Padres Remain in Slump : Baseball: Defense falls apart as Phillies win, 7-2. Padres fall out of first.

The Padres’ greatest fear is happening, right before their eyes. Their pitching has gone sour. Their offense has gone awry. Even their defense collapsed Monday.

The Padres, trying to prove to the world that they will be a contender in the National League West, now are struggling for survival, losing Monday night once again, 7-2, to the Philadelphia Phillies.

For the first time in 18 days, the Padres are out of first place, percentage points behind the Cincinnati Reds. Oh, don’t get the Padres wrong, if you told them in spring training that they’d open the season with a 11-9 record in the first 20 games, they would have been glad to hear it.

But when you open the season with a 6-1 record, beating up the likes of the San Francisco Giants and Dodgers, it’s hard to lose eight of 13 games, four of their past five, and three in a row.

As one Padre player said, “It’s pretty tough to swallow losing three in a row to the Phillies. Come on.”

The Phillies, who were 5-11 when the Padres came to town, somehow managed not only to tear apart the Padre offense, but make the Padres’ pitching look worse than their own.

This is a Phillie staff that made the wild pitch look like a natural part of the game, but yet these past three games, every one of them have looked like the second coming of Steve Carlton.

The Padres obtained only six extra-base hits in 132 at-bats during the series. They batted .189 and scored 11 runs in 39 innings. And the worst part was that it occurred against the likes of Jose DeJesus, Danny Cox, Jason Grimsley and Terry Mulholland, who had only one victory among them entering the series.

“Nothing’s going right for us right now,” said Padre starter Ed Whitson (1-3) the losing pitcher Monday. “Hopefully, we can come out of this thing. Then we can see how good of a ballclub this is.

“We’ll find out just what we’re made of.”

The Padres found themselves out of this game, because of their defense of all things. This is a team that had not made an error in eight games, and entered the night leading the league in fielding.

Just how rare is that?

The last time the Padres went eight games without an error was July, 1986. And the only time in their history they had nine consecutive errorless games was July 3-12, 1979, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

But in the first inning, after Wally Backman hit a one-out single to left, Von Hayes hit a chopper to second baseman Bip Roberts. Roberts retreated, the ball skipped off him, and landed in short right field. Still, it was generously ruled a double, keeping the streak alive. Dale Murphy capitalized by hitting a sacrifice fly to center.

The Padres tied the game in the top of the third when Garry Templeton led off with a triple against the right-field fence. It just so happened to be the first extra-base hit by a Padre third baseman this season in 74 at-bats. And Templeton scored on Whitson’s groundout.

The Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third on Dale Murphy’s 384-foot homer to right field, but the Padres appeared to be on the verge of coming back. Padre catcher Benito Santiago hit a one-out double, and for only the third time in 19 opportunities, Fred McGriff obtained a hit with a runner in scoring position, scoring Santiago.

The Padres loaded the bases when Jerald Clark singled to center, and Darrin Jackson walked. But Templeton grounded into a double play, ending the inning, and for all intents and purposes, the game.

After failing to make an error in 85 consecutive innings, only seven shy of the franchise record, the Padres fell apart in the fifth, making errors on successive plays. With one out and Murphy on first base, John Kruk hit a bouncer to first baseman McGriff. He thought he had a play at second, and fired, but the ball caromed off Murphy’s back, and into center field. Murphy went on to third, and the errorless streak came to an end.

“What can I say,” McGriff said, “I was just trying to be aggressive. I thought I had a play.”

It was shortstop Tony Fernandez’s turn next. Von Hayes hit a ground ball to him, but Fernandez kicked it away, allowing Murphy to score, and everyone to be safe.

“What can you do?” Fernandez said. “Things happen. It’s part of the game.”

Before Whitson knew it, there was Darren Daulton dropping a bloop single to right, loading the bases, and Dickie Thon driving in another run with a sacrifice fly to right.

Whitson was pulled from the game after the sixth, and Padre reliever Mike Maddux did his best impersonation of a Phillie pitcher--two runs, one hits, two wild pitches--and just like that, Whitson finds himself with a 4.23 ERA.

“When you’re in a rut,” Whitson said, “things like this happened. And boy, we’re in one.”

Take a peek, if you dare:

The Padre pitching staff, publicized to be the strength of the team, now are the proud owners of a 4.10 ERA. The only team in the league with a worst ERA is the Giants.

“You go through periods like that,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “How to turn that around, I don’t have the faintest idea.”

The offense, which once led the league in hitting, also has hit the skids. They have been limited to one extra-base hit or fewer in 11 of their 20 games. And McGriff, their cleanup hitter, is batting .304, but has only four extra-base hits in 87 plate appearances.

“Hey, the first week or so, I was bad, period,” said McGriff, who was dropped to the fifth spot in the lineup. “It didn’t matter where I was batting, or what the pitchers were throwing, I was just that bad.

“I think I’m swinging better now.

“It’s a long season, anyway.”

The Phillies, in a tactic the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox employed against McGriff in the American League, moved shortstop Dickie Thon to the right side of second base. Still, McGriff hit two grounders to the right side, with one getting through and the other played by Thon.

“I’m not going to change just because they do that, or other teams do that,” McGriff said. “I’m not worried about that now. I’m just worried about winning.

“We shouldn’t be losing games like we are.” PADRES AT A GLANCE FIRST INNING

Phillies--With one out, Backman singled to left. Hayes doubled to right, Backman stopping at third. Murphy flied to center, Backman scoring. Kruk flied to left. One run, two hits, one left. Phillies 1, Padres 0. THIRD INNING

Padres--Templeton tripled. Whitson grounded to second, Templeton scoring. Roberts grounded to shortstop. Fernandez flied to center. One run, one hit. Padres 1, Phillies 1.

Phillies--With one out, Backman doubled to right. Hayes grounded to shortstop, Backman taking third. Murphy homered to right, his third. Kruk singled to right. Hayes grounded to shortstop, Kruk forced at second. Two runs, three hits, one left. Phillies 3, Padres 1. FOURTH INNING

Padres--With one out, Santiago doubled to left. McGriff singled to right, Santiago scoring. Clark singled to center, McGriff stopping at second. Jackson walked, loading the bases. Templeton grounded into double play. One run, three hits, two left. Phillies 3, Padres 2. FIFTH INNING

Phillies--With one out, Hayes singled to center. Kruk singled, Hayes taking third on first baseman McGriff’s throwing error. Hayes reached on shortstop Fernandez’ fielding error, Murphy scoring, Kruk stopping at second. Daulton singled to right, loading the bases. Thon flied to right, Kruk scoring. Mulholland grounded to second. Two runs (one earned), two hits, two errors, two left. Phillies 5, Padres 2. EIGHTH INNING

Phillies--Mulholland led off and struck out, reaching first on wild pitch. Dykstra tripled to right-center, Mulholland scoring. Backman flied to left, Dykstra scoring. Hayes grounded to second. Murphy bounced to catcher. Two runs, one hits. Phillies 7, Padres 2.