Harris Fires Another Shutout : Baseball: Padre right-hander, winner in a 1-0 decision over Atlanta, has pitched 21 scoreless innings in a row.

Of all the setbacks that the Padres have endured this season, losing Greg Harris for two months might have been the most serious.

Harris’ continued magnificent pitching Thursday led Manager Greg Riddoch to pose the question, “How many more wins do you think we’d have if Harry had been with us all season?”

Riddoch answered himself by guessing “six or seven,” which would have had the Padres snapping at the heels of the first-place Dodgers in the National League West. Considering the way Harris has pitched since recovering from elbow tendinitis, Riddoch’s hypothetical numbers were not out of line.

On Thursday, Harris became the first pitcher in the 23-year history of the Padre franchise to pitch successive 1-0 shutouts. The 27-year-old right-hander held the Atlanta Braves to three hits, outpitching John Smoltz in front of 17,434 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Smoltz was every bit as good as Harris for seven innings--he finished with a four-hitter--but Oscar Azocar, batting for catcher Dann Bilardello, broke the stalemate by singling in Darrin Jackson with one out in the eighth. It was Azocar’s fourth hit in six at-bats since his recall from Las Vegas.

Harris now has pitched 21 scoreless innings in a row and 25 innings without allowing an earned run. In the start before his first 1-0 victory, he gave up only one unearned run in seven innings.

The streak has slashed Harris’ earned-run average to 1.88 for 71 1/3 innings. He has yielded only 57 hits and has struck out 51 batters while walking only 14. He had six strikeouts and two walks in Thursday’s victory.

“The two shutouts were identical,” Harris said. “I had all my pitches working. Mike Roarke (pitching coach) has been telling me to be more aggressive, and it’s paying off.”

With it all, though, Harris has only a 4-3 record, so Riddoch has good reason to wonder what might have been.

Actually, there was speculation when Harris was on the disabled list that he might return to the bullpen when he was healthy. He was a reliever in 1989 and 1990, his first two seasons in the major leagues, and a good one at that. He had ERAs of 2.60 and 2.30, respectively, with six and nine saves.

Riddoch, however, had Harris pegged as a starter all along.

“I think a lot of people questioned whether he should be a starter,” Riddoch said. “I don’t think those same people would feel that way now.”

Riddoch likened Thursday’s game to the type he used to watch when he was following the Dodgers as a youngster.

“Maury Wills would get on and steal second and third,” Riddoch said. “Then somebody would hit a sacrifice fly, and they’d turn the lights out.”

In this case, Tony Gwynn was the only Padre able to solve Smoltz’s collection of pitches until the eighth. Gwynn tripled in the first inning and doubled in the fourth--and would have had a third hit in the seventh if Smoltz hadn’t deflected his hard ground ball to second baseman Jeff Treadway. Gwynn is hitting .500 (25 for 50) for the season against the Braves.

Finally, Jackson, gradually becoming more comfortable against right-handed pitching, led off the eighth with a bloop single to left-center. Jerald Clark moved Jackson to second with a bounder hit so weakly that Smoltz’s only play was at first. Then Azocar delivered another bloop, this one to left, and Jackson scored easily.

“As soon as Azocar hit the ball, I was gone,” Jackson said. “I knew where the outfielders were playing, so it was no problem.”

While giving Harris due credit, both Smoltz and Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox felt that the Padres were fortunate to score the run.

Smoltz said, “I made all the pitches to Azocar, but in my mind he got lucky at the right time. Shoot, they didn’t hit one ball hard in that inning.”

Cox agreed, saying, “Two bloops and a little chop beat us. The real key was the out that got Jackson to second.”

Harris threw only 98 pitches, 58 of them strikes, to Smoltz’s 117, of which 77 were strikes. Smoltz struck out nine, including seven of the first nine he faced, and walked two.

Only once did Harris get a scare. In the eighth, Greg Olson hit a drive to left that looked like a possible home run, but Clark caught it in front of the fence.

“That ball had a chance,” Harris said. “I was sort of shocked that it stayed in.”

Bilardello, who was catching to give Benito Santiago a rest, didn’t share Harris’ concern about Olson’s drive.

“The catcher has a better view in those cases,” Bilardello said. “I knew it wasn’t going out. But I had to get on Greg after that. He was getting away with some mistakes, and I didn’t want him to make any more. I’m not sure he had his best stuff, but he stayed ahead of the hitters.”

Harris would have been taken out for a pinch-hitter if Azocar hadn’t come through--he was on deck at the time--but he said, “That wouldn’t have bothered me. I just wanted us to win.”

Once Azocar gave him the lead, Harris breezed through the ninth, finishing with a flourish by striking out Terry Pendleton for the second time.

“Everybody was on their feet when I went for the strikeout,” Harris said. “That sort of fan enthusiasm makes it all worthwhile.”

Harris’ Starts

Statistics for Padre right-hander Greg Harris in his seven starts since returning from the disabled list:

Date Opp. IP H R ER BB SO July 14 N.Y. 8 1/3 1 1 0 4 6 July 20 Phil. 7 5 1 1 0 8 July 25 Mont. 4 1/3 10 5 4 1 3 July 31 Phil. 5 7 6 3 2 3 Aug. 5 Hou. 7 4 1 0 2 8 Aug. 10 Cin. 9 6 0 0 0 7 Aug. 15 Atl. 9 3 0 0 2 6