the year. Stubbs hit what looked like a sure game-tying single between first and second, only to see Alomar throw him out from short right-field.

Alomar was a good 20 feet on the outfield grass when he made the play, a tribute to Padre homework.

“We’ve got a groove on Stubbs,” Riddoch said. “We counted 18 times that he hit the ball in that same direction, including twice earlier today.

“We needed an out, so we figured our best chance was to put Robbie in that groove and play him deeper than normally. It was a tough play to his left, but he made it look easy.”

Padre Notes

Eric Show, scheduled to pitch for the Padres Tuesday night against Atlanta, missed Sunday’s game because of illness. Show informed Manager Greg Riddoch after the pregame workout that he was under the weather and was excused for the rest of the day. If he is unable to take his turn against the Braves, Calvin Schiraldi probably will fill in.

Catcher Benito Santiago took another step toward returning to the Padre lineup when he took live batting practice for the first time since suffering a broken left arm June 14. Santiago had hit in the indoor batting cage the three days before that.