Padres Play Spoiler Role, Top Dodgers

Padre shortstop Garry Templeton never has cared much for the Dodgers. No sir, growing up five miles from Anaheim Stadium, his team was the Angels. The Dodgers were the wimpy guys across town.

“I grew up an Angel fan my whole life,” Templeton said, “and I always thought one day I’d play for the Angels. My dream was to be playing for the Angels, and then to beat the Dodgers in the World Series.

“Man, I always thought that would be great.”

But at this point of his career, Templeton, 34, has to settle for life’s little pleasures, and he sure had a whale of a time Monday throwing a wrench in the Dodgers’ playoff hopes, leading the Padres to a 5-2 victory.

“The way I figure it,” Templeton said, “We ain’t going nowhere, so we might as well spoil someone else’s party.”

And no one crashes a party better than Templeton, who went four for four, robbed the Dodgers of two base hits and put a crowd of 11,729 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium into a festive mood.

The Padres’ victory dropped the Dodgers (74-67) to six games behind the division-leading Cincinnati Reds--seven games in the loss column--with just 21 games to play.

“It was nice, wasn’t it,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “Maybe we’re not in the hunt, but it’s fun knocking them out of the hunt, too.”

You get the feeling the Padres were finally having fun again?

“What do you mean,” Padre center fielder Joe Carter said, “watching them go off the field with their heads down, pounding their fists in their gloves, thinking how they let one get away?

“Yeah. That was fun.”

The Dodgers led 2-0 after Juan Samuel hit home runs in the third and fourth innings, but three errors, three pitchers and five Padre runs later, the Dodgers were left wondering if this could be the game that will leave them with sleepless nights all winter.

Gwynn, smiling mischievously at the thought, said: “They want to get back in contention. Hey, I’m sorry.”

The Dodgers got only three hits after Samuel’s second homer, and not a single Dodger touched third base the rest of the game off starter Dennis Rasmussen (10-13) and reliever Greg Harris, who pitched two perfect innings for his seventh save.

The Dodgers began unraveling in the fifth inning, starting with third baseman Mike Sharperson’s throwing error on Carter’s ground ball that allowed the Padres to keep the inning alive. They scored a run on Benito Santiago’s infield single.

The Padres went ahead the seventh, this time on catcher Rick Dempsey’s throwing error. Dempsey was trying to throw out Carter stealing second, but his throw was wide of the bag and scooted into center field, allowing Carter to third. He scored on Fred Lynn’s single, tying the game, and the Padres took the lead moments later on Phil Stephenson’s ground ball that scored Sanitago.

In the eighth, Faries reached on Dodger reliever Darren Holmes’ wild pitch. Gwynn followed with a double to right, and Faries scored when right fielder Hubie Brooks’ throw went awry. Gwynn scored the final run on Santiago’s sacrifice fly.

And just a stroll around the Padre clubhouse let everyone know that yes, even though the Padres don’t have a prayer of even reaching third place this season, they were taking a lot of joy in making sure the Dodgers don’t go anywhere, either.

“Just playing them, with the rivalry we have, gets everybody up,” Gwynn said. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but for myself, I really don’t care for them. I’m sure our fans don’t, either.”

Does this mean the dream of playing together with his brother, Dodger outfielder Chris Gwynn, has vanished in thin air?

“No, we talked about that,” Tony Gwynn said. “We’re still hoping it’ll happen, but I told Chris today that it won’t be with the Dodgers, I guarantee that.”

And while the Padre victory certainly caused some mixed emotions in the Gwynn household, Templeton revealed that his father, Spiavia Templeton probably was wishing Monday that he’d play one of the best all-around games of his season against someone else.

“My dad’s a big Dodger fan, I mean a big one,” Templeton said. “He used to sit at home listening to all of the games with Vin Scully, and Jerry . . .

