Fernandez Leads the Way for Padres : Baseball: Shortstop raises average to .342 and sparks another comeback victory, 6-5, over Pittsburgh.

Padre shortstop Tony Fernandez doesn’t talk much. Popularity never has been important to him. The way he avoids the spotlight makes Michael Jackson look like a publicity hound.

This does not mean Fernandez is without feelings. His heart still aches when he hears the nagging criticism and complaints of fans. His eyes still smolder with resentment at the persistent suggestion that the Padres have no leadoff hitter with Bip Roberts gone.

Fernandez could have spoken out Sunday after getting two hits--raising his batting average to .342--in the Padres’ 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, but that is not his style.

“Tony could tell a whole lot of people, ‘I told you so,’ ” Padre first baseman Fred McGriff said. “He’s proven a lot of people wrong. Not too many people thought he could do this.

“But that’s not Tony’s nature. He just has a lot of pride in what he does, and wants to show people he can play when he’s healthy. I’ve seen him pretty much his whole career, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen him do anything like this.”

Fernandez has batted .500, with 15 runs, five doubles, two triples and six RBIs, over the past 10 games. The Padres are 8-0 this season when he scores at least two runs in a game, including seven games alone on this trip.

And batting leadoff was never his idea.

Said Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn: “When I saw him the first day in spring training, I called him Moses. I said, ‘You’re the guy who has to lead us to the promised land.’

“He didn’t like when I called him that, but he got the message. The key to our ballclub is the people at the top of the lineup, and every time I come up, the man’s on base. He’s been unbelievable.”

Fernandez, who only once during this streak has gone more than two consecutive at-bats without getting a hit, was in the middle of the Padres’ only two rallies Sunday. He scored the Padres’ only run in the first inning after a leadoff single and helped key a five-run, fifth inning with another single.

The Padres, trailing 2-1, opened the fifth on Kevin Ward’s second home run of the season. That was only the beginning of trouble for Pirate starter Randy Tomlin.

Jerald Clark followed with a double, pitcher Andy Benes walked on four pitches, Fernandez loaded the bases with a single, and the rout was on. The inning didn’t end until Ward went to the plate again, grounding out to third.

It was the end of Tomlin. After winning his first four starts, he has yet to make it into the sixth inning since, yielding a 10.13 ERA. It also was the Padres’ sixth five-run inning of the season, producing their 11th comeback victory of the year.

The Padres (20-17), sweeping a series in Pittsburgh for the first time since April 25-27, 1989, have won four consecutive games and seven of their last nine. They’ve moved to within a half-game of the division-leading San Francisco Giants.

And only 10 days ago, the Padres were doubting their abilities. They were coming off a 6-7 home stand, opened the trip by losing both games in Montreal for their fourth consecutive defeat and still had nine of their 11 games remaining of their four-city, 11-game journey.

“Things started to look pretty shaky,” Gwynn said. “Guys were wondering what was going to happen. We were doubting ourselves. That’s when Tony Fernandez came along.

“He turned it up a notch, and then another notch, and we went along for the ride.”

With Fernandez, whose batting average had dropped to .275 after the first game in Montreal, leading the way, the Fab Four--as their teammates have nicknamed them--followed suit.

Fernandez, Gwynn, Gary Sheffield and McGriff went on a binge the next nine games that resulted in a .413 batting average with 11 doubles, two triples, eight homers, 37 RBIs, 36 runs and a .673 slugging percentage.

“You just sit there in awe, and watch what they’re doing,” said Benes (4-3), who pitched 7 2/3 innings for the victory. “I mean, can you believe Tony Fernandez? He’s been phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. I don’t know of any leadoff hitter in baseball doing what he’s doing.”

Said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager: “I think everyone’s seeing the real Tony Fernandez now. He just wasn’t healthy last year. You can’t judge him on what happened last year. He was hurting almost the whole year.”

Fernandez, who underwent off-season surgery on his right thumb, acknowledges now the injury hampered him much more than let on. There were times he could barely clutch a bat, but he kept playing, finishing with a .272 batting average.

He was miserable. He had been traded for the first time. He was a long ways from his Dominican Republic home. He talked about the possibility of demanding a trade.

“It seems so long ago,” Fernandez laughed. “Now, I’m happy. I’m at peace with myself. I give all the credit to the Lord. He’s responsible for this. . . .

“I’m showing what I can do. I don’t keep stats, but I don’t think I ever had a road trip like this one.”

The Padres might never have had a trip like this one. The manager has been robbed in his New York hotel room; the general manager had a rock thrown at his car window in Pittsburgh; two pitchers were placed on the disabled list; and everyone said they had a wonderful time.

“I think everyone is seeing just how good this team can be,” said Gwynn, who raised his batting average to .372 with two more hits Sunday. “I mean, I knew we had a good offense, but I thought we’d be nickel-and-diming everyone. I didn’t think we had this explosiveness.

“In this series, we played as good as we can play. We got behind by six runs one game, a run today, and just barrel-rolled them.

“There’s a lot of people believing in themselves right now.”

The Pirates (23-13), who had not lost three consecutive games this season before playing the Padres, certainly are convinced. They were outscored 25-16, did not have starter last beyond 4 1/3 innings, yielded a .345 batting average and recorded an 8.00 ERA.

The Pirates were left in such disarray by Sunday that their best performance by a starting pitcher was Denny Neagle, who pitched in relief Sunday after starting Friday. They used another starter, Zane Smith, as a pinch-hitter Sunday.

If all that was not enough to keep Pirate Manager Jim Leyland chain-smoking, there was the ninth inning. Trailing 6-3, the Pirates had a ray of hope when catcher Tom Prince hit a one-out single to center. Padre bullpen stopper Randy Myers, who was roughed up for two hits and two runs Saturday, came into the game to relieve Mike Maddux.

Leyland only winced in anguish moments later when he saw Prince running for second on a stolen-base attempt. Yes, that was the same Tom Prince who has two career stolen bases in parts of six major league seasons. He was easily thrown out by Padre catcher Benito Santiago.

It turned into a very costly mistake. Myers walked Gary Redus, gave up a single to Orlando Merced and yielded a two-run double to Jay Bell. He ended the threat by striking out Andy Van Slyke on three pitches.