Expo Singles Are Double Trouble for Rasmussen : Baseball: Seven hits in the first inning chase Padre starter in 8-2 Montreal victory.

Padre starter Dennis Rasmussen tells himself not to worry about it. He tells himself to shrug off the swirling rumors surrounding him. He tells himself to ignore the scouts sitting behind home plate with their speed guns.

“I’ve been pretty good staying focused,” Rasmussen said, “but when your girls ask you where they’re going to go to school next year, and you don’t have an answer for them, that’s tough.

“You just don’t know what to say.

“What can you say?”

Rasmussen, in his worst outing of the season Wednesday, never got out of the first inning and was the losing pitcher in the Padres’ 8-2 defeat to the Montreal Expos in front of 13,718 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The defeat was Rasmussen’s sixth in a row and inflated his earned-run average to 3.04, but it was the first time in 12 starts this season that he failed to pitch at least six innings. The Padres have scored only seven runs in the last seven starts by Rasmussen (3-7).

“If you don’t score,” Rasmussen said, “you can’t let them score. It’s that simple.”

Rasmussen’s fate apparently has not turned off the Boston Red Sox, who were in full force Wednesday night scouting Rasmussen. Scouts Wayne Britton and Ray Boone attended to file reports on Rasmussen for Red Sox General Manager Lou Gorman.

The Red Sox, who ended their six-game losing streak Wednesday with a victory over the Texas Rangers, need a starting pitcher. And the Padres have let it be known to all pennant contenders that Rasmussen is available.

The Padres, according to a source in the organization, are asking for triple-A third baseman Scott Cooper in return. Cooper, 23, batted .266 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs last season for triple-A Pawtucket and was batting .291 with seven homers and 38 RBIs at the All-Star break this season. Although Cooper, 6-feet-3 and 200 pounds, is considered one of the top third base prospects in baseball, he’s expendable because of Wade Boggs.

The Padres also have vast interest in center fielder Ellis Burks, who, according to sources, is available. Yet the Padres likely would have to trade at least one front-line player to acquire him, a proposition they might pursue in the off-season.

“I really don’t know what’s going on,” Rasmussen said. “I’m just trying to win. And I want to win here.

“But if something happens, and I’m traded, then I’m going to win wherever I go.”

Certainly, Rasmussen’s outing Wednesday was an aberration on what he has accomplished this season. Since returning from the disabled list May 25, Rasmussen allowed more than three earned runs in only one start, and that occurred only after the Padres botched two balls in the field, which turned into four runs.

“I’m not doing anything that I didn’t think I could do,” Rasmussen said, “or what I was expected to do.”

Then along came Wednesday, which left Rasmussen muttering under his breath. If only the Expos had hit the ball hard off him, maybe then it would have been tolerable. If had terrible control, maybe he could have understood.

“But it’s tough when you jam guys, they hit it off the end of their bats,” Rasmussen said, “and that happens. I made some good pitches. Got some ground balls, fielder’s choices, but I couldn’t get a double play turned.

“They hit it where we weren’t.”

Delino DeShields led off by hitting a ground ball through the right side of the infield. Marquis Grissom followed with another in almost the identical location. Ivan Calderon then hit the hardest ball of the night off Rasmussen with a line drive to right, loading the bases.

Rasmussen induced a ground ball to shortstop Tony Fernandez for one out, but the Padres failed to turn the double play. Andres Galarraga hit a bloop single to right for the second run. And the bases became loaded once again when Larry Walker hit yet another single to right.

Mike Fitzgerald then grounded to third for another potential double play, but the Padres could only get a force at second, allowing a third run to score. The Expos then pulled off a double steal when Fitzgerald took off for second. Catcher Benito Santiago threw to second baseman Bip Roberts, but the throw was high. Roberts, off-balance, threw home to get Galarraga, but his throw was in the dirt and skipped past Santiago, allowing Galarraga to score and Fitzgerald to take third.

And if that wasn’t enough, Spike Owen hit an infield single to shortstop Tony Fernandez. And just like that, the Expos had a 5-0 lead, and Rasmussen was out of the game.

“He just didn’t have his good stuff,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said, “but in fairness to him, no balls were hit hard, either.”

The Padres still threatened to make a game out of it when Fred McGriff homered in the second inning, and Roberts drove in a run in the fourth, but the Expos ended thoughts of a comeback by scoring three runs in the seventh off reliever Rich Rodriguez.

Now, Rasmussen simply will wait and see whether he makes another start for the Padres. He’s a free agent at the end of the season, but the Padres have not had any negotiations with his new agents, Jim Bronner or Bob Gilhooley of Chicago.

“I’d really like to stay here,” Rasmussen said. “I think we’ve got a pretty good nucleus of pitching. We’ve obviously had our problems this year, but I think our pitching has been consistent for the most part.

“They know what I can do, but whether they want me to be a part of their future is up to them.