PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Jackson’s Playing Long Ball, but He’s Not Playing Regularly

Padre outfielder Darrin Jackson, who hit another homer Friday in the Padres’ 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants, is having the best season of his life.

He already has hit a career-high eight homers, including four in his past 13 at-bats. He already has 16 RBIs, four shy of his career high. And he’ll have more at-bats by the All-Star break than he had all last year for the Padres.

Yet, he still can’t win a job as an everyday player for the Padres, and he wonders aloud if he’ll ever be a regular.

“It’s been tough, real tough,” Jacksion said. “But you can’t get mad about it, you just have to realize what the situation is, and make the best of it. What are you going to do? What can you do? There’s a lot of guys in my situation in baseball, and I think everyone is thinking the same thing.

“We’re all waiting for expansion.

“Hoepfully, that’ll give a few of us a new lease on life.”

It didn’t take more than a couple of hours after the announcement of Fernando Valenzuela’s release Friday that Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine’s phone was ringing again.

Question: “Are you interested in signing Fernando?”

Answer: “How many times do I have to say, ‘No.’ ”

McIlvaine said: “Our scouts told us he couldn’t pitch, and we believed that all along. I didn’t think he could pitch last year, either. This reaffirms our beliefs.”

The Padres, according to a source, have offered Shawn Abner to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for reserve outfielder Gary Thurman.

The Royals declined.

“The fact that he’s (Abner) out of options is killing him,” McIlvaine said. “Teams are very reluctant to deal for someone without options.”

Although Padre first baseman Fred McGriff says that he’s not bitter about being bypassed for the All-Star team, Giant first baseman Will Clark says that he can’t believe McGriff wasn’t chosen.

“Fred is having a great year,” Clark said. “To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have taken it hard if he had beaten me in the voting. He deserves to go, too.”

Giant Manager Roger Craig on Astro starter Mark Portugal, who’s 8-1 with a 2.06 ERA against Giants in his career, but 28-33 against everyone else: “He’s the best pitcher in the world when I see him. The way he pitches against us is unbelievable. You wonder why he doesn’t win more games. I guess he doesn’t face the Giants every time.”

Padre starter Greg Harris, who allowed nine hits and three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings Thursday in his return against the Dodgers: “I found myself pressing. I was making mistakes I shouldn’t have made. I was far from being satisfied.

“It wasn’t a case of me keeping them in the game. They kept me in the game.”

How bad was the Giants’ three-game series against the Houston Astros?

They not only were swept. They not only were outscored 31-10. But consider this: The quartet of Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez, Ken Caminiti and Casey Candaele batted .377 in the series with 21 RBIs.

“That about says it all,” Craig said.

When Giant infielder Greg Litton pitched Friday night in the ninth inning during the Giants 14-6 loss to the Houston Astros, he became the first position player to pitch for the Giants since Dave Kingman in 1973.

“I was so fired up,” Litton said. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I was a little kid. I could barely breathe out there I was so fired up.

“I just wish we didn’t have to get killed for me to do that.”

The Padres will be essentially playing with 23 players this series. Infielder Tim Teufel has a strained hamstring and is limited to pinch-hitting duty, and outfielder/infielder Bip Roberts still has a sore right shoulder. . . . Giant starter Bud Black, who was scratched from his Sunday start, said that he has been bothered by tenderness in his left elbow for the past month. In his past five starts, he is 0-2, allowing 41 hits and 19 earned runs in 33 1/3 innings for a 5.13 ERA. “Sometimes,” Black said, “you have to take one step backward to take two steps forward.” . . . Giant pitcher Scott Garrelts, who’s on the disabled list with an inflamed elbow, has made an appointment July 15 to see Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ orthopedic specialist. . . . The Padres will play the second game of their three-game series against the Giants at 1:05 p.m. today. Andy Benes (4-8) and Don Robinson (3-6) are the scheduled starters.