Gwynn Driving Force Behind Padre Victory : Baseball: Right fielder gets homer, two RBIs as Padres beat Atlanta, 7-3.

ATLANTA — You’re not going to find it on any hitting videos in your local store. It has nothing to do with hitting mechanics. Certainly, you don’t want your kids thinking this is a requirement to hit .300.

Yet, as zany and preposterous as it sounds, Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn revealed Monday night in the aftermath of the Padres’ 7-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium why he’s having perhaps the finest season of his career.

It was New Year’s Eve, Gwynn explained, when it happened. The clock struck midnight, and Gwynn went into action. He unzipped his pants, pulled them to his knees, bent over, and . . .

“I mooned 1990,” Gwynn said. “I got it off my chest. It was a rising moon.”

It was that moment, Gwynn said, when he left all his troubles of last season behind.

No more Jack Clark. No more disciples of Clark. No more pointing fingers. No more whispers behind his back.

“I said, ‘Screw 1990, let’s move on,’ ” Gwynn said.

And, oh, has he ever silenced his critics.

Gwynn, once again Monday night, led the Padre offensive attack by going three for five with a double, homer and two RBIs.

The baseball world may be yawning with Gwynn’s .340 batting average, considering that he has won four batting championships. It’s hardly newsworthy that he leads the league with 52 hits and is among the leaders with 23 runs scored. But take a look at the RBI leaders, and you’ll find a whole lot of jaws dropping, with Jack Clark’s likely among them.

Gwynn not only took over the team lead with his 26th RBI, but there are only three players in the league who have more. Gwynn, who has averaged 57 RBIs during his 8 1/2-year career, is on pace to drive in a career-record 110, shattering his best of 72 last season.

“The difference,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said, “is that he’s just being Tony Gwynn. He’s not trying to be what someone else wants him to be. He was unfairly criticized last year (by Jack Clark), and all he’s doing is being himself.

“You can see what’s happened.”

It was Gwynn, who already has nine multi-RBI games this season, who helped the Padres to a 2-0 lead in the first inning by driving in Tony Fernandez from third with a single to left field off John Smoltz (1-5). It was Gwynn who gave the Padres a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning by hitting his second home run in a week. And it was Gwynn who helped the Padres to a 7-3 lead in the ninth by hitting a two-out double, sending pitcher Ed Whitson to third, who scored on a wild pitch.

“I probably should have scored on the double,” Whitson said, “but they would have had to bring an oxygen tank to me.”

Whitson (3-4) had to save his strength as it was, pitching an 11-hit complete game to preserve the bullpen. It was the most hits allowed in a National League complete game this season.

Most important, however, was that it allowed the Padres to save their bullpen for tonight’s game against the Braves. The Padres still do not have a scheduled starter, and instead will use a starter by committee.

They are expected to start right-handed reliever Wes Gardner, who has not pitched in a week. Gardner, who has 44 career starts but only one complete game, started nine games last season for the Boston Red Sox, going 2-4 with a 4.15 ERA. It will likely be the only emergency start the Padres will need, as starter Dennis Rasmussen will join the team Thursday and start Sunday against the Houston Astros.

“We know who we want to use,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, “but we don’t want that guy to sit up and worry all night. You’ll find out (today).”

The Padres could also start Steve Rosenberg, who made 21 starts two years ago for the Chicago White Sox. Yet, he pitched in Sunday’s game and warmed up in the bullpen Monday, making it highly unlikely he’d start.

“If you’re really going good, and you’re stuck for a starter,” McIlvaine said, “it will rain.”

But with the way the Padres have played of late, winning their third consecutive game--hitting more homers (three) in six innings Monday night than they had in the previous 60 innings--who wants an off-day?

Shortstop Fernandez, who called it a miracle from God that he was able to play with his swollen right ankle, joined the home-run parade, hitting his first in 244 at-bats in the third inning. And Fred McGriff moved into a tie for the home-run lead with Kevin Mitchell of the Giants by hitting his 10th in the eighth inning.

“There’s no question he’s the best cleanup hitter we’ve ever had since I’ve been here,” Gwynn said of McGriff. “The way he’s able to hit the ball all over the field is just something we haven’t seen from a guy in the four-hole. People would pitch to Jack (Clark) much more than they will Freddie.”

The result is that pitchers are so frightened of McGriff that they’re readily pitching to Gwynn, who has turned out to be just as dangerous. Gwynn has only two homers, but his 74 total bases rank fourth in the National League. Hmm, what would Jack Clark have to say about that?

“Every day we make light of something that happened last year,” Gwynn said, “and I’ve been right in the middle of it. His name comes up all the time, and it doesn’t bother me.

“What happened, happened. I think I’m a better person for it. Now, it’s time to move on.

“And believe me, I’m having a good time.”