Harris Blanks the Reds

Greg Harris listened to the whispers all spring. When he sat around for two months with a sore elbow, they no longer were whispers, but voices loud and clear.

Harris, who wanted badly to be a starting pitcher, wondered if those who said he belonged in the bullpen were right. Perhaps the Padres were wrong for converting him.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it,” Harris said. “I didn’t know what was best for me. There were a lot of doubts in a lot of people’s minds.”

Harris answered any lingering doubts Saturday night, pitching his first career shutout in a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in front of 36,861 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Remarkably, it was the Padres’ first 1-0 victory since Sept. 24, 1989, when Andy Benes beat Orel Hershiser and the Dodgers.

Harris’ last complete game was Sept. 25, 1988--in his major league debut. Of course, no one paid much attention to the feat at the time.

Harris’ victory happened to come the same night former Padre President Chub Feeney was forced to resign after making an obscene gesture to the crowd on Fan Appreciation Night.

Reporters weren’t scurrying to find out how Harris’ curveball was working on that night.

On Saturday, though, Harris was surrounded by microphones and notepads. It was his his first victory since July 14, and it came against the defending World Series champions.

“What a sweet feeling,” Harris said, “especially to win, 1-0. There’s nothing like starting if you’re capable of doing it.”

Harris, who allowed six hits, has dominated the opposition in his past two starts. He has yet to allow an earned run in his past 16 innings, allowing 10 hits and striking out 15.

He did not allow a baserunner to reach third base, and in his past two starts, Houston Astro outfielder Mike Simms has been the only one to accomplish the feat when catcher Benito Santiago made a throwing error.

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch could only wonder how the team might have fared had Harris not spent nine weeks on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis.

“It sure would have been nice to have him all year, wouldn’t it?” Riddoch said. “He’s been pitching great. But I’ve got to tell you, when he was hurt, that gave you doubts whether he could pitch or not.”

It was the night of April 22. Harris threw one pitch to leadoff hitter Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants and screamed in anguish. It would be his last pitch until July 4.

“It was so frustrating, so disappointing,” Harris said. “When they called me over the winter and told me I was going to be in the starting rotation, I wanted to prove it was the right decision. Then, that happened.

“When I got injured, I had a feeling guys were saying, ‘His arm can’t take it. He had too many appearances last year.’

“That’s why being hurt was such a tough situation.”

The whispers have been silenced.

Harris, who was highly sought-after by virtually every team during the winter meetings and the focus of the Toronto Blue Jays’ trade requests during spring training, has proven to the Padres that they were right in keeping him.

This kid’s not going anywhere.

“Mentally,” said Harris, 3-3 with a team-low 2.15 ERA, “I’ve never felt better. It comes with a feeling of being comfortable, and knowing you can get the job done.

“More than the coaching staff, or the management, it was important to me to show my teammates I could do this.”

The victory--which allowed the Padres (53-57) to move within 8 1/2 games of the division-leading Dodgers and kept the Reds (53-55) at 7 1/2 games back--also would not have been possible without first baseman Fred McGriff.

The Padres, who have scored only two runs in their past 20 innings, got the only run they needed in the third inning.

Harris and Bip Roberts opened the inning by striking out. Tony Fernandez then singled to left and stole second. Tony Gwynn followed with a hard-hit ball toward the hole that was knocked down by shortstop Barry Larkin, preventing Fernandez from scoring.

That brought up McGriff, who leads the Padres with 20 homers and 66 RBIs. Yet McGriff has not had success with two outs and runners in scoring position.

McGriff came into the game hitting only .135 in those circumstances. He had driven in only six of 60 baserunners in scoring position with two outs. In contrast, Tony Gwynn has hit .378 in those situations.

This time, McGriff stroked a single to left field, scoring Fernandez for what proved to be the game-winner. And he made one of the game’s key defensive plays in the ninth when he picked Fernandez’s low throw out of the dirt.

And once again, it turned out to be another evening of frustration for the Reds, who are 9-19 since the All-Star break. They were shut out for the second time in four games, squandering Jose Rijo’s six-hit performance through seven innings and ending his seven-game winning streak.

Really, the most suspense in the late innings simply was whether Harris would be allowed to go the distance.

He almost was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh--and he rewarded Riddoch by lining a single to center field for his second hit of the season and first since April.

In the final two innings, Riddoch had decided that if a batter reached base, Harris was leaving the game. It never happened. In fact, nobody even hit a ball out of the infield.

“I knew I was gone if I gave up a baserunner because they didn’t want me to be in the situation of losing the game,” Harris said. “Fortunately, it didn’t happen.

“What a great feeling.”