Hurst Has Reason to Celebrate : Baseball: Padre left-hander rediscovers his form, and Gwynn and Sheffield homer in a 7-0 victory over the Mets.

Padre starter Bruce Hurst dropped into a crouched position on the mound in the ninth inning Wednesday night, watched the ball flutter into the glove of right fielder Tony Gwynn, leaped and hoisted his arms high in the air.

Hurst, having completed a 7-0 shutout of the New York Mets, immediately turned around and dashed toward catcher Benito Santiago. Santiago stuck out his hand for congratulations. Hurst grabbed it and flung his arm around Santiago’s shoulders as if they were long-lost buddies.

“He’s never done that to me before,” Santiago said. “Maybe we should save that videotape, what do you think?”

To be honest, none of Hurst’s teammates have seen that kind of emotional display during his three years with the Padres. Then again, maybe no game has meant so much to Hurst.

Forget that this was Hurst’s 20th career shutout, his first since Sept. 17, 1990, at Houston. Forget that this was his first complete game since last July 21 against Philadelphia.

This was a victory for Hurst’s confidence.

Hurst had been so distraught, he had at least three private individual meetings with Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine and Manager Greg Riddoch the past few days.

He let them know how depressed he has been, how he has doubted his abilities. He wondered if he could even still pitch in San Diego.

“I think it’s a regular thing for pitchers,” McIlvaine said. “There’s not a time in your career when you don’t question yourself. That’s what happened to Bruce.”

They assured him, though, this was one of those phases. Every pitcher goes through droughts. It wouldn’t last.

On Wednesday night, in front of a crowd of 19,451 at Shea Stadium, Hurst proved indeed he still is one of the finest left-handers in the National League.

He yielded only six singles the entire game. Never was he in trouble. Never this season has he been so dominant.

“There’s still a lot of season left,” said Hurst (2-3), “but this one sure felt good. I don’t want to say it was do-or-die, but it was awfully nice for now.”

Hurst, who had his wife travel in from San Diego this week for moral support, certainly was not the same pitcher who yielded a 7.80 ERA his last three starts, allowing 33 baserunners in 15 innings.

“He really needed this one,” said teammate Andy Benes. “He had really been down. Then he comes out and gives us an awesome performance. What a lift.”

Said Padre first baseman Fred McGriff: “It was such a relief for him, such a huge relief.”

Considering the way Hurst was pitching, with his curveball snapping and his changeup keeping hitters off balance, the only question on this night was whether the Padres would provide any offense against Met starter David Cone (3-2). He had won his last five starts, and seven of eight.

But the Padres hammered him for five runs in five innings, sending him to his earliest departure since Sept. 4.

Gary Sheffield, who insisted on playing Wednesday despite a deep gash in his right leg sustained Tuesday night, hit a three-run homer into the Padre bullpen in the third inning. Tony Gwynn hit his second homer in six days with a two-run shot in the fifth. Tony Fernandez added a run-scoring double in the seventh, and Sheffield finished the night with a run-scoring single for his fourth RBI.

“I kind of like this place,” said Sheffield, who is batting .393 with nine RBIs the last seven games. He already has 25 RBIs this season, three more than he had all of last season with Milwaukee.

“I was surprised I could do anything because me and Dwight (Gooden, Sheffield’s uncle) stayed up all night with the family talking about Tuesday’s game. We didn’t get much sleep.”

Sheffield’s performance triggered yet another offensive bonanza for the top four hitters in the Padre lineup--Tony Fernandez, Gwynn, Sheffield and McGriff. They went eight for 17 with two homers and seven RBIs. They are batting .414 during the last six games, with 21 of the Padres’ 27 RBIs.

Still, despite the Padres’ most lopsided shutout since Aug. 11, 1991, when they beat Cincinnati, 13-0, the night belonged to Hurst. Not once did he allow a leadoff hitter to reach base. Only four times did the Mets even bat with runners in scoring position.

“It was funny,” Hurst said, “(Tuesday) night they had a video highlight of Tom Seaver on the scoreboard, and I remembered when he was with us in Boston. He used to always tell me, ‘There are two absolutes in pitching--get ahead of the hitters, and don’t let the leadoff batter on.’ I remembered that tonight.

“Really, it was the most comfortable I felt in a long time. I changed my pitching mechanics a little bit, and it made all the difference. The ball wasn’t so flat, it had some bite to it.”

If Hurst was exhilarated by his performance, the Padres were intoxicated with elation. These are the kind of performances they need from Hurst if they are to remain in contention in the National League West.

“Nobody goes through their career without struggling,” McIlvaine said. “We’ll keep encouraging him. That’s all we can do.

“Everybody can give advice, and a manager can do so much to motivate players, but a player must have motivation from within.”

Hurst, who has won six consecutive starts against the New York Mets since losing May 24, 1989, won’t say he’s back. He can’t say all of his problems are solved. But this was a start.

“What can I say?” Hurst said, shrugging his shoulders. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”