Padres Get 6 in 6th, Rout Mets : Baseball: Fernandez, Sheffield and McGriff provide offense to support Lefferts in a 12-6 victory.

For those Padres who could stick around, it was quite a night.

For those who couldn’t, Wednesday night wasn’t all bad, either.

Behind their biggest inning of the season and behind another workmanlike, if not artistic, performance by Craig Lefferts, the Padres came back from two two-run deficits to deep-six the New York Mets, 12-6, in front of 18,244 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

For the second night in a row, it almost reached pick-up game proportions for the Padres, who nearly had to scrounge for volunteers.

By the end of the first inning, the Padres were without Tony Gwynn, Kurt Stillwell, Larry Andersen and Dave Eiland (previous injuries), as well as Tim Teufel and Manager Greg Riddoch (ejected).

But . . .

Their 12 runs were a season high, surpassing last Saturday’s 10-run outburst in Pittsburgh; and the Padres’ six-run sixth was also a season high.

The run count, though, wasn’t the only noteworthy item the Padres had going for them:

- Shortstop Tony Fernandez, aided by his three-run sixth-inning homer, tied a personal high with four RBIs. It was only the third time Fernandez had four RBIs in a game, and the first time he did it in an NL game. The last time Fernandez had four RBIs came for Toronto, at Kansas City, on Sept. 11, 1990.

- Third baseman Gary Sheffield extended his hitting streak to a club-high 13 consecutive games with three singles and his seventh homer. He is batting .407 during the streak.

It was only the second four-hit game of Sheffield’s career, the first coming July 1, 1990.

“It’s just a matter of having fun,” Sheffield said. “I feel relaxed. The four hits were a surprise to me. It’s hard to get four hits in a game. When you do, you’ve just got to cherish them.”

As for hitting streaks, Sheffield’s personal best is 16 games in a row, pieced together in Milwaukee in 1990.

- The Padres’ six runs in the sixth were the most allowed in an inning this season by the Mets.

No, not everyone was around to see the Padres (22-18) stay one game behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West, but with the Padres having won nine of their past 12 games, those who were absent could pretty much envision what they were missing.

With both Teufel and Stillwell gone, it was the second consecutive night in which the Padres had no extra infielders.

Tuesday, Teufel was scratched just before game time when he became dizzy after taking an anti-inflammatory and an aspirin.

Wednesday, Teufel was scratched in the first inning by home plate umpire Charlie Reliford for arguing a called third strike too vehemently.

Teufel argued for several minutes before heading out toward his position. But he stopped in the vicinity of the pitcher’s mound, turned around and said a few more words.

Reliford gave him the thumb, bringing Riddoch charging out of the dugout. After several minutes of gesturing and animated arguing, Riddoch, too, was given the boot.

“I don’t lose it very often,” Riddoch said. “But I totally lost it.”

Riddoch, who said he also lost his voice during the argument, was upset because he said Reliford stared at Teufel as Teufel was making his way toward second base after the dispute.

“He stared at him the whole way,” Riddoch said.

Although it looked as if Padre starter Lefferts (5-2) would be joining Teufel and Riddoch in the clubhouse early, he fought his way through the first two innings and then found cruise control. Lefferts allowed four runs in the first two innings but then retired 15 consecutive Mets.

By the time the sixth ended, the Padres led, 9-4, and Lefferts was excused for the evening. Mike Maddux and Pat Clements finished up.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for Lefferts, who has put a little distance between himself and the wolves in his bid to make the transition from a reliever to a starter. Lefferts now leads the Padre pitching staff in victories, not to mention staying power.

The Padres sealed this one in the sixth, thanks to some aggressive base-running and a show of disrespect for New York left fielder D.J. Dozier.

Tim Burke (1-1) replaced starter Wally Whitehurst to start the inning. Whitehurst, who had replaced the injured Bret Saberhagen and was making his first start of the season, had not lasted more than 40 pitches in any appearance this season.

He allowed three runs in five innings Wednesday and, despite the fact that he struck out nine of the 20 Padres he faced, he gave way to Burke.

Burke faced four batters and allowed four singles. The onslaught had begun.

Sheffield led off the inning with a single and took third when Fred McGriff followed with a single to left-center.

Which brought up two questions:

How could Sheffield make it to third on a ball hit to that side of the outfield?

If Dozier couldn’t throw Sheffield out at third, why didn’t Dozier throw to second? Instead, he threw to third, and McGriff took second.

Two batters later, Benito Santiago also went from first to third on a Craig Shipley single to left. Again, Dozier couldn’t get the ball to third in time.

Obviously, the Padre scouting report advised baserunners to test Dozier.

“Run until they tag you,” was all Riddoch would say. “You have to be aggressive.”

With five singles and Fernandez’s three-run homer, the Padres took control. With 15 total hits, they kept it.