Braves Sweep as Padres Begin to Fade

The Cincinnati Reds have won eight of 11 games, and the NL West race is starting to shape up.

The Padres? Starter Frank Seminara allowed Atlanta’s David Justice to drive home four runs during Sunday’s 9-4 loss to the Braves. It is only the fifth time that Justice has had four RBIs--a personal high.

The Reds have watched Jose Rijo, Hal Morris, Barry Larkin and Chris Sabo miss significant chunks of the season with injuries, and yet they are in first place.

The Padres? They allowed Atlanta’s pesky Ron Gant to tie a career high with three stolen bases Sunday as the Braves completed a three-game sweep in front of 18,924 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

And while the third-place Padres--2 1/2 games out--have been eyeing first in the bunched-up NL West for the past couple of weeks, suddenly, they are hearing footsteps.

Please pause momentarily to welcome the Atlanta Braves, 1991 NL champions, back from from the land of forgotten teams. With the sweep, the fourth-place Braves trail the Padres by only one game. Only 4 1/2 games separate the division’s first five teams--Cincinnati, San Francisco, the Padres, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

For the first time in 29 days, the Braves (28-28) have reached the .500 mark.

And, as Atlanta starter John Smoltz pointed out, “You have to get to .500 before you can do anything else.”

The Braves threw Steve Avery, Tom Glavine and Smoltz at the Padres this weekend, and the Padres answered with a bunch of weak fly balls and grounders. The Padres batted only .165 against Atlanta in the three games, and Jerald Clark’s double on Saturday was their only extra base hit in 91 at-bats during the series.

“It’s pretty tough to swing the bat when you run into pitching like that,” said Padre Manager Greg Riddoch, who returned Sunday from a two-day hiatus at his son’s high school graduation in Colorado. “Smoltz was throwing 93, 94 miles per hour today and had a good breaking ball. . . .

“When you get good pitching like they do, you look like world champions.”

After becoming the talk of the NL in May with their explosive offense, Padre bats have suddenly gone silent. And it started even before the Braves arrived in town.

In their past nine games, the Padres are batting only .188.

“I don’t know what makes you go through this, but everybody in the National League has gone through (slumps),” Riddoch said. “Nobody is immune to that--including the talent-laden Cincinnati Reds.”

As everyone in baseball will tell you, good pitching can overshadow a team’s offensive woes. But the Padre offense has nowhere to hide because Padre pitchers aren’t providing good cover.

Although the Padres continue to lead the league in home runs with 47, Padre pitchers lead the NL in homers allowed with 48. And, almost unbelievably, the Padres have yet to receive a victory from their No. 5 starter.

Seminara, making only the second start of his career, allowed a two-run homer by Justice in the first and a triple by Justice in the fifth that knocked in two more. In between, he struck out four consecutive batters in the second and third innings--Damon Berryhill, Jeff Blauser, Mark Lemke and Smoltz--but it wasn’t enough.

He lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) and four hits. He struck out four and walked four.

All in all, it was quite a different story than Tuesday, when he made his major league debut in glorious fashion by shutting out the Chicago Cubs for 6 1/3 innings.

“I know when I’ve got my best stuff, I can do a better job than you saw today,” said Seminara, who threw only 38 strikes in 79 pitches. “(Padre pitching coach) Mike (Roarke) and I already talked about it. It’s over with. I threw some bad pitches and they hopped on them.”

The fourth and fifth innings were Seminara’s downfall.

In the fourth, the Braves scored a run without a hit. Gant was safe at first on an error by Gary Sheffield and Seminara walked Justice and Berryhