Hurst Blanks Astros; Gwynn Out for Season

Left-hander Bruce Hurst pitched his second consecutive shutout and extended his consecutive scoreless-innings streak to 27, but the Padres’ 5-0 victory Monday over the Houston Astros was tarnished as the Padres announced before the game that Tony Gwynn will miss the rest of the season because of a hand injury.

Gwynn injured his right index finger Saturday when he ran into the outfield wall in the third inning of at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium while trying to catch a ball hit by the Braves’ Jeff Treadway. He will undergo a medical procedure Wednesday at Scripps’ Hospital in La Jolla to have his finger popped back into place.

Hurst (10-9) has saved his best pitching for the end of the season. He won for the fifth time in his last six decisions and pitched his fourth shutout of the season. He struck out four and walked one, allowing only seven baserunners.

“Earlier in the season, my mechanics weren’t sound,” Hurst said after his six-hit effort. “I wasn’t locating my pitches and I was throwing my changeup too hard. Now I’m pitching much better.”

“He’s been terrific the whole second half. But he’s been a lot better the last eight or nine starts. He’s locating all his pitches and he can throw his changeup anytime he wants for a strike,” San Diego manager Greg Riddoch said.

“He’s using his fastball to set up his other pitches. The good thing about him is that his arm speed is the same with change-ups and fastballs. That’s what’s so deceiving to the hitters.”

Danny Darwin (11-3) was the loser, going 4 1/3 innings and giving up five runs, four earned, on nine hits. Darwin struck out three and walked one.

The Padres took a 2-0 lead in the third when Roberto Alomar hit his sixth home run of the season. Alomar drove in Bip Roberts, who had doubled.

They increased their lead to 3-0 in the third after Benito Santiago singled and scored on a fielding error by center fielder Karl Rohdes on Garry Templeton’s single.

San Diego added its final two runs in the fifth on an RBI double by Jack Clark and Joe Carter’s run-scoring single.

The paid crowd of 6,059 at the Astrodome was the smallest since May 22, 1986, when 4,784 watched the Astros play the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gwynn, a four-time National League batting champion, suffered 30% structural damage of the second phalanx, right below the first joint in his finger. According to the Padres, there is a chance he will have a pin inserted during Wednesday’s procedure to support the finger.

Gwynn finished the season hitting .309 with four home runs and 72 RBIs and is second in the National League with 10 triples.

Padre Notes

The Padres, according to sources, have interviewed Gordon Ash for a possible front-office vacancy. Ash, the assistant general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, is one of several candidates that the Padres have talked to about a front-office position. . . . Bip Roberts has an eight-game hitting streak. . . . Bruce Hurst has dropped his ERA more than a run since July 24. . . . Joe Carter’s 108 RBIs puts him on a pace to break Dave Winfield’s club record of 118 RBIs in 1979.