Lefferts Lets Padre Win Slip Away : Baseball: Cubs erase two-run deficit in the ninth inning to win, 5-4.

The Padres have tried to keep it a secret. They haven’t criticized, ridiculed, or even publicly suggested that a change is necessary.

Yet, after the Padres’ 5-4 defeat to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field--blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning on Mark Grace’s game-winning double--they no longer tried to hide their contempt.

The Padres, whose patience has been exhausted, finally have decided that they need a different bullpen stopper.

Craig Lefferts, who blew his seventh save of the season in 25 opportunities, not only is on the trading block, but the Padres are desperately trying to deal him within a week.

The Padres, according to sources, have offered Lefferts and starter Dennis Rasmussen to the Boston Red Sox for third-base prospect Scott Cooper and a player to be named.

The Red Sox, who have shown more interest in Lefferts than Rasmussen, told the Padres they’ll make a decision by Aug. 31. Clubs must submit their 25-man playoff rosters to the league offices by midnight Aug. 31. Players not on the list are ineligible for the playoffs.

There’s also another team interested in Lefferts, perhaps the Minnesota Twins, but in any case, the Padres have made it clear that Lefferts is available.

“I really can’t worry about that,” Lefferts said. “I just want go get in a situation where I’m consistent again. And that’s not happening.

“Performance is execution, when you break it down. And I haven’t been executing.”

The numbers don’t lie. Lefferts’ record fell to 0-5 with the defeat, and his 4.94 ERA is the highest of any pitcher on the 25-man roster. Most revealing of his woes is that he has yielded 58 hits and walked 12 batters in 51 innings.

Perhaps the stumbling block in trading Lefferts, however, is his contract. He earns $1.875 million this season, and also in 1992, the final year of his contract. Most clubs are reluctant to take on his contract, particularly if they’re going to use him strictly in a set-up role.

It’s not as if the Padres believe Lefferts is incapable of closing games, but it’s become evident they have lost their confidence in him and are frustrated by his inconsistency.

“He just has not gotten the job done,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “We haven’t slammed the door like we’ve liked to slam the door.”

The Padres’ lack of confidence in Lefferts, perhaps even more than his performance, was responsible for the Padres blowing a 4-2, ninth-inning lead. It was the third time in the past seven games the Padres have blown a lead in the seventh inning or later, resulting in their fourth consecutive defeat.

The Padres were having a joyous time in Chicago for the first 8 1/2 innings Friday. Catcher Benito Santiago hit the longest homer of the season in the Padres’ four-run fourth inning, and capped his game by stealing second base and third base in the eighth inning, tying a career-high. . . . First baseman Fred McGriff had three hits. . . . Right fielder Tony Gwynn’s sprained right ankle was feeling better. . . .

And then there was Padre starter Bruce Hurst.

Hurst, pitching his first game at Wrigley Field, not only was dominant on the mound, but was having the game of his life at the plate. He obtained the first extra-base hit of his career in the fourth inning when he hit a run-scoring double, and in the ninth got another hit when he hit a grounder to second baseman Ryne Sandberg that took a crazy bounce and caromed off Sandberg’s mouth.

“That was a hit?” Hurst asked, incredulously. “That’s a joke. . . . I guess they protect Ryno in this town, don’t they?”

As you can probably tell, Hurst was not in the best of moods talking about his hitting proficiency. The ninth inning wiped away any good memories of the day.

Hurst, with a 4-2 lead, opened the ninth by retiring Luis Salazar. Shawon Dunston then singled up the middle, bringing Riddoch to the mound.

Riddoch, knowing that right-handed reliever Larry Andersen was unavailable because of a stiff neck, and showing little confidence in Lefferts, didn’t hesitate leaving Hurst in the game. Pinch-hitter Hector Villanueva walked to the plate, and Hurst told himself to keep the ball down, hoping to induce a double-play.

Instead, Hurst threw a 1-and-0 pitch that was belt-high, Villanueva swung, and sent a shot toward the left-field bleachers. Left fielder Jerald Clark, and along with everyone else in the sellout crowd of 33,090, thought it was going over the brick wall for a two-run homer.

Clark ran to his left, watched the ball drift, and hoped it would at least go foul. The ball, however, stymied by the stiff breeze, stayed down and was heading toward the 385-foot-sign in the left-field corner. Clark jumped, but the ball landed under his glove and bounced crazily off the wall.

Clark lost the ball after it caromed toward center field and he looked toward center fielder Darrin Jackson for help. By the time the ball was retrieved, Dunston had scored and Villanueva was standing on third with the third triple of his career.

The crowd went bonkers, Hurst slammed his foot against the pitching mound, and Lefferts ran in from the bullpen, hoping to save the day.

It took all of nine pitches for Jerome Walton to tie the game on a sacrifice fly to center, Chico Walker to hit a single to left, and Grace to win the game with a double into the right-field corner.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Santiago muttered to himself, throwing a batting glove into his locker.

Said Gwynn: “This was a tough, a real tough one to lose.”

It was the Padres’ 16th blown save in 46 opportunities this season, and considering the Padres are paying $4.375 million this season to co-stoppers Lefferts and Andersen, you can imagine the Padres’ discontent.

“I’m more frustrated than anyone,” Lefferts said. “A day like today is totally frustrating. You have Bruce (Hurst) and the whole club out there all day, and then I come in and do what I did. We deserved to win that game. It was our game. That’s my job, to come in and close them out.

“It just didn’t happen.

“And let me tell you, there’s nothing more frustrating than that.”