Padres Up to Their Second-Half Tricks

Yeah, the Padres know what you’re thinking

They hear the snide remarks by their peers. They sense the exasperation of their fans. They read what the critics are saying.

Hmm, the Padres are playing great baseball. It must be that time of year again, right? Win lots of games . . . come close to winning the division . . . fall short . . . and be picked by everyone in the world to win the National League West the following spring.

Hello, deja vu.

It’s the Padres again.

The Padres continued to terrorize the division Friday night by knocking off the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2, and leaving 34,773 at Riverfront Stadium wondering where this team has been for the past four months.

The team that brought you a dramatic finish in 1989--winning 27 of their last 36 games--and the team that went 67-48 in the final five months of 1988 to achieve respectability, is at it again.

The Padres, who were 21 games out of first place just 10 days ago after losing 29 of 37 games, suddenly are looking look like the team of their spring expectations.

They have won nine of their past 12 games, talking all of a sudden as if they want to be part of this pennant race, too.

It’s probably about a month too late for the Padres. They still are in fourth place, 14 games behind the Reds, and no team in history has recovered from such a deficit this late in a season and won a division or pennant.

But who says you can’t dream?

“The game of baseball’s so screwy,” Padre first baseman Jack Clark said, “who’s to say we can’t come back. No one expected this, did they?”

Indeed, the Padres have materialized as the Reds’ greatest nightmare, defeating them for the fifth time in the past six games. The Reds’ 11-game lead over the rest of the division has shrunk to just 4 1/2 games, their smallest margin since May 3.

Clark, who has more homers and RBIs the past month than any player in the National League, sent the Reds to their fifth consecutive one-run defeat with his heroics in the ninth.

The game was tied, 2-2, with one out in the ninth when Tony Gwynn hit a one-out single to center off reliever Rob Dibble. Clark followed by ripping a ball down the third-base line past Chris Sabo into the left-field corner.

Billy Hatcher ran over to cut the ball off, but as he abruptly stopped, he tumbled into the outfield, allowing Gwynn to run home while Clark reached second.

It was the only run the Padres would need. Once Greg Harris (6-5) hit leadoff hitter Billy Hatcher in the ninth, Padre Manager Greg Riddoch summoned Craig Lefferts. A botched bunt and a double play later, the game was over.

Reporters flooded into the Reds clubhouse asking ever so bluntly if they’re choking.

Reds Manager Lou Piniella refused to answer, saying only, “I’m tired of making excuses for these guys. Someone should tell them how (bad) they are.”

And then they poured into the visitors’ clubhouse wondering if the Padres are capable of winning only when there’s no pressure.

Riddoch, understandably more amiable, said: “I sit in my room hours at a time to reflect on that. I have my own feelings about it, but it’s not a time to share it. Maybe when the season’s over.”

The Padres, however, who seemingly would be offended at such an accusation, actually said there might be something to this custom.

Can they win under pressure, when the pennant race still is wide-open?

“We didn’t earlier in the year,” Padre starter Bruce Hurst said, “so I guess in 1990 the answer is no. It’s not to say it won’t be different in 1991, though.”

Said Gwynn: “It could be true. I don’t know. It sure seems that way, though, doesn’t it?”

Certainly, if nothing else makes sense this year, the Padres have shown a strong tendency to follow the lead of Clark. He’s been the main man during this run, batting .358 the past 24 games with nine homers and 19 RBIs.

The Padres will not publicly reveal their personnel plans for 1991, but it’s become quite evident that Clark is here to stay. And the way Clark was talking Friday night, he’d like most of his teammates to return with him.

Oh sure, there needs to be some changes made. The Padres want to find a center fielder, a shortstop, a third baseman, a reliever or two and a starter.

But wholesale changes?

Clark vows it would be a huge mistake.

“I don’t think this team is the type of team you rip apart because we don’t win first place,” Clark said. “If you do, there’ll be a setback. This team needs to stay basically intact. It’s obvious a few changes need to be made here and there, but I’d like to see this team given a fresh start.

“I know what I’m capable of doing, and I’m capable of putting up some good numbers. But I think what you have now is more of a balance. The (Joe) Carter-Clark thing is happening more now than it was before. The double-threat that was supposed to be there is finally starting to materialize.”

And, yes, so are those dreams . . .

