New Braves Shut Down the Padres : Baseball: Avery pitches Atlanta to victory, 3-1. Injuries continue to plague Padres.

It might not seem like such a momentous occasion to the rest of the baseball world. No victory in the month of May can be that important.

That is, of course, unless you’re the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves, who defeated the Padres, 3-1, Monday night, showed 21,342 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium exactly why they’re the surprise team of the National League West.

For the first time since May, 1987, spanning 23 months, the Braves have guaranteed themselves a .500 month. They’re 13-9 this month and have four games remaining.

“They’re a different team, that’s for sure,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said.

They are in a different place in the standings, too--in second place with a 21-19 record, 2 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.

The Padres, meanwhile, sit in fourth place, 22-23, a season-high 4 1/2 games back. They have lost eight of their past nine home games.

The Padres, for the first time this season, actually have a worse record than they did a year ago at this time (23-22). Of course, as the Padres remind everyone, they’ve also had nine players go on the disabled list this season, including five pitchers.

The Padres, in fact, made the trainers’ room a popular place once again Monday. They learned before the game that starter Ed Whitson would have to miss at least one start with elbow tendinitis, then lost center fielder Bip Roberts in the fourth inning with back spasms and left fielder Jerald Clark in the fifth with a sore Achilles’ tendon. Roberts is expected back tonight; Clark likely will miss at least one game.

“I’d say we probably have surprised reporters because people didn’t give us a chance,” Padre first baseman Fred McGriff said. “We have good talent here. We’ve also had injuries here, but that’s not really an excuse.

“I guess, more or less, we’ve played like a .500 ballclub.”

And although that might not sit well with Padre fans, who have been teased the past two seasons with preseason expectations, that noise you’re hearing from the deep South are Braves’ fans, going bonkers for a team that’s finally competitive.

“We’ve put together a pretty good level of talent,” said John Schuerholz, Atlanta general manager. “These people were starving for success.

“We’re trying to create a first-class franchise, not one that is laughed at whenever the name is mentioned.

“There’s been a lot of apathy around the organization. There was apathy internally and externally. That’s changed dramatically.”

The Braves helped turn around their franchise around with free agents. They spent nearly $30 million for the likes of third baseman Terry Pendleton, first baseman Sid Bream, shortstop Rafael Belliard, reliever Juan Berenguer and catcher Mike Heath.

It was rather easy to see the difference with their presence Monday night.

If Pendleton wasn’t robbing the Padres of hits, it was Belliard. If Heath wasn’t driving in runs, it was Ron Gant and Belliard. And after left-hander Steve Avery stopped the Padres for seven innings, allowing six hits and one unearned run, Berenguer relieved and left the Padres swinging at air.

The Padres had a feeling it might be one of those long nights when Gant hit Padre starter Bruce Hurst’s first pitch of the game into the left-field seats. Pendleton, who missed most of last week’s four-game series with a strained hamstring, followed with a single up the middle. Lonnie Smith then walked on five pitches.

And Hurst was in trouble.

David Justice bailed him out by swinging at the first pitch, flying out to center field. But Heath--moved up to fifth in the batting order because of his .327 career batting average against Hurst--singled into right field, scoring Pendleton, and he was able to go to second on the throw, with Smith stopping at third.

Knowing that one bad pitch could break the game wide-open, Hurst struck out Jeff Blauser on five pitches and Bream on three pitches.

Hurst settled down after the first, and pitched six shutout innings, allowing only three hits, before leaving the game in the seventh inning for a pinch-hitter. But the Padres were unable to capitalize, scoring their only run on McGriff’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.

The only Padre player to have a multiple-hit game was Tony Gwynn. Gwynn went three for four, raising his batting average to a league-leading .359. It was his 20th multiple-hit game of the season, the most in the major leagues.

The Padres shudder to think where they’d be without Gwynn this season. In his past 16 games, he is batting .420 with 15 RBIs, leading the major leagues with 66 hits, six triples, and is second in the league with 33 RBIs.

“I know everybody’s going ga-ga over the numbers,” Gwynn said, “but this is just one-quarter of the season. I’m not getting all caught up in it, I’m looking at the big picture.

“What I want more than anything is to win. God, I want to win. It’s a lot more meaningful to do something when the games mean something. That’s why 1989 was so much fun.

“Today’s mentality is to put up good numbers, make big money, and establish yourself. But I’ve been through all that. I’m 31 years old, I’m as complete a player as I’m going to get.

“This has been a lot of fun, and I’m going to keep riding the wave as far as it will carry me, but I want to win while I’m riding it.”

This is why Gwynn continues to play with shin splints in his right ankle, an aching left ankle and an ailing finger in his hand. If it was all about stats, he said, he’d be sitting out resting his aching body.