BASEBALL ’92 : Benes Shoulders Load As Padres Defeat Reds : Baseball: Pitcher responds to questions with a 2-1 victory over Cincinnati.

The long winter could have diminished his confidence. The surgery near his lower abdomen, which delayed his spring training, could have set him back. The contract hassles in March could have ruined his concentration.

Sorry, not this guy.

Padre starter Andy Benes simply shrugged his broad shoulders Wednesday and dominated the Cincinnati Reds, leading the Padres to 2-1 victory at Riverfront Stadium.

“People have been basically handing the championship trophy to the Reds before the season started,” said Greg Riddoch, Padre manager. “Now, I think we sent the rest of the league a message. We’re going to be around.”

The victory not only gave the Padres confidence, but showed that Benes may have arrived as a premier pitcher.

Said Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn: “You look at him now, and he’s like a No. 1 power-dominating pitcher you see in (Dwight) Gooden and (Roger) Clemens. He’s that good. He learned a lot about being a big-league pitcher last year, and has really come into his own.

“To me, the really good pitchers are the ones who turn it up a notch when they get in trouble. That’s Andy Benes.”

Benes, who went 14 starts without a victory before winning last May, and was 4-10 at the All-Star break, has turned around his career at 24.

He kept the Reds off-balance the entire day, allowing more than one runner in only one inning, and checked the Reds on six hits and one run in seven innings. It was his 12th victory in his last 16 starts dating to July 28, 1991. He is 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA during that stretch, pitching at least six innings in every start.

“I can’t really explain it,” Benes said, “but I have confidence I’ve never had before. I make the pitches I have to in order to win. Before, it was like I pitched not to lose.”

There was no finer example of Benes’ prowess than in the sixth inning, when the Reds had him on the brink of disaster.

Catcher Jeff Reed opened the inning with a single past third baseman Gary Sheffield into left field. Billy Hatcher hit a bloop single to right, advancing Reed to second. Reed was then replaced by pinch-runner Jacob Brumfield.

Pitcher Tim Belcher stepped to the plate, wanting only to bunt and advance the runners. Instead, Benes balked, moving the runners, before striking out Belcher.

That brought up former Padre Bip Roberts, who has been craving the opportunity for revenge. Instead, on a 2-and-2 pitch, Benes hit him in the middle of the back. Roberts dropped his bat in disgust, slowly walked up the baseline and then jogged to first.

Dave Martinez stepped up with the bases loaded at the same time Riddoch told Jose Melendez to start warming up. Benes threw a slider, Martinez swung, and hit a grounder toward first baseman Fred McGriff. It would be the start of a chain of chaotic events.

McGriff scooped up the ball cleanly, threw the ball home to catcher Dann Bilardello for the force. Bilardello’s throw back to McGriff for the double play glanced off Martinez into foul territory. Hatcher crossed home plate, and Roberts was standing on third when home-plate umpire Greg Bonin came running down the first-base line.

Bonin called Martinez out on interference. Martinez began screaming at Bonin, and Red Manager Lou Piniella soon joined the fracas.

Piniella wasn’t going to leave before he vented his anger. He screamed at Bonin and then, realizing the call wasn’t going to be overturned, began kicking the dirt at first base. He kicked four times before he was ejected. Then, he stood there, and kicked the dirt four more times, taking his cap off for emphasis as he walked off the field.

“That might have been the call of the game,” said Bilardello, who also threw out two runners on steal attempts. “I knew Dave runs pretty well, and saw he was running close to the line, so I decided to throw the ball right at him. If it hits him, the umpire probably rings him up.

“Well, it caught him on the left leg, so that’s how close to the line it was. It could have gone either way.”

Said Piniella: “It’s not a call you make up. It’s a judgement call. And in his judgement, the ball hit Martinez inside the baseline.

“Obviously, I didn’t agree.”

Benes wasn’t sure if the proper call was made, but quickly hurried off the field, making sure no one changed their mind.

“That one gave new life to us,” Benes said.

Still leading 1-0--provided by Gwynn’s triple in the sixth inning and Sheffield’s sacrifice fly--Benes next decided to dazzle the Reds with his bat.

Kurt Stillwell, who batted .500 in the three-game series, led off the eighth with a double into left field. Bilardello--batting in the eighth spot in the order playing in place of Benito Santiago (strained index finger)--decided to execute a bit unusual strategy, even considering his career .207 batting average. He laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Stillwell to third, but also bringing up Benes.

Benes not only has a career .107 batting average, but he has gone 51 at-bats without a base hit. It wasn’t exactly causing fear in the hearts of the 17,397 Red fans in attendance.

Benes flailed away on a couple of pitches, fell behind 1-and-2 in the count, and then shocked the house. He squared off to bunt. It was a fastball low and away, and Benes bunted it perfectly down the first-base line to score Stillwell, matching his RBI total of all last year.

“You expect that from a guy like Brett Butler,” Red first baseman Hal Morris said, “not this guy.”

It proved to be an invaluable run, particularly after Benes ran into trouble in the eighth inning. He gave up a leadoff triple to Morris when Riddoch summoned Randy Myers.

Joe Oliver, the first batter to face Myers, hit a line shot that almost took off third baseman Sheffield’s head.

“It was either react, or get killed,” Sheffield said.

Morris scored later when Myers threw a wild pitch. Hatcher followed by hitting a ball just as hard at shortstop Tony Fernandez for the second out.

Myers was not so fortunate facing pinch-hitter Reggie Sanders, who hit a ball into the right-center gap for a ground-rule double. That brought up Roberts, who was facing Myers for the first time since they were traded for one another in December.

Roberts worked the count to 3-and-2, but then popped up to shallow left field. He reached first base, and spiked his helmet in disgust.

In the ninth, Myers surrendered a two-out double to Paul O’Neill, but ended the game by inducing a groundout to Billy Doran. Just like that, the Padres escaped Cincinnati feeling awfully good about themselves.

“I think a lot of people expected us to lose all three games here,” Benes said. “We had other plans.”