Reds Get the Right Rotation : Baseball: Starter Hammond, reliever Scudder star in 5-1 Cincinnati victory. For the Padres, four-game slump (.199) continues.

Stop the obituaries. Hold the flowers. Cancel the sympathy cards.

The Cincinnati Reds, wondering aloud only two days ago if their team was unraveling, left San Diego on Wednesday night feeling mightier than they have all season.

The Reds defeated the Padres for the second consecutive game, 5-1, in front of 18,014 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. But more exhilarating to them than their victory was what transpired on the pitching mound.

Exasperated by their middle relievers, Reds Manager Lou Piniella decided at lunch Tuesday that he would put rookie Chris Hammond into the starting rotation and send Scott Scudder into the bullpen. A bit of panic, perhaps?

That look of terror you saw Wednesday night was in the eyes of the National League West--and Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda, who took in the game.

Hammond, making only his fourth big-league start, pitched as if he were back in Nashville, Tenn., allowing five hits and one run in six innings for his first victory. And when he tired, Piniella brought in Scudder, who pitched three shutout innings for his first major league save.

“I threw a lot of changeups early, and that got them off-balance,” Hammond said. “I really noticed it when I gave (Tony) Fernandez two or three fastballs in a row, and he was looking for changeups.

“I was thrilled over my first hit, but my first win was bigger. Anyway, I got two baseballs out of it.”

Maybe it doesn’t matter that Reds starter Jose Rijo’s pregame wish didn’t come true.

“I kept telling everyone if I win the lottery,” Rijo said, “I’ll buy this team, go out and buy a power hitter and a starting pitcher so we can put (Norm) Charlton back in the bullpen. And then we’ll be ready to repeat.”

It looks as if the Reds’ rotation might be fine.

But the way the Padres have been hitting the ball, it might have been the Padres’ ineptitude as much as the Reds’ pitching.

“Their pitching was outstanding,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “The old axiom, ‘Good pitching beats good hitting,’ never was more evident. I’m just glad they’re out of town.”

The Padre offense is out, too.

* They’ve scored four runs in their past 29 innings.

* They’re batting .199 with only three extra-base hits the past four games.

* Fred McGriff, Benito Santiago, Jerald Clark and Jim Presley--their Nos. 4 through 7 hitters--are batting .054, with three singles in 56 at-bats, during the slump.

The reasons?

Clark said: “The mistake pitches I’m getting, I’m just not driving them. I’m fouling them off. I have some work to do. But it’s not like they’re making me look like a fool up there, either.”

McGriff said: “You see how I’m swinging, don’t you?”

Santiago said: “I feel good at home plate, but the pitchers are doing the job.”

The Padres’ offensive output Wednesday came when second baseman Bip Roberts hit a double into the left-center gap in the third inning, scoring Darrin Jackson.

But after Roberts’ double, Hammond cruised through the sixth inning, retiring 10 of the next 13 batters without allowing a baserunner to reach third. Piniella, perhaps not wanting to push his luck, lifted Hammond after only 67 pitches. Still, it was Hammond’s longest outing of his brief career--he never made it more than 4 1/3 innings in three starts last September.

Piniella called upon Scudder to start the seventh inning. Scudder, who originally was scheduled to start Wednesday, yielded two hits and gave closers Rob Dibble and Randy Myers the night off.

Considering that Dibble was in a foul mood Wednesday, anyway, awakening to the news that he was being suspended for three games for his part in last week’s brawl in Houston, it might have been in the Padres’ best interest not to face him.

“What it tells hitters is that every time I pitch inside,” Dibble said, “they can charge the mound and I’m going to get a bigger and better suspension. But I’m not changing.

“As Kevin Mitchell says, I’m not going to be a punk about it. I’m going to pitch the same way in Houston, and if they don’t like it, they can see me again.”

Gulp.

Despite anemic support, starter Greg Harris kept the Padres in the game through seven innings. His two mistakes were allowing solo home runs to Hal Morris in the second inning and Paul O’Neill in the sixth.

Still, the Padres hung close, 2-1, until the eighth. That’s the time Padre Manager Greg Riddoch relieved Harris. It’s also the time the Padres collapsed.

Right-hander Wes Gardner, who opened the eighth, didn’t retire a batter. He allowed three consecutive hits for one run and intentionally walked Eric Davis, loading the bases. In came left-handed reliever Pat Clements.

Clements retired the next three batters, although Billy Doran and Todd Benzinger each managed to hit a sacrifice fly, giving the Reds a 5-1 lead.

For a night, the Reds were soothed.

“We stood a little too pat in the off-season, if you ask me,” Dibble said. “Everybody did something but us. But we have such conservative management. We had a chance to get Bobby Bonilla. But I know there’s no way Marge (Schott, majority owner) is going to spend $22 million to get Bonilla, or anyone else.

“If we added just a couple of guys, we’d be winning year after year, just like Oakland. I mean, we’re that good.”

PADRES ON DECK

Opponent--Los Angeles Dodgers, four games.

Site--San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

TV--ESPN, Friday; Cable, Saturday and Sunday.

Radio--KFMB (760), XEXX (1420).

Records--Dodgers 4-4, Padres 6-3.

Record vs. Dodgers (1991)--3-0.

Padre update--The Padres, off to their second best start in franchise history, beat up the Dodgers in each of the three games last weekend in Dodger Stadium. The Padres have yielded just two earned runs in their past 28 innings entering Wednesday night, but offensively, they have struggled a bit. They entered Wednesday’s game hitting .192 in their past three games, with only two extra-base hits.

Dodger update--The Dodgers have lost 18 of the last 27 games played in San Diego, where their appearance is annually one of the highlights of the Padre season. This is a big series for Kevin Gross, today’s starter, who will attempt to show that his scoreless inning of relief against the Padres last Sunday was more to form than his defeat as a starter the night before, when he allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Pitching matchups--The Padres’ Eric Nolte (1-0) vs. the Dodgers’ Kevin Gross (0-1) today at 1 p.m.; Ed Whitson (1-0) vs. Mike Morgan (0-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Bruce Hurst (1-0) vs. Tim Belcher (2-0) Saturday at 7 p.m., and Andy Benes (0-1) vs. Ramon Martinez (1-1) Sunday at 1 p.m.

PADRES AT A GLANCEScorecard

SECOND INNING

Reds--Morris homered to right, his first. Reed flied to right. Hatcher flied to left. Hammond struck out. One run, one hit.

THIRD INNING

Padres--With one out, Jackson singled to left. Harris sacrificed. Roberts doubled to left, Jackson scoring. Fernandez struck out. One run, two hits, one left.

SIXTH INNING

Reds--O’Neill homered to right, his first. Larkin grounded to shortstop. Davis flied to center. Doran singled to right and stole second. Morris struck out. One run, two hits, one left.

EIGHTH INNING

Reds--Gardner took the mound. Sabo singled to left. O’Neill doubled to left, Sabo stopping at third. Larkin singled to center, Sabo scoring, O’Neill taking third and Larkin taking second on the throw home. Davis was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Clements replaced Gardner. Doran sacrifice flied to center, O’Neill scoring and Larkin taking third. Benzinger, batting for Morris, sacrifice flied to right, Larkin scoring. Reed grounded to second. Three runs, three hits, one left.