Rasmussen Loses, Wonders What Lies Ahead

Dennis Rasmussen, just like everyone else in the Padre clubhouse, is quite curious these days, asking a lot of questions but finding no answers.

It has actually been cruel in a way. The Padres not only have left Rasmussen without clues concerning next season, they can’t even tell him if he’ll still be be pitching for them next week.

Here he was Saturday night, pitching one of the finest games of any Padre starter this season--losing, 2-1, to the Montreal Expos--and Manager Greg Riddoch could only shrug his shoulders when asked if Rasmussen will be around the rest of the way.

“I really can’t tell you,” Riddoch said, “because I just don’t know.”

Said Rasmussen: “I sure don’t know what’s going on, but I’d like for someone to please let me know.”

The Padres have left everyone a little confused by employing six left-handers on their staff. Obviously, a couple will have to go. But can the Padres really count on recently acquired lefties Derek Lilliquist and Atlee Hammaker next season, or will they abandon all three and try to obtain free-agent left-hander Buddy Black of the Cleveland Indians?

“None of us really know what’s going on,” Rasmussen said. “Derek pitches a shutout and gets thrown back in the bullpen. What’s that all about? Atlee, what are we were going to do with him? Do we know what we’re doing to do?”

Rasmussen, 31, is five weeks away from becoming a free agent, and if he had his druthers, he’d sign a three-year contract and stay with the Padres.

If the Padres had their druthers and decided to keep him, they’d want to sign him to a one-year contract with a one-year option.

Then again, who really knows what anyone wants? The Padres have twice turned down requests by Bob Teaff, Rasmusseen’s agent, to discuss a contract. And the Padres have not decided among themselves whether they’re willing to set Rasmussen free.

It’s a topic that soon must be addressed, considering that the trading deadline is Aug. 31, when playoff rosters must be set. If the Padres decide they do not want to keep Rasmussen, they figure they might as well trade him this week to a contender and obtain something in return. If they wait until the end of the season and lose him to free agency, their only compensation will be a draft choice.

If you look solely at the man’s record--8-13 with nine defeats in his past 10 decisions--the choice appears easy.

But if you look at his performance Saturday, the Padres could look awfully stupid by letting him go.

“Maybe I’m screwing up their plans by pitching well,” Rasmussen said.

Saturday, Rasmussen had as strong a performance as he has had all season, and for 5 2/3 innings, he had the crowd of 18,239 at Olympic Stadium believing that they might be witnessing a no-hitter.

Not only couldn’t the Expos get a hit, but only three times were they even able to hit the ball out of the infield.

The only difficulty Rasmussen was encountering was walking people, issuing a leadoff walk to Otis Nixon in the sixth inning, his fifth of the game. It turned out to be the one that would haunt him.

Nixon went on to second base after Marquis Grissom grounded out to Rasmussen and took third on Tim Raines’ ground ball. That brought up Tim Wallach, who has this nasty habit of tearing apart the Padres with his bat, hitting .419 against them this season with four homers and 15 RBIs.

This time, he took Rasmussen’s 1-0 hanging changeup and slashed it to left field. In one pitch, Wallach erased Rasmussen’s no-hitter, shutout and lead, leaving Rasmussen to disgustedly slam his fist into his glove.

Rasmussen got out of the inning seconds later, when Wallach was thrown out at second base by left fielder Joe Carter, but it only prolonged his misery.

Two pitches later, Andres Galarraga led off the seventh with a homer to right field on a high fastball, and with the way the Padres are hitting of late, that was all the Expos needed.

The only offense the Padres produced the entire game was courtesy of Bip Roberts, who homered on the first pitch of the game, and doubled and stole third in the sixth. In fact, if not for Roberts, the Padres never would have even reached second, obtaining just four hits off rookies Chris Nabholz (2-0) and Mel Rojas.

The Padres’ anemic offense once again punished Rasmussen, scoring just 25 runs for him this season in his 13 defeats. For a guy who has allowed four or fewer runs in 25 of his starts, something’s not quite right about an 8-13 record.

“What can I do but hang with them?” Rasmussen said. “I mean, look at (Ed) Whitson. The guy leads the league in ERA (2.41), and he’s got only 10 wins. It’s a joke. It’s a shame. He should have 16 of 18 wins by now, minimum.”

Whitson, at least, has the luxury of being under contract the next two seasons. Rasmussen is looking for one.

“Obviously, I’m not in their plans here,” Rasmussen said. “The door’s been open all year long, and they haven’t signed me. Maybe they think I’m expendable. But I’m not going to beg for a contract.

“Hey, I’ll pitch for somebody. You can’t tell me that somebody can’t use me. I’m healthy. I’ve never been on the disabled list. And you give me the ball every five days, and I’ll take it.”

So, just what can a pitching coach say to his starter at a time like this, when he allows just two earned runs in his past 14 innings, and obtains two defeats?

“You just say,” said Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach, “ ‘Just think, you get to do this again in five days, you lucky guy, you.’ ”

Padre Notes

Bip Roberts’ homer was the first leadoff homer by a Padre since Sept. 17, 1989, when second baseman Roberto Alomar homered off Rick Reuschel at Candlestick Park. “That was the first time I ever did that, ever,” Roberts said. “The only trouble was that everyone wanted me to give them a scouting report once I got back to the bench, and it’s pretty tough to do that on one pitch.” It also was Roberts’ first homer since June 17, giving him seven for the season, three more than he had entering this season. . . . Roberts’ double gave him two extra-base hits in six innings. The entire Padre team has just 12 extra-base hits in the past 133 innings. . . . Greg Riddoch, on the height of the game’s two starters, 6-foot-6 Rasmussen and 6-foot-6 Nabholz: “With those two guys on the mound, we could have started off the game with a jump ball.” . . . Pat Dobson was impressed after having Atlee Hammaker work out for him Saturday for the first time, but has advised Hammaker to eliminate his split-finger fastball. “He’s had enough injuries, and that pitch isn’t going to help him,” Dobson said. “We’re going to get him working on a changeup.” . . . Padre left fielder Joe Carter has gone eight consecutive games without driving in a run, equaling his longest drought of the season. He also is in a three-for-30 slump (.100). . . . Padre outfielder Fred Lynn is mired in a one-for-18 slump, and has just two hits in his past 31 at-bats (.065) since July 5. . . . Padre first baseman Jack Clark, who has missed the past four games with a strained right hamstring, was able to take infield before the game Saturday, but still is doubtful to play before Tuesday in New York. . . . Hal McRae, the Expo hitting coach, who provided Padre third baseman Mike Pagliarulo with some batting tips before the game Saturday, is a proud papa these days watching his son, Brian, step into the Kansas City Royal lineup three weeks ago and bat .330. “I think I’m as surprised as anyone,” he said. “I was just hoping he’d do well enough where he could stay up in the big leagues.” McRae’s only distress is that the Royals keep trying to persuade Brian to wear Hal’s old uniform number, No. 11. “He doesn’t want to wear it,” McRae said, “he wants his own identity. So he’s wearing No. 56. Get it? Five and six, making 11.” . . . The Padres will play the third game of their four-game series against the Expos at 10:35 a.m. (PDT) today. Bruce Hurst (8-8) is scheduled to face Kevin Gross (8-10).