Happy Padres Take Delight in Being Right : Baseball: Hurst throws seven shutout innings in 4-0 victory over Phillies, who notice the changes in revamped Padre team.

The Philadelphia Phillies knew who led the National League West, but they still couldn’t believe what they were seeing Friday, shaking their heads in disbelief as each inning passed during the Padres’ 4-0 victory at Veterans Stadium.

When Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn grounded out in the first inning, his teammates were actually standing on the top steps of the dugout, ready to shake his hand.

When shortstop Tony Fernandez made what he thought was a routine play in the fifth inning--going behind second base and flipping the ball backhanded to second baseman Bip Roberts--his teammates surrounded him on the field, slapping his back.

When starter Bruce Hurst was removed from the game after seven innings, only six hitters shy of pitching his 20th career shutout, there were no loud complaints or even a grumble from Hurst.

Were these the Padres everyone has come to know?

“They’re a different team, aren’t they?,” Phillies Manager Jim Fregosi said. “All the bickering and fighting everybody heard about last year is gone. It doesn’t even look like the same team.”

The Padres have become so gregarious and chummy this season that they make the Love Boat look like Divorce Court.

Exactly how close has this team become?

Well, how many players would have the courage to take a beat-up, dirty car tire found in the streets, sneak it into the team hotel and lean it against the manager’s hotel door in the wee hours of a morning?

And how many managers would open their door, have the car tire fall against his trousers, leaving a black skid mark that would require a change of dress, and laugh about it?

“I’ll get even with you, you can be sure of that,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch yelled at Larry Andersen in mock anger.

Said Andersen, trying to plead innocence with a smirk on his face: “I don’t know what you’re taking about Greg. But whoever it is, let’s get that SOB and fine him in our Kangaroo Court.”

These are the Padres?

Little wonder the Phillies are confused.

The Phillies still vividly remember last May when these guys were in town. That was when Hurst had a no-hitter though six innings, leading 5-0, and blew the lead. Hurst waited for the game to end and marched into then-Manager Jack McKeon’s office and demanded to be traded.

“I didn’t go to bed until 7 that morning,” Hurst said. “I must have walked six miles in my room.”

And the last weekend the Padres were in town, first baseman Jack Clark threatened to punch out a TV producer, called the Padre ownership a bunch of morons for their contract proposals and, as long as he was talking, ripped Gwynn.

“It’s a whole different feeling around here, isn’t it?” Riddoch said. “On a scale of 1 to 10? Last year was a zero.

“Now, it’s a 10.”

You want unselfishness? Take a good look what the Padres accomplished in the City of Brotherly Love.

Leadoff hitter Bip Roberts walked a career-high four times, tying a franchise record previously accomplished nine times. Gwynn grounded out to the right side in the first inning, sacrificing an at-bat to drive in a run. Andersen, who has two bulging discs in his neck, pitched an inning without complaint, even though the pain shooting through his arm was the worst he has endured.

“I feel worse than if someone cut me up on Friday the 13th,” Andersen said. “I feel like Jason got me. Tonight was the first time I felt it completely going down my arm.”

So just how long will he be able to pitch with this pain?

“Hey, with the kind of fun we’re having,” he said, “I’ll go all year.”

The Padres, whose 11-6 record is only one game short of their best record over after 17 games (12-5 in 1982 and 1984), indeed are proving people wrong.

And that includes those, such as Jack Clark and the gang, who maintained that Gwynn was nothing more than a $2 million-a-year singles hitter who couldn’t drive in runs.

Gwynn has 13 RBIs, most on the Padres, and the highest April total in his career. He also reached a milestone with his first RBI, the 500th of his career.

“Not bad for a Punch-and-Judy hitter, huh?” Gwynn said, laughing. “Hey, the guys are getting on, and I’m just driving them in. I’ve always been successful with runners in scoring position, and I’m proving it. You can say what you want, and do what you want to, but I have 13 RBIs now and I’m feeling pretty darn good about it.”

Only the Padres’ third-base situation is cause for concern. Paul Faries was hitless in two at-bats Friday, giving the team’s third basemen an .095 batting average and no RBI in their last 62 at-bats.

There have been rumors that the Padres are once again interested in acquiring third baseman Craig Worthington of the Baltimore Orioles, perhaps in exchange for triple-A pitcher Derek Lilliquist and other considerations. However, Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said that there has been no talk between the teams.

“We’re not getting the production we’d like,” McIlvaine said, “but it’s still early. We’re not going to panic here. We’ll keep throwing guys out there (Marty Barrett will start tonight), and see what happens.”

The Padres, relying almost solely on singles and walks, scored all the runs they needed in the first two innings Friday. Gwynn accounted for the Padres’ first run with his grounder, scoring Roberts. Fernandez hit a two-out, two-run single in the second inning, putting the game out of reach.

“Tony Fernandez is just unbelievable, isn’t he?” Riddoch said. “You talk about the complete player. Is there anything he can’t do?”

Hurst said: “I’m not knocking anybody when I say this, but he’s making plays up the middle that in years past, Jerry Coleman would be hanging a star on. And they’re typical plays for him.”

Fernandez, who raised his batting average to .319 with his three-for-five performance, simply shrugged his shoulders. He’s been making these kind of plays his whole life, only now, he says, he’s being appreciated.

“‘It feels nice,” he said. “In Toronto, they were used to it. Now, these guys have been so great, so complimentary.

“I know everyone’s having a good time, but maybe no one more than me.”