PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Tewksbury’s Aim Stays True: Of 94 Pitches, 71 Are for Strikes

A team that hit well (.290) during the home stand sure didn’t do much Sunday against St. Louis starting pitcher Bob Tewksbury. In losing, 7-1, the Padres managed only six hits.

Only Fred McGriff’s home run and Jerald Clark’s double went for any distance. The first three Padres in the order--Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn and Gary Sheffield--combined to go 0 for 12.

“(Tewksbury’s) the type of guy you don’t think can come inside, and then he pounds you in,” Sheffield said. “He gets you thinking too much at the plate. He plays with your head.”

Sheffield compared Tewksbury to another pitcher who doesn’t throw very hard--Atlanta’s Charlie Liebrandt.

“You say, ‘How can those guys jam you?”’ Sheffield said. “Then you get up there and see.”

Tewksbury (3-0) certainly was impressive. He got the job done in a tidy 94 pitches--71 strikes and 23 balls. His earned-run average shrank to 1.46, which places him third in the National League. Teammate Donovan Osborne is first at 1.23.

“(Tewksbury) is not going to beat himself,” St. Louis Manager Joe Torre said. “He throws strikes and gets ahead of people.

“Probably, if you had a choice of who to give a lead to, he’s be the one because of the way he pitches.”

Tewksbury, in 37 innings this season, has walked only one batter.

Appropriately, it was Montreal’s Larry Walker. In fact, the only run Tewksbury allowed was disputed. McGriff’s eighth home run may have been a gift.

St. Louis right fielder Felix Jose leaped at the wall and reached over the fence for the ball, and it came back onto the field when he jerked his glove back toward his body.

Television replays showed that the ball was in Jose’s glove and he caused it to return to the playing surface.

Umpire Jerry Crawford, though, ruled that the ball hit the back wall.

“There’s no way that could have happened,” Torre said. “I thought the tale of the tape was going to measure 326 feet (the fence is 327).

“It didn’t matter, though. We had a 7-0 lead. I’m just happy that was the situation.” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said he has not decided whether Craig Lefferts or Dave Eiland will miss his next turn. With two off days this week, the Padres do not want Andy Benes, Bruce Hurst or Greg Harris pitching on seven days’ rest, so they will juggle their rotation.

They will need someone to start Saturday in Philadelphia, and Riddoch said a decision will likely be made on the plane to Montreal today.

Padre pitcher Larry Andersen threw on the bullpen mound again Sunday and said, while his forearm is still painful, it felt better than it did on Friday.

“When I’m throwing level, it’s sore, but I can air it out,” Andersen said. “When I am on the mound and throw down, it grabs, for whatever reason.”

Andersen will throw again on Tuesday in Montreal. Fernandez took a throw in the groin during a seventh-inning steal attempt. Felix Jose was safe at second and, after Fernandez finally got up and jumped a few times to make sure he was OK, Jose imitated Fernandez by also jumping. It got a laugh from the crowd.

“He’s a big kid,” Fernandez said of Jose. “He always likes playing around.” The Padres staff ERA increased to 3.74 Sunday, dropping them into 10th in the NL. . . . Gwynn said his back, which was sore Saturday, is better. “I’m all right,” he said. “I’m OK.” . . . Darrin Jackson’s second-inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-high seven games. . . . Pitching matchups in Montreal: The Padres’ Greg Harris (1-1) vs. Dennis Martinez (1-4) Tuesday at 4:35 p.m.; Andy Benes (2-2) vs. Mark Gardner (2-1) Wednesday at 4:35 p.m.