Padres’ Make All the Right Moves to Turn Back Reds : Baseball: Off-season decisions look good in 4-3 victory over Cincinnati.

Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, tried to be modest. He wanted to act as humble as possible. It’s crazy to brag after the first victory of the season.

But all of his player personnel decisions paid off at once Monday in the Padres’ 4-3 opening-day victory over the Cincinnati Reds, so who can blame him for being smug?

The Padres, who stopped the Reds’ nine-game winning streak of season openers in front of a sellout crowd of 55,356 at Riverfront Stadium, played out the perfect script for McIlvaine.

Remember, Darrin Jackson, the center fielder he decided not to trade at the last minute? He led off the ninth inning by hitting Jose Rijo’s 2-and-0 slider for a game-winning homer over the wall in left-center field.

Remember pitcher Jose Melendez, the man he refused to include in a deal with the Reds that could have brought outfielder Eric Davis? He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the victory.

Remember third baseman Gary Sheffield, whom McIlvaine acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in a much-criticized trade? He made the defensive play of the game in the seventh inning, turning a disastrous situation into a double play.

And remember the Bip Roberts-Randy Myers trade, the deal folks in San Diego thought was a huge blunder? That proved to be the most delicious irony of all.

Myers came into the game and pitched the ninth inning for the save in front of his former fans. Roberts flubbed a routine double-play ball in the fifth inning that led to two runs, igniting the Padres’ comeback.

“It was a perfect script for the first game, wasn’t it,” McIlvaine said, beaming. “I think you know now why we made the deals we did.

“The only way it could have been better today, I guess, is if Myers and Bip faced one another in the ninth.”

Actually, the encore was provided during the game. Roberts and Padre starter Bruce Hurst’s private feud became public when the two shouted at one another, challenged one other to a fight, with Roberts later saying, “He can kiss my ass.”

The two players never particularly cared for one another, anyway. Hurst was one of several Padres who believed Roberts was a malcontent. Roberts was critical of Hurst’s rapport with the front office and believed the pitcher was as responsible as anyone for his trade.

Their emotions started to unravel in the fifth, when the Reds led, 2-0, and Rijo ran into problems. Jerald Clark opened with a single to center. Jackson flied out deep to left for the first out, but Kurt Stillwell followed with a single to left, moving Clark to second.

That brought up Hurst, who was hoping to move the runners over with a bunt. But Rijo walked him on four pitches, loading the bases.

Rijo appeared to get out the jam, however, when he induced a potential double-play grounder to shortstop Barry Larkin. Larkin flipped the ball Roberts, but Hurst slid in hard. Roberts bobbled the ball and threw in the dirt to first baseman Hal Morris. Fernandez was safe, and the Padres had their first run.

It proved quite costly. Tony Gwynn then doubled to left, tying the game.

Whether Roberts was angry at his mistake in the fifth or simply frustrated at hitting the ball hard with nothing to show for it, he managed to agitate Hurst in the seventh.

The Reds, trailing 3-2 after Fred McGriff’s sixth-inning homer, opened the seventh with Paul O’Neill’s single to center. Joe Oliver sliced a double to right, scoring O’Neill. Rijo followed with a perfect bunt down the first-base line, and, all of a sudden, the Reds had runners on first and third with none out.

Roberts stepped to the plate and hit a sharp bouncer to Sheffield. Sheffield was about to throw to second for a double-play attempt, but much to his astonishment, saw pinch-runner Jacob Brumfield, who was making his major league debut, break for home.

Sheffield chased Brumfield to home plate, tagged him out, and then caught Rijo wandering off second base to complete a strange double play.

“I couldn’t believe he took off,” Sheffield said. “That’s what really surprised me.”

Roberts, hoping to generate some offense on his own, then stole second. That’s when trouble erupted. Roberts, standing on second, began yelling aloud. He claimed he was encouraging Hal Morris, the batter. Hurst apparently thought otherwise.

Hurst stepped off the mound and yelled at Roberts. Roberts yelled back. Hurst then stepped back on the mound and induced a routine fly ball. As Roberts pulled up to home plate, and Hurst came off the mound, the two exchanged words again.

Roberts, who said Hurst was challenging him to a fight in the dugout, motioned him to come back onto the field and fight. The argument stalled when Hurst was escorted into the dugout and ended when he was pulled from the game, having given up seven hits.

“Hey, if he wants to initiate something, that’s fine by me,” Roberts said. “I’m not going to back down from nobody, especially him. I just wanted to know what he said, but all I could hear is his high-pitched voice.”

Said Manager Greg Riddoch: “I told (Hurst) to forget about it, don’t sink to his level.”

Hurst refused to talk about the incident, saying only, “I don’t care what he said, and I don’t want to comment on what he said.”

It was that kind of game.

“I think you saw everything today,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “You wonder what we can do next for excitement.”