“And you know something, I’m sure he was still sitting at his house tonight (in Longview, Texas) cheering for the Dodgers. I’ll probably get a call in the morning, saying, ‘What was that all about?’ ”

Templeton played as if he almost had a personal vendetta. There he was, bum knee and all, beating out an infield hit, breaking up a double play, going far to his right to rob Samuel of a single in the seventh, and, on the next play, going to his knees to take away a single from Alfredo Griffin.

“We went out with the idea of spoiling their fun,” Templeton said, “and I think we accomplished that just fine.”

Actually, the Padres were a bit perplexed before the start of the game that Kal Daniels and Kirk Gibson were out of the lineup. Daniels was suffering from a strained back muscle, and Gibson’s right forearm still was sore from being hit in Sunday’s game.

“I don’t know,” one Padre said, “it’s almost like we were more up for the game than they were. And that doesn’t make any sense because they have a lot more to look forward to than us.”

The Padres certainly were much more enthusiastic for this game than they have been for any others in recent games. And why not? It was the first time in five weeks that they were playing a game in their own division that actually meant something.

“I think we all got up for this one,” Lynn said. “It’s like you don’t have to get a hit for yourself. You’re doing it for your team because it means something.

“I never have been one to play for individual stats. If I had to play for a salary drive every day, I’d starve to death.”

Thankfully for the Padres, they don’t have to depend on a pennant drive to put food on the table, either.

Padre Notes

Garry Templeton, the Padre captain, was summoned into Padre Manager Greg Riddoch’s office after the game for a closed-door, 50-minute meeting. Reporters were kicked out off the clubhouse, and details of the conversation were unknown. Templeton would only disclose that they talked about his future for next season. “It’s family business,” Riddoch said. “It’s in-house stuff. That’s all I can say.” Templeton has one year left on his contract that will pay him a base salary of $500,000, but the Padres are talking about finding a replacement for next season, which would leave him either on the bench, or with a new team. Was Templeton informed of his future? “Go ask him,” Templeton said. Riddoch wouldn’t answer.

Padre third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, who was kept out of the starting lineup for the fifth consecutive game, is losing valuable incentive money by sitting. Pagliarulo’s contract, which pays him a base salary of $575,000, is loaded with incentives for plate appearances, but at this rate, most will be unattainable. Pagliarulo, who has 373 plate appearances this season, has received $5,000 in incentives for 325 plate apperances, and is two shy of receiving another $10,000 for 375 plate appearances. Yet, if he sits out most of the final 21 games, he’ll miss out on at least $40,000. “I just want to play,” Pagliarulo said, “it’s tough to sit.” . . . Who were those masked men? Padre pitchers Ed Whitson and Bruce Hurst were sitting in the stands behind home plate Monday charting pitchers. It’s the first day of the Padres’ experiment in which they will have at least one of their pitchers charting pitches from the stands. “We want to give this a try,” Riddoch said, “because it’s just too hard to chart the location of pitches from the dugout. It’s a bad vantage point.”

Second baseman Roberto Alomar (strained left elbow) will miss the Dodger series, Riddoch said Monday, but he’s hopeful of having Alomar return Friday in Atlanta on the first day of their seven-game trip. . . . It perhaps was only fitting that 12-year-old Todd Romenesko, the son of Tom Romenesko, Padre director/player development, sustained a broken right wrist Saturday while playing baseball. After all, 44 of Romenesko’s minor league players have sustained injuries that have required stays on the disabled list or operations. And if this wasn’t bad enough, Romensko’s wife, Becky, is scheduled Wednesday to undergo a gall bladder operation. “The only people left are me and my dog,” said Romenesko, whose daughter required knee surgery earlier in the year. “What do you think, you think my dog has fleas?” . . . Phil Collier, the San Diego Union’s national baseball writer who has been covering the sport since 1953, was honored before the game by the San Diego chapter of the Baseball Writers of America Association for meritorious service. The baseball press room at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium was named in his honor. . . . The Padres will play the second game of their three-game series against the Dodgers at 7:05 tonight. Bruce Hurst (8-9) and Mike Hartley (6-2) are the scheduled starters.