Atlanta Rallies to Dunk Padres

Hide the women and children--the Padres are still at home.

The team that just can’t seem to win in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium was back at it Tuesday night, blowing a one-run lead in the ninth inning to drop an 8-6 verdict to the Atlanta Braves.

The Padres, who are 15-10 on the road this season, have lost 10 of their past 12 home games. They are 7-14 at home. Perhaps that is why the San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium crowd was a season-low 10,082. It was the lowest San Diego crowd total since Sept. 6, when the Padres played Houston in front of 9,244.

Starter Adam Peterson surrendered three home runs in the first three innings--including one of the longest seen in San Diego this season--but still, the Padres came back. Then Atlanta took a two-run lead, and the Padres came back again.

Remember Garry Templeton? The forgotten Padre was nearly a hero. He unleashed a three-run pinch homer in the seventh to put the Padres on top, 6-5. But before the cheering had a chance to stop echoing off all the empty seats, Padre reliever Craig Lefferts (0-2) walked the first batter in the ninth and the Braves snatched this one back.

“Walking the first guy, that sets the whole thing up,” Lefferts said. “Little things here and there. I threw the ball well.

“What can you say? I pretty much got beat because I walked the first guy.”

That would be Mark Lemke, who entered the game in a double-switch in the eighth. Ron Gant followed with a ground ball into the hole between short and third. Tony Fernandez reached it but dropped it. Fernandez was charged with his ninth error--matching his total for the entire 1990 season--and runners were on first and second.

After Terry Pendleton sacrificed them to second and third, the Padres intentionally walked Otis Nixon to load the bases. It was the second time the intentionally walked someone to get to David Justice. The first time, in the seventh, Justice grounded into a double play. This time, he laced a single to right. Lemke and Gant scored. The Braves added another run when Nixon scored on a fielder’s choice.

It was the fourth blown save opportunity for Lefferts, who has been successful 10 times. He had entered the game in the eighth, when Padre Manager Greg Riddoch lifted reliever John Costello after just one batter. The Padres led at the time, 6-5. Costello allowed a single to Sid Bream.

“The first guy in the eighth got a base knock,” Riddoch said. “You’ve got to go to your stopper. . . . That’s not a role John is used to.”

Neither is pinch-hitting a role to which Templeton is accustomed, but he got the job done and nearly led the Padres to victory. It was only his second pinch homer since Templeton came to the Padres--his only other one came July 4, 1982, against Atlee Hammaker, then of San Francisco.

“I was just looking to put the ball in play, and I got lucky,” Templeton said.

Unusual? It was the theme of the Padres’ seventh. The rally started with two out. And it began with Shawn Abner, who was starting only his second game since May 12 and who was two for his past 48 going into his seventh-inning at bat.

He doubled to left.

Up stepped Jose Mota, who blooped a soft line drive toward third base. Pendleton faded back, reached, the ball hit his glove . . . and dropped to the ground. Mota was safe at first and Abner made it to third.

Out of the dugout came Templeton. Out of Atlanta’s dugout came Manager Bobby Cox, who called for reliever Kent Mercker.

Templeton stepped in. Ball one. Next pitch: Destination left-center field permanent wall, over the temporary fence for a home run.

“I finally got a chance to hit on the side of the plate I like,” said Templeton, who was batting right-handed.

Atlanta’s Mike Stanton (1-0) earned his first major-league victory. Some would say that Brave starter Pete Smith deserved better. He limited the Padres to three hits in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed five runs, but only two earned. He retired 13 consecutive Padres from the third inning until the trouble started in the seventh.

It has been a long road back from shoulder surgery for Smith, whose first appearance since June 24, 1990 came last Thursday against the Padres. But he is still looking for his first victory since June 5, 1990.