PADRES : Riddoch Still Lacks 5th Starter : Baseball: Lilliquist has rough outing in exhibition loss to San Francisco.

Wanted: One pitcher who can fill the role of the fifth starter for the Padres. Can be right-handed or left-handed. Must be able to throw strikes, keep the Padres in the game and keep the ball in the ballpark.

There are a handful of fifth-starter wanna-bes in the Padre clubhouse. Several pitchers say they can get the job done. Problem is, none of them have been able to do it with any consistency this spring.

Lefty Derek Lilliquist was the latest to leave Padre Manager Greg Riddoch shaking his head. Lilliquist took a step backward during the Padres’ 5-1 loss to San Francisco Tuesday night, allowing five runs and seven hits in four innings.

Fifth-starter problems are nothing new to the Padres--the pitchers used in that role last season combined for a 7-18 record.

This spring, not much has changed. Mike Dunne used to be a candidate--he was released Monday. Lilliquist and Calvin Schiraldi are possibles, but each has been inconsistent. Lilliquist has allowed eight runs and 14 hits in 12 innings this spring, and Schiraldi has yielded seven runs and nine hits in only 9 2/3 innings.

Schiraldi will either make the team as a starter or not make it at all. Lilliquist, Riddoch said, can be used in either role.

Dennis Rasmussen hasn’t pitched in more than two weeks because of tendinitis in his shoulder, and Atlee Hammaker’s fractured finger is healing but still swollen. Riddoch said Hammaker likely will open the season on the disabled list, and he isn’t sure when Rasmussen will return.

The Padres will go with five starters because, unlike some Eastern teams that have off-days sprinkled early in their schedule, the Padres open by playing 16 days in a row. Riddoch simply wishes somebody would step up.

Tuesday, Lilliquist allowed what might have been the longest home run of the spring in the first inning, a three-run shot to Matt Williams that traveled well over 400 feet to left field. In the third, Kevin Mitchell hit a two-run homer.

“I’m certainly not going to let this start get me down,” Lilliquist said. “My arm is healthy, and I had good movement on the ball. I’ve just got to keep the ball down.

“I was getting ahead of the hitters, I just wasn’t putting them away.”

Lilliquist said both home run pitches were up too high in the strike zone.

Afterward, Riddoch repeated his phrase that the candidates are all tied for second.

“Maybe the next two weeks will tell,” Riddoch said. “They’ll have to.”

There are three catchers, working hard behind the plate each day, battling a numbers game in which they’re not even sure what the numbers are.

Riddoch reiterated Tuesday that he hasn’t decided whether he will keep two or three when the regular season gets under way. A fellow named Benito Santiago will start. And that leaves either one or two spots for Tom Lampkin, Dann Bilardello or Brian Dorsett.

“Each kid has something different to offer,” Riddoch said. “That’s why it’s such a tossup. It depends on our biggest need--defense or offense.

“It could go down to the wire.”

And so they sweat. Lampkin, Bilardello and Dorsett. Three for the road. But this road forks--San Diego one way, triple-A Las Vegas the other.

“The hardest (decision) now is the backup catching,” Riddoch said. “Each one of them is unique.”

Spring has reached the point where every little thing matters. Something got caught under a contact lens in Lampkin’s right eye Monday night and scratched his cornea. The doctor told him Tuesday to keep the contacts out until Thursday, and he cannot see to play without them.

So Lampkin, 27, visited Riddoch’s office after being scratched from the lineup Tuesday.

“He told me to make sure I can see before I play,” Lampkin said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to come back and there won’t be a problem . . .”

Dorsett, who turns 30 on opening day, has family concerns. He is married with three children, and after eight years bouncing around the minors--with brief stops with Cleveland, California and the Yankees--he isn’t sure he wants to subject his family to another summer of moving.

“I’ve got a family--I can’t be moving them around,” he said. “I will not.”

Dorsett said he isn’t sure if he will report to Las Vegas if optioned there.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I would love to try to get (to another team). I hope they would oblige me.

“When you’ve paid as many dues as I have, you don’t feel like you need to pay any more.”

Like Dorsett, Bilardello, 30, is a non-roster player. He has been in baseball since 1978 and has spent time with Cincinnati, Montreal and Pittsburgh. He, too, is confident.

“I know defensively what I can do,” he said. “Coming into camp, I wanted to show them that I can hit the ball a little, and I have. I feel good about my spring. Whether I make the club or go to Vegas, I’m not worried. I know everything will work out for the best.”

Lampkin’s advantage is that he is a rarity--a left-handed hitting catcher. Dorsett has some power. Bilardello is a defensive specialist.

Bruce Hurst has been diagnosed as having bronchitis and will miss his scheduled start today against San Francisco. Pitching coach Mike Roarke said his replacement will come from the Padre bullpen. The leading candidates to start are Ricky Bones and John Costello.

It’s been a rough week for Padre health. Reliever Craig Lefferts is recovering from bronchitis and--10 pounds lighter--threw Tuesday for the first time in a week.

Several other players are still recovering from the flu, and the club is waiting to make the next round of cuts until the illnesses pass.

“We’ve got too many guys sick,” Riddoch said. “We’d like to move about eight more guys out of here.”

Outfielders Shawn Abner and Darrin Jackson, pitcher Jeremy Hernandez and shortstop Tony Fernandez all have the flu. All but Fernandez likely will play today.

Padre Notes

The Padres claimed right-hander Jose Melendez off waivers from Seattle on Tuesday. Melendez, 25, pitched in three games for the Mariners this spring. He didn’t have a decision and had a 3.60 ERA. He allowed four hits and two runs in five innings. He was 11-4 with two saves and a 3.90 ERA for Calgary (triple-A) last season. . . . Padre Manager Greg Riddoch on pitcher Mike Dunne, who was waived late Monday: “He just didn’t look like he’d have enough time to get his delivery back to where it should be. It might take another two months, and we just don’t have that.” . . . Left-hander Eric Nolte pitched two hitless innings in relief Tuesday and is a longshot candidate for the fifth starting spot. He struck out three and walked none. “In the past, I’ve been labeled a guy with a decent arm who is inconsistent,” Nolte said. “This off-season, I sat down and analyzed my mechanics all over again. I started from scratch.”