Giants Reap Benefits From Padre Errors to Beat Rasmussen

Padres starter Dennis Rasmussen leaned back into his locker Sunday afternoon, putting himself virtually out of view, poking at the Mexican food on his plate.

He really didn’t feel like eating. He didn’t feel like chatting. He didn’t feel like doing much of anything.

The Padres played miserably while losing, 7-2, Sunday to the San Francisco Giants, and Rasmussen was the victim of their blunders.

Once again.

The Padres, who have allowed more unearned runs, 12, with Rasmussen on the mound than any other pitcher, out-did themselves on this day. Although the box score will show that only one error was committed, it doesn’t come close to explaining Rasmussen’s pitching line: six innings, nine hits, six runs (five earned), three walks and a strikeout.

There was right fielder Oscar Azocar slipping . . . Azocar allowing a ball to bounce out of his glove . . . Azocar throwing to the wrong base . . . first baseman Fred McGriff throwing wide on a pickoff attempt . . . and McGriff not making a throw on another pickoff attempt.

It was plenty enough to put Rasmussen, 6-12, 3.51 ERA, in an angry mood.

“You saw what happened, write it,” said Rasmussen, who’s eligible for free agency at the end of the season. “You’ve got to make those plays. If you don’t, you see what happens. It wasn’t that tough to see it should have been a 1-1 game.

“I don’t know what I can say? You’ve got to catch the ball and throw the ball. It’s not that tough.

“It’s the big leagues, isn’t it?”

Azocar, who was not making his first start at Candlestick, but his first in right field this season, was just as hard on himself. He knew it would have been easy to blame the blaring sun and gusty wind for his mistakes, but offered no excuses.

“I’ve never, ever had a day like this in my life,” Azocar said. “I hope nobody ever has a day like that, either. If you want to play every day in the big leagues, you’ve got to make those catches.”

McGriff, who got his career-high 93rd RBI in the first inning, also didn’t have any alibis. He said he made poor throws.

Actually, McGriff said, the most irritating aspect was that Rasmussen would even discuss their fielding mistakes. He later even approached Rasmussen about the subject.

“Guys aren’t messing up on purpose,” McGriff said. “Nobody is perfect. Maybe he shouldn’t put so many runners on base.

“If I’m struggling, I don’t go blame Merv (Rettenmund) or anything. I just blame myself, that’s the way it should be.”

Rasmussen later talked with McGriff and explained that he wasn’t blaming anyone. He simply talked about the misplays when asked about them.

“I wasn’t blaming anybody, or pointing fingers, or anything like that,” Rasmussen later said. “I’ll take responsibility as much as anyone. We didn’t get the job done, and I’m part of that.”

If anyone really wants to relive the horror show, it all started in the first inning with the Padres leading 1-0 after McGriff’s run-scoring double. Rasmussen induced a fly ball to right field from leadoff hitter Darren Lewis. In minutes, everything would unravel.

Willie McGee, who was four for four, started it off by hitting a grounder past Rasmussen for an infield single. Then Tommy Herr singled to right. Kevin Mitchell flied to left for the second out, but Matt Williams tied the game with a single to right. It scored McGee. Williams went to second when Azocar threw home.

It got worse.

Rasmussen walked Dave Anderson, loading the bases for Steve Decker, who was batting .209.

Rasmussen got Decker to loft a ball to right field. Azocar started to run in and slipped. He tried to recover but lost the ball. It dropped in for a three-run triple.

Except for McGriff’s errant throw on a pickoff attempt, all was going well until the fifth inning. Mitchell led off with a drive to right. Azocar, who struggled from the beginning tracking the ball, picked it up at the last second. The ball landed in his glove, and out. This time, it was ruled an error; Mitchell was standing on third. He scored on Williams’ sacrifice fly for a 5-1 lead.

“I have no excuse for that one,” Azocar said. “It was a routine fly ball. I should have had that one. I’ve got to have that one.”

The encore came in the sixth. Mike Benjamin was on first base with two outs when Rasmussen appeared to pick him off. McGriff couldn’t get the ball out of his glove and Benjamin slid in safely for a stolen base. Willie McGee followed with a single, scoring Benjamin for a 6-1 lead.

Perhaps mercifully, Rasmussen then was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning, and was left to find refuge in the clubhouse.

“Today was a classic example of what’s happened to me this season,” Rasmussen said. “It’s no big secret I haven’t had much luck. But what can you do?

“It’s out of my control.”