PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Lefferts’ Spot in the Rotation May Depend on Start Saturday

Pitcher Craig Lefferts will get one more start in the Padre rotation--Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies--but it’s possible that it will be his last.

The Padres are prepared to call up Frank Seminara, 4-0 for triple-A Las Vegas, when they return in two weeks from their trip, Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine indicated. Lefferts, 2-2 with a 5.87 ERA, needs a strong outing to convince the Padres otherwise.

“I have a lot of confidence that everything will turn out,” Lefferts said. “I have confidence I can be a quality starter. Believe me, I’m not that far away from being successful.

“Obviously, the adjustment of going from the bullpen to the rotation is a little more than I was hoping it would be, but I know I can do it.”

Although Lefferts has pitched at least six innings in only two starts, the Padres are 3-2 in the five games he has started. It’s the best record of any Padre starter.

Padre catcher Dann Bilardello was diagnosed Monday with an inflamed vertebrae in his neck, but he was given permission by Dr. Robert Watkins to continue playing. He’ll consider surgery in the off-season.

“Everything’s fine,” Bilardello said. “I was told I wouldn’t be putting myself in jeopardy by playing. So essentially, it gives me peace of mind. We’ll reevaluate at the end of the year.

If Bilardello decides to have surgery in the off-season, he said, the recovery time will anywhere from six weeks to three months.

“Really, the only thing that puts me in jeopardy is having a (bad) year.”

It should have come as no surprise the Expos finally won a night game this season. They had another streak going for them. They never lose when having at least four consecutive days off.

The Expos, who went six days without playing a game because of the postponed series against the Dodgers, are 5-0 when strange occurrences delay their season.

It started in 1970, when after a four-day break around the All-Star game, they beat San Francisco, 7-3.

- In 1972, after a week-long players’ strike, they beat St. Louis, 3-2.

- In 1974, after two postponements because of snow in Montreal, an off-day, and another snowout in Chicago, they beat Pittsburgh, 12-8.

- And in 1981, after a two-month layoff because of a players’ strike, they beat Pittsburgh, 3-1.

“Give us the right conditions, and we can beat anybody,” Expos catcher Gary Carter said.

The Padres have surrendered 24 home runs this season, the most by any National League pitching staff. If they continue at this pace, they’ll allow 144 for the season.

Yet, of the homers the Padres have allowed, 17 have been one-run shots. The Padres have not given up a three-run homer or grand slam this season.

The Padres coaches had a small celebration in the third inning when Gary Sheffield walked in the third inning.

The reason?

It was the first time in 75 at-bats the Padres had drawn a walk.

The Montreal Expos not only are having internal strife within their clubhouse about their regards for Manager Tom Runnells, but the players now have become upset at management for the dismissal of catcher Gilberto Reyes.

Reyes, who was reinstated after a drug suspension when he failed a drug test during winter ball in the Dominican Republic, was designated for assignment by the Expos. He rejected the assignment and became a free agent.

“It’s obvious they don’t trust me because I used cocaine,” he told the Montreal Gazette. “But what they don’t understand is I know my situation now. I know it’s a disease.”

Said Expos General Manager Dan Duquette: “He might be useful somewhere in the organization, but we have three catchers we can depend on right now (Darrin Fletcher, Gary Carter and Rick Cerone).”

Yet, those three catchers went into Tuesday’s game having thrown out only 10 baserunners in 47 attempts.

“We need him to control the other team’s running game,” Expos starter Dennis Martinez said. “Let’s be realistic. Teams are taking advantage of our situation right now. He has a much better arm than anyone else we have here.”

In the topsy-turvy National League West, the Dodgers are the only team who have not been in first place at some point this season. . . . Sheffield snapped an 0-for-12 skid in the first inning with a single. . . . The Expos, deciding to take advantage of starter Ken Hill’s dominance of the Padres, have decided to start him today instead of Mark Gardner. Hill beat the Padres, 9-3, in his last start, allowing six hits and three runs in seven innings. . . . Expo first baseman Tim Wallach is in a 3-for-36 slump (.083) without an extra-base hit in his last 10 games, but he made two dazzling fielding plays to rob Fred McGriff of hits.