Rasmussen Makes His Case With Another Strong Outing : Baseball: Padre left-hander shuts down the Cubs in 5-1 victory.

Dennis Rasmussen listens to the Padres talk about the future. He knows about their need for a fifth starter and notices the dearth of pitching in the farm system.

That is why, he strongly suggests, the Padres might want to take a strong look at him before they let him depart at the season’s conclusion as a free agent.

Rasmussen, pitching one of his finest games of the season, led the Padres to a 5-1 victory Wednesday night over the Chicago Cubs at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. He allowed only six hits in seven innings, and Mike Maddux pitched two perfect innings to complete the victory.

The victory was the Padres’ eighth of the season against the Cubs, tying a franchise record. It also enabled them to remain 8 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in a division race that nobody wants.

If the Padres (66-68) have a shot at contending, the community certainly isn’t buying it. A crowd of only 9,952 showed up Wednesday for a total of 31,705 for the three-game series against the Cubs.

Rasmussen, however, isn’t going to worry about attendance. He’s not concerning himself with the Padres’ plans for him. Nor is he worried about any intentions the Padres might have of leaving him in the rotation the remainder of the year.

He simply wants to show the world he’s a winner, to prove to the pennant contenders who turned their backs on him that they made a grave mistake. Maybe he’ll even make an impression on his own team.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Rasmussen said. “I like San Diego, and I hope it will be my decision, but right now I’m not concerning myself with that.

“I’d like to be back, but under the right circumstances.”

Rasmussen, whose five victories this season are all against Chicago and Houston, naturally would like a multi-year contract in the off-season. Certainly, he’d like to have the Padres at least talk to him. If nothing else, he simply would like respect.

“There were a lot of left-handed starters out there last winter,” Rasmussen said, who received minimal interest on the free-agent marketplace. “There won’t be as many this season. I think any team will tell you how important it is to have left-handed starters.”

Said Padre Manager Greg Riddoch: “You’ve got a veteran pitcher, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t even know if I’m going to be here.”

Rasmussen (5-11), who lost nine consecutive starts at one point this season, has allowed four or fewer earned runs in his past six starts, pitching a minimum of six innings in four of them. And his 3.24 ERA is the lowest of any Padre starter.

“My ERA is indicative of how I pitched this season,” Rasmussen said. “Wins are out of my control. I’ve pitched well enough to keep us in a lot of games.”

While Rasmussen’s future with the Padres still is highly uncertain, the Padres’ fate the remainder of the season might hinge on the cartilage located in the left knee of right fielder Tony Gwynn. After returning to the starting lineup Tuesday and believing his knee problems were behind him, Gwynn awoke Wednesday morning in pain and was unable to play.

“As soon as I woke up and rolled over,” Gwynn said, “I knew it was going to be a long day.”

There are those who have told Gwynn that this should be a warning. He should sit out the rest of the season, they say. With his .325 batting average, why should he risk losing the batting title by playing on a bum knee?

Gwynn knows he has nothing to prove by playing. With his contract guaranteed through 1995, there certainly is no need for a salary drive.

“I just want to play,” Gwynn said, “it’s that simple. They pay me do a job, and I want to do it. It’s just a strange feeling right now because I really want to play, but I don’t want to make it any worse.

“But people are driving me nuts, like I go to bed and have silver bats dancing in my head. I don’t play this game for batting title. I’ve won it four times. It’s like the B.B. King song, ‘The Thrill is Gone.’

“If I win the batting title again, great. If I don’t win the batting title, so what? If I don’t win it this year, does that mean I can’t win it next year, or the year after, or in five years?

“The batting title is just not my top priority. If that upsets people, I’m sorry.

“I will play. And if my batting average goes down because of it, so be it. The only reason I wouldn’t play is if I think I’m hurting the team.”

The Padres got by without Gwynn on this night, in part because of the Cubs’ gaffes. Chicago ran itself out of the top half of the sixth, and then fielded itself out of the bottom half.

Cub center fielder Jerome Walton led off the sixth with a single, only to be thrown out by 10 feet at third base on Mark Grace’s hit. Grace alertly went to second base on the same play, only to be thrown out on another mental blunder at third the next.

The Cubs’ breakdown continued in the bottom of the sixth. Darrin Jackson led off with a single to center. Fred McGriff followed with a sharp single to left, and Jackson was slowing at second when left fielder George Bell booted the ball. Jackson took off for for third, and McGriff stayed at first--until Bell overthrew the cutoff man by 10 feet, allowing McGriff to second.

Cub starter Danny Jackson struck out Benito Santiago for the first out. Cub Manager Jim Essian, apparently not believing Jackson could duplicate the feat, pulled him from the game.

It was just the beginning of a series of moves that backfired. Right-hander Les Lancaster intentionally walked Tim Teufel, loading the bases, and then gave up a sacrifice fly to Jerald Clark.

Riddoch called upon left-handed pinch-hitter Oscar Azocar. Essian countered with left-hander Chuck McElroy. And Riddoch came right back with right-handed hitter Jim Vatcher.

Advantage Riddoch.

Vatcher lined the first pitch into left field for a run-scoring single, and went to second on yet another poor throw by Bell. Rasmussen then sealed the game by hitting a sharp grounder through third baseman Luis Salazar for an error, scoring Teufel and Vatcher for a 5-0 lead.

The Cubs were able to avert the shutout on George Bell’s leadoff homer in the seventh, his 23rd homer of the year, and first to right field.