Padres Seek Solutions as Cubs Roll to 6-4 Win

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch doesn’t have any answers.

Neither does Jose Melendez, who started during the Padres’ 6-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon.

And don’t look at pitching coach Mike Roarke.

General Manager Joe McIlvaine? He’s as frustrated as anybody.

Pitching. Simple concept, hard to get. For the Padres this summer, consistent pitching is as elusive as an extra hot dog at a Memorial Day cookout.

“It seems when it’s good, it’s real good,” McIlvaine said. “And when it’s bad, it’s real bad. We’re not getting that happy medium.”

And after working with such pitchers as Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling and David Cone--among many others--when he was in the New York Mets’ organization, a lack of pitching is the thing that would be voted most likely to drive McIlvaine crazy.

“I can deal with most things,” McIlvaine admitted. “But the starting pitching struggling is the hardest thing for me to deal with.”

The Padres (23-21) remained two games behind San Francisco in the NL West, and their offense continued to produce enough sparks to keep the embers glowing. Although Chicago’s Frank Castillo (3-3) got the win, Gary Sheffield got two more hits to give him a 17-game hitting streak, which ties a major league high this season and is the longest of Sheffield’s life.

Sheffield is batting .345, and the Padres have hit .308 as a team in their past 15 games.

But the offense can’t do everything. The Padres got behind 6-0 on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday.

“Two or three runs ain’t nothing for this team,” Sheffield said. “Four or five runs puts pressure on the offense.”

On an overcast day in San Diego, the skies certainly weren’t any more cloudy than the Padres’ pitching situation. The Padres’ call to arms is getting ready to expand.

But where will they look. Their own bullpen? Their triple-A club in Las Vegas? Their starting rotation needs help, and it needs help soon.

Melendez, who took over the No. 5 starter’s role when Dave Eiland was placed on the disabled list with back trouble, lasted only five innings, allowing five earned runs and seven hits.

The Padres were forced to play catch-up from the first inning, and although they made it exciting by shaving the Cubs’ lead to one, 5-4, by the end of the eighth, their potent offense couldn’t hide the pitching flaws.

The Padres’ No. 5 starter hole has been disastrous. Combine Eiland’s and Melendez’s efforts and you come up with an 0-5 record and a 7.71 ERA.

With an off day scheduled for Thursday, the Padres will probably skip the No. 5 spot in the rotation this week and then decide what to do the following week.

“Chances are, that’s what we’ll do,” McIlvaine said. “We’ll see what happens.”

But Padre pitching woes don’t stop with their No. 5 starter.

Why are they only 3-4 on the current home stand?

Start with this: In seven games, their starting pitchers have compiled an ERA of 4.96 despite throwing two complete-game shutouts.

The Cubs, tied with Houston for the worst team batting average in the NL on Sunday morning, still took two out of three from the Padres. Sunday’s game was nearly decided before the Padres had a chance to take their seats in the dugout to start the first inning.

The Cubs got two runs in the first against Melendez, another in the second and two more in the fifth in front of 22,692 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Although Melendez was highly successful out of the Padre bullpen during the first six weeks of the season, it hasn’t carried over to his starting duties. In 16 appearances out of the bullpen, he is 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA. As a starter, he is 0-3 with an 8.59 ERA.

The difference between starting and relieving?

“I feel the same,” Melendez said. “I don’t change nothing.”

Said Riddoch: “If we saw something and knew about something, we’d tell him immediately.”

His first two starts were against the Mets and, since they are a predominantly left-handed hitting team, the Padres were hopeful Sunday that the right-handed Melendez would get untracked against the Cubs, who mostly swing from the right side.

But . . .

Ryne Sandberg’s first-inning RBI single and fifth-inning two-run homer made him 5 for 10 lifetime against Melendez. Andre Dawson’s first-inning RBI single made him 4 for 5 lifetime against Melendez. And Mark Grace’s first-inning RBI double was his third hit in six career at-bats against Melendez.

“I don’t feel frustrated,” Melendez said. “I’ve just got to keep doing whatever I do when I’m in the bullpen and keep going, you know?”

Said Roarke: “He made a few mistakes. He got it high to Sandberg when he was trying to throw low and away.

“I’m sure he’s not happy, nor should he be.”

The Padres would prefer to use Melendez out of the bullpen, and by the time they finish making their decisions over the next two weeks, that’s where he might end up.

“Our feeling all along is that (the bullpen) is a better role for him,” McIlvaine said. “But we had a need for a starter and we gave him a chance to start.”

They didn’t get very far. Now, they still have a need for a starter, as well as for some consistent production from the rest of their starting pitchers.

“When we get our pitching straightened out, we’ll be fine, because we can score runs,” McIlvaine said. “We have good offense, good defense, and our bullpen has done a good job, too.

“It’s just been the starters lately.”

There is an answer somewhere. There always is.

But how long the Padres hang around the top of the NL West might be determined by how long it takes them to find it.

Padre Attendance

Sunday: 22,692

1992 (24 dates): 574,854

1991 (24 dates): 582,000

Decrease: 17,146

1992 average: 23,952