Padres’ Choice Is the Right One as They Decide to Let Harris Start

Former President Ronald Reagan threw out the first pitch Friday at the Dodgers’ 1991 home opener.

Then Padre starter Greg Harris kept the Dodgers in check for the rest of the afternoon.

Making his first start since 1989 and probably his best since his initial start in September of 1988, Harris pitched 8 2/3 innings and held the Dodgers to seven hits, then survived a few uneasy moments on the bench while reliever Wes Gardner loaded the bases before getting the last out in Harris’ 4-2 victory.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been that far,” Harris said. “It’s gratifying to be able to. When they hand me the ball, I just go out and do the best I can. (Starting or relieving) is not my decision. It was management’s decision to make me a starter and it looks like they made the right decision. It does make me happy.”

Spotting his fastball well and keeping the Dodgers off-stride with his changeup, Harris gave up runs in the fourth and seventh innings.

He breezed through the eighth, then opened the ninth by retiring Darryl Strawberry on a grounder to first base and striking out Kal Daniels. But a pitch he threw to Daniels brought a visit from coach Mike Roarke, and after Lenny Harris singled, the Padres brought in Gardner.

“I got a little bit fatigued at the end,” Harris said. “(Roarke) came out to make sure I didn’t do something to hurt myself. I tried to overthrow a little bit on a pitch to Kal.”

If Harris’ lengthy performance put a damper on the festivities for the Dodger Stadium crowd of 49,676, it brightened the outlook of Padre Manager Greg Riddoch and his tired bullpen, which was coming off a high-scoring three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

“Harris got us over the hump,” Riddoch said. “We couldn’t go to (Larry) Andersen, he has a stiff neck, and we couldn’t go back to (Craig) Lefferts again. We needed a good strong effort from our starter.”

Normally a fastball-curveball pitcher, Harris said he threw only “one good breaking ball all game,” so he concentrated on his changeup as his out pitch. Harris struck out four and walked none.

Said catcher Benito Santiago: “After the third inning, I found out his change was his best pitch, so I had to call it. The fastball--he painted the plate, he moved the ball. He just pitched a great game.”

“That was unorthodox for me today,” Harris said. “I usually throw a lot of curveballs. Maybe (the Dodgers) were looking for the curve. They’ve got some bombers who can hurt you, so I tried to keep them out in front.”

After coming up to the Padres in late ‘88, the soft-spoken Harris spent most of the last two seasons in the bullpen. All 73 appearances last year, when he was 8-8, were in relief.

But heavy off-season turnover on the pitching staff made Harris, 27, the No. 4 starter. He had been a starter in all four of his minor league seasons.

“I was nervous, but it wasn’t nerve-racking,” Harris said. “I had a lot of adrenaline. I think it worked to my benefit. If you can’t get pumped up for an opening-day game at Dodger Stadium, with all the ceremonies and all that tradition, you never will.”