‘It’s Over;’ Reds Say They Have It : Baseball: They get no argument from Padres after completing a convincing four-game sweep with a 9-2 victory.

The Cincinnati Reds have been fighting the temptation for six months. They’ve been baited, they’ve been coerced, and they’ve been beguiled. But they’ve kept their mouths shut, restraining themselves from uttering the words.

But on Sunday afternoon, moments after completing a four-game sweep of the Padres with a 9-2 victory, the euphoria became too much for the Reds to contain.

“It’s over,” Reds pitcher Jose Rijo said. “Yogi Berra says it’s not over until it’s over, but I say it’s over.

“I know some people will say I shouldn’t say that, but I can feel it. I know this team. I know it’s over.”

And after watching the Reds annihilate the Padres in every phase during the four-game series, padding their National League West Division lead to five games over the Dodgers with nine to play, no one was putting up much of an argument.

“I guarantee you we’ll win it,” said Reds pitcher Danny Jackson (6-6), who won his first game since Aug. 30. “Let me put it to you this way; all we have to do is win five games. And even if we win just five, LA has to win every game.

“And that’s not going to happen.”

Yes sir, with music of M.C. Hammer playing in the background and beer being gulped in the clubhouse, the Reds were feeling awfully giddy after their magic number was reduced to five. And why not? They boarded a chartered flight home to Cincinnati, where they’ll play their final nine games.

The only National League West not to win the division in the ‘80s, the Reds are on the verge of becoming the first NL team in history to be in first every day of a 162-game season.

“It’s old news to me to say they’ll be there,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said, “because they’ve been the best team in this division since the first day of the season. There’s no way the Dodgers will catch them.”

Certainly, the Padres took care of any illusions the Dodgers entertained. While the Reds were packing up and heading out of town, the Padres were left shaking their heads, wondering just what had hit them.

During the sweep completed Sunday in front of 20,765 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, the Reds outscored the Padres, 34-12, batted .353 with eight doubles and three homers and scored 20 runs with two outs.

“Oh, man,” Padre pitcher Bruce Hurst said, “they made us look silly. They showed us how the game should be played. They had that fire in their eyes and had the look of a champion.”

So, uh, just what kind of look did the Padres have in their eyes?

“Don’t ask,” Hurst said.

Said Riddoch: “There’s no question we lost our intensity. We were flat. I mean, not only did we lose, we just got pounded.

“It’s funny, we had heard how they were coming in here so intimidated and quiet. Man, were we ever wrong. They went for the jugular.”

Several Padre players insinuated that they simply quit against the Reds, but perhaps the most damning statement of all came from Jackson, who entered the game with an 0-4 record and 7.00, and wound up allowing only six hits and two runs in seven innings.

“It was the worst day I’ve had since I’ve come back,” Jackson said. “I had no idea where I was throwing the ball. I mean, I was just throwing the ball up there. I had nothing on it.

“And look what happened.”

Little wonder several Padre players were left wondering just what the Dodgers must be thinking of them right about now.

“We’re going to catch hell from them when we see them again,” Padre pitcher Dennis Rasmussen said. “And we should catch some the way we played.

“But then again, the Dodgers were just hoping anyway, weren’t they? If you want to do things right, you’ve got to do them yourself, right?

“The Dodgers had their chance, and they didn’t get it done. They have to blame themselves before they blame us.”

But the Dodgers, at least, expected some type of help. After all, the Padres entered the series having won six of seven games. The Reds had lost three in a row, and seven of 11.

It loomed as the biggest series of the year for the Reds, with Manager Lou Piniella knowing that a collapse in San Diego might leave his team suffocating in self-doubt. This is why he and General Manager Bob Quinn decided to call in eight of the team’s veterans, letting them know the importance of the series and telling them to spread the word.

“We started talking on the plane coming here,” second baseman Billy Doran said, “saying how we don’t want to back into this thing. You want to go out, and get it ourselves. We didn’t want to pay attention to the Dodgers, because as long as we played our game, what they did was immaterial.”

Said Rasmussen: “The way they came out was unbelievable. When I got lit up the first game (seven hits and seven runs in two innings), I thought it was just me. But then they just kept doing it to all of us.”

“It was ugly.”

Ed Whitson (13-9) suffered the consequences on this day, yielding 10 hits and seven earned runs before being pulled after four innings. Whitson, who entered the game with a 2.39 ERA, allowed more runs (four) in the second inning than he had in 24 of his starts. It also was the most runs he had allowed in a game since May 5, 1988.

The Reds left the Padre pitching staff so battered by the weekend beating that Riddoch was forced to leave reliever Rich Rodriguez in the game to hit for himself in the fifth and seventh innings. It was getting to be such a desperate situation that he even considered using Mike Dunne, and it just so happens that Dunne has not pitched in a game since breaking his leg July 17.

It was that kind of weekend for the Padres.

Then again, it’s been that kind of season, too.