Clark’s Effort Looks Bad, Feels Good

Aesthetically, it was one of the ugliest hits of Jerald Clark’s career.

All things considered, however, it also might be one of Clark’s most satisfying.

He broke open a tie game in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday with a check-swing, bases-loaded single up the middle, helping the Padres to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Clark started at first base and batted cleanup Saturday in place of Fred McGriff, who aggravated a toe injury on a check swing Friday night.

In the eighth, Cub reliever Paul Assenmacher had enticed Tony Gwynn, the National League’s leading hitter, into what could have been an inning-ending double play, but third baseman Luis Salazar’s throwing error loaded the bases for Clark.

After falling behind 0-and-2, Clark, a right-handed hitter, was fooled on an inside pitch by the left-handed Assenmacher but managed to connect and drive the ball past shortstop Shawon Dunston.

“That’s what I would call a seeing-eye single, perfectly executed by Jerald Clark,” said Bip Roberts, who was on third and scored ahead of Tony Fernandez to give the Padres a 4-2 lead. “He couldn’t have placed that ball any better.”

Said Clark, “I was just looking for something around the plate, trying to put the bat on the ball, trying to get that run in any way I could. I don’t even know if it was a ball or strike, but I did the best I could reacting to the pitch and something good came out of it.”

And Clark’s reaction: “As soon as I hit it, I said, ‘Oh no. Double play.’ ”

Forgive Clark if his initial reaction seemed pessimistic. After all, before the check-swing single, Clark was hitless in his past 15 at-bats and was two for his past 29.

His average, which was .291 on May 25, had dropped 50 points by the time he batted in the eighth inning Saturday. Furthermore, he had struck out in the seventh inning, walked in the fifth, forced a runner on a grounder to short in the third and flied out in the first, ending two innings and stranding three of the Padres’ 14 runners left on base.

And this was a guy taking the place of a teammate who is on pace to become the first National League home run champion in the history of the franchise.

McGriff, who leads the National League with 15 home runs and has 42 RBIs, was held out of the starting lineup and did not play after aggravating his left big toe. McGriff originally injured the toe against the Dodgers on April 13, the fifth game of the season.

“Right now, I don’t care where I hit or where I play. I just want to play,” said Clark, who has started 32 games in left field but has been nursing a tender Achilles’ tendon since April 30. “I’ve hit in three different spots (now four), and it doesn’t make a difference to me.”

In the field, Clark had played first base only one inning this season. Against the Cubs on Saturday, he was flawless, making 10 putouts and assisting on a nifty pitcher-to-first-to-short pickoff in the eighth inning.

“I feel good out there,” Clark said. “But it’s different. You’re much closer to the hitter, and there are a lot more things going on in there than there are in the outfield. It keeps your head in the game.”

It also keeps Clark closer to the dugout.

“The best part about playing first,” Clark said, “was it gave me a chance to rest my Achilles. Not having to make those runs out to the outfield, that was nice.”