“I’m not saying I have some thoughts about some miracle comeback,” Riddoch said, “but the way we’re playing right now is like the way I knew we could play.

“But we sure went through an ugly mess there, didn’t we?”

Padre Notes

Bruce Hurst, who has turned around his season over the past three starts, says the difference can be attributed to Nolan Ryan. He was watching Ryan compete for his 300th victory in Texas when he noticed his high leg kick. He then examined a recent photo of himself that ran in the newspaper, and saw that his leg kick was not nearly as high. “It all came back to me,” Hurst said, “and I started to put it in use.” The result? Hurst allowed just six hits and two runs (one earned) in eight innings Friday. He has allowed just three earned runs in his past 24 innings. “I can thank Nolan for this,” Hurst said. . . . The only real mistake Hurst made the entire night was a 0-2 changeup that he threw to Chris Sabo in the eighth. Sabo homered. Besides costing him a run, it also will cost him a fine in the Padres’ kangaroo court. “I know I should waste a pitch there,” Hurst said, “but I’m not going to do it just to save myself 10 bucks.”

It was the fourth consecutive game that Sabo has homered. He’s the first Reds player to accomplish the feat since Nick Esasky in July, 1987. Catcher Johnny Bench owns the club record with seven homers in five days on May 30-June 3, 1972. . . . Sabo has 21 homers for the season, the most by a Reds third baseman since Tony Perez hit 25 in 1971.

Padre pitcher Eric Show, who’s still bothered by tendinitis in his right wrist, was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday against the Reds. Instead, Calvin Schiraldi will make his second start of the season. Show was supposed to pitch on the side Friday before the game, but the pain in his wrist prevented him from pitching. “I don’t know what the problem is. It’s getting a little better, but I think I need just a couple of extra day’s rest. I’ll be all right.” Show is expected to start again Tuesday in the doubleheader against Atlanta.

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch had a private meeting with third baseman Eddie Williams about his mental lapses in Thursday’s game, and is contemplating benching him. “We’ll just see what happens,” Riddoch said. “I don’t know what I’ll do right now.” . . . Reds first baseman Todd Benzinger on the standing ovation the team received Thursday night upon returning from its 3-8 trip: “I was confused, I thought Roseanne Barr had walked out to sing the national anthem.” . . . Reds infielder Ron Oester, describing the reaction by his family when they saw he shaved his head during last week’s trip to California: “My son loved it; he couldn’t stop touching it. My one daughter didn’t want to talk about it. My other daughter said, ‘He’s still our daddy.’ My wife didn’t want to talk about it.”

Padre pitcher Ed Whitson cleaned up on the team’s bass fishing expedition Friday morning, snaring 20 of the group’s 40 bass. Also joining Whitson in the fun were Riddoch, pitchers Derek Lilliquist and Craig Lefferts and outfielder Tony Gwynn. . . . New York Yankee scout Fred Goodman is in Cincinnati to scout the Padres. The Padres earlier this season expressed interest in relievers Eric Plunk and Greg Cadaret. . . . Just when it appears the Reds are primed for a big-league collapse in the N.L. West, starting pitcher Danny Jackson is expected to soon rejoin the rotation. Jackson, who went on the disabled list July 17 and was expected to be out the remainder of the season with a rotator cuff injury, instead was out throwing at full strength before Thursday’s game. As it turns out, Jackson said, it wasn’t a rotator cuff injury after all. It was just torn scar tissue. “I felt no pain whatsoever, absolutely zero,” he said. “To me, this is the best my arm has felt. Everybody thought it was rotator cuff, but it was, I wouldn’t be able to pitch like I did today. The way I feel right now, there’s no reason I can’t get back on the mound. Jackson is expected to begin a rehabilitation assignment in triple-A Nashville on Sunday, and after making two starts, is scheduled to return to Cincinnati.

Riddoch on perhaps saving the career of Dodger pitcher Jay Howell: “When I was managing in Eugene, I got a call one night from the wildlife conservation officer. He told me he had Scott Brown and Jay Howell in custody. It turns out they were fishing in an area where salmon spawning. There was a sign, no fishing. They caught three fish, and one died, so he said it would cost $100. I said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get your money, and I’ll discipline them. But please, don’t arrest them.’ In those days, if you get arrested, you get cut, too. Even today, Jay Howell will tell me, ‘You know, Ridd, I’ll never forget what you did for me. You got me over the hump.’ ”