Padres Close Ranks, Beat Philadelphia : Baseball: Bruce Hurst, Fred McGriff maintain their streaks in 4-2 victory over the Phillies.

One day, Bruce Hurst is going to lose. He is going to take the mound, work his innings, and discover that the breaks aren’t going his way, or that his stuff has disappeared for a day, or that the Padres just didn’t score.

Tuesday night was not one of those moments.

Hurst overcame an early bout with wildness and some stuff the Phillies found easy to hit, and still won. Relievers Rich Rodriguez, Larry Andersen and Craig Lefferts helped him out, and the Padres defeated Philadelphia, 4-2, for their third consecutive victory and the fourth in their past five games.

The Phillies, winners of seven of their past 10 entering the game, were playing for the first time without Lenny Dykstra and Darren Daulton, who were seriously injured in an automobile accident early Monday.

Hurst (4-0) hasn’t lost since last Aug. 26. He has won his last three starts and 10 of his last 11 decisions--including seven in a row. Tuesday, in front of 23,172 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, he went 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits. He walked four and struck out two, and lowered his earned-run average to 2.93.

This is his best start since signing with the Padres as a free agent after the 1988 season. He started 5-0 for Boston in 1988, the year he won a career-high 18 games.

“We scored a lot of runs and played great defense, and the bullpen has done a great job every time I’ve pitched,” said Hurst, who still is looking for his first complete game this season. “I didn’t have very good control--I couldn’t get the ball in the spots I wanted to.”

Yeah, but . . .

“When he doesn’t have his best stuff, you can always (figure) he’s going to battle anyway,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “He uses his head.”

It was a good night for the Padres because every other NL West team except Atlanta lost, meaning the Padres lead the division by 1 1/2 games over Cincinnati and Atlanta.

Of course, it is a long season, and the Padres certainly will not find it this easy every night because . . .

One day, Fred McGriff isn’t going to get a hit. He is going to step into the batter’s box and discover his timing is off, or that the pitcher is overpowering.

Tuesday was not one of those nights. McGriff extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games with a fifth-inning single. He is chasing Los Angeles’ Brett Butler, who extended his hitting streak, the longest in the National League this season, to 13 games Tuesday night.

As the hits have been plentiful for McGriff, Shawn Abner was thrilled just to get a hit. His fifth-inning double snapped a 0 for 23 spell.

Abner was out for early batting practice Tuesday.

“We’re trying to get him over the plate, and to not come off the ball,” said Merv Rettenmund, Padre batting coach. “Sometimes he swings hard; sometimes he swings easy. He needs to be consistent. And the one thing that is really hurting him right now is that he’s swinging at pitches he can’t hit.”

And then there’s Tony Gwynn. He went two for four, improving his batting average to .346. He also got another run-batted in, giving him 17.

All this enabled the Padres to come back from an early two-run deficit. After they did, and after Hurst left, Rodriguez, Andersen and Lefferts combined to shut the Phillies down on one hit in the final 2 2/3 innings. Lefferts earned his seventh save.

“We feel like we have the kind of offense that’s going to put runs on the board,” Gwynn said. “We’ll go as far as (the pitchers) go.

“Pitching and defense--that’s what we talk about every spring.”

Phillie starter Jose DeJesus (0-2) sailed along through the first four innings, so it wasn’t exactly a Nolan Ryan masterpiece--he had allowed four Padre baserunners, but only one reached third.

But suddenly, three pitches into the fifth, DeJesus was in big trouble.

First pitch: Abner reaches out and pokes a double down the right-field line.

Second pitch: Hurst drops a bunt midway between the plate and the pitcher’s mound. DeJesus fields it, wheels, throws to third in attempt to get Abner . . . too high. Abner is safe at third and Hurst is safe at first.

Third pitch: Bip Roberts slices a single into left field, driving Abner home and moving Hurst to second.

Three pitches into the inning, and the Padres already had scored once and two were runners on.

Two batters later, Gwynn drove Hurst home with a single to center, knotting the score at 2-2.

Up stepped McGriff, who quickly drilled a single into right, driving Roberts home. The Padres led, 3-2, and Hurst was safe.

The Padres added a run in the sixth on another Roberts single, and that was all they needed.

They fell behind early because Hurst wasn’t his usual self. He walked three in the first three innings. Entering Tuesday’s game, he had walked just nine batters in 36 2/3 innings. His four walks Tuesday were the most in his past 13 starts.

He gave up two runs through four innings, and one of the two Phillies who scored reached base on a walk. Dickie Thon walked with one out in the second, moved to third on Steve Lake’s grounder to short, and scored on DeJesus’ sharp single up the middle.

The Phillies scored again in the fourth on doubles to left. Ricky Jordan led off the fourth by smacking a Hurst pitch down the third-base line and, two batters later, Thon doubled into left-center, allowing Jordan to score.

Mike Roarke, Padre pitching coach, paid a visit to the mound after Thon’s double. Although Hurst didn’t have his normal stuff, it was good enough.

One of these days. . . .