Dodger Sweep Padres Out of Contention : Baseball: Strawberry hits two home runs, including a grand slam, as Padres fall, 9-5.

Tony Gwynn never thought this would happen. Maybe in past years, maybe in previous regimes, but he finally believed this Padre team would stay in the pennant chase into September.

There were too many signs that this team wouldn’t collapse. The core of talent was too strong. The clubhouse atmosphere was so serene. Surely, this would be the year things would change.

Instead, Gwynn sat quietly on the bench Wednesday afternoon and watched the slow dismantling of the Padres, with the Dodgers winning, 9-5, and completing a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium that ended the Padres’ championship hopes.

The Padres, who were swept at Dodger Stadium for the first time in four years, fell to 10 1/2 games behind the Dodgers--one-half game shy of their largest deficit of the season. The Padres (58-63) have fallen into such a mess that they would have to win 35 of their remaining 41 games to win the pennant if the Dodgers (68-52) play at their current pace.

“It gets so frustrating, so damn frustrating,” said Gwynn, whose sprained right ankle forced him to miss his first game of the year. “I mean, winning batting titles are nice, but I’m at the point now where I’ve won four of them. How much is enough, enough?

“I’d give up all my batting titles, all my Gold Gloves, all my awards, everything, for that World Series ring. That’s what the game is all about. That’s why I play it.

“I think sooner or later things will change. One day we’ll be on the mountaintop again instead of being in the valley. But the question is, when are we going to play the type of ball that’s necessary to get us there?

“Until we do, the frustrations won’t go away.”

The Padres, who were forced to play without Gwynn and shortstop Tony Fernandez (flu), had four players in their lineup who were in the minors this season. If it were a spring-training game, the National League office would be filing a complaint against the Padres for not playing enough regulars.

And when you’re a playing against a team that shelled out $36 million for free agents, including Darryl Strawberry, it’s easy to see why the Padres are looking to 1992 while the Dodgers are preparing to print playoff tickets.

Strawberry was the man who singlehandedly destroyed the Padres’ division title hopes, batting .727 (eight for 11) with three homers and 10 RBIs during the series. In contrast, the entire Padre team had only two homers and 11 RBIs.

Strawberry, the Dodgers’ $20.25-million free agent, saved his encore for Wednesday. He hit two home runs--including a grand slam--and became the first Dodger in history to drive in seven runs in a game at Dodger Stadium. He has hit five home runs and driven in 17 runs in his past 20 at-bats, and his 13 homers since the All-Star break are the most in the National League.

“Needless to say, we didn’t pitch too well to Strawberry,” said Mike Roarke, Padre pitching coach, “and that tends to get a guy real hot. We didn’t pitch smart at all.”

Strawberry’s theatrics began in the fifth inning when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, the Dodgers clinging to a 3-2 lead, and rookie pitcher Ricky Bones on the mound.

“I was thinking if I got up, and if I could get a pitch I could handle,” Strawberry said, “it could be a different ballgame.”

Bones got ahead of Strawberry with an 0-and-2 count, and then tried to slip a slider--low and away--past him. It was the same pitch Strawberry had obtained his past five hits. This time, it soared over the center-field fence for a grand slam.

The crowd of 32,864 rose to their feet, seeking a curtain call. Strawberry, who wasn’t sure Dodger fans even knew how that worked, was in the clubhouse, grabbing a Coke.

“That’s their favorite thing at Shea,” Strawberry said, recalling his days in a Met uniform, “but there haven’t been too many of those in New York this year.”

The Padres came back with two runs in the sixth inning on Thomas Howard’s two-run double, and another in the seventh on Benito Santiago’s run-scoring single, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 6-5.

Unfortunately for the Padres, it was then that it was Strawberry’s turn to bat again. Strawberry stepped to the plate in the seventh with runners on first and second, and Rich Rodriguez on the mound.

Rodriguez fell behind in the count, 2 and 0, forcing him to throw a fastball for a strike. Strawberry’s body coiled, he watched the ball drift over the plate, and sent the pitch over the fence in right-center field. It made a winner out of Orel Hershiser, a loser out of Bones, and left Gwynn more frustrated than ever.

“I really wanted to play in all 162 games this season,” said Gwynn, who missed the last 19 games of last season with a fractured finger. “That was my biggest goal. Now, I can’t do it.

“It’s not a macho thing or anything. I’m not trying to show everybody I can play in pain. It’s just I want to play.

“They pay me a lot of money to do the job I do, and all I want to do is earn my keep. I just wanted to see if I could do it, play in every game.

“Man, this really stinks. I play 120 games, just 42 more to go, and I can’t do it.

“Well, at least I know what my first goal for next year is. Now if we can just win a championship to go along with it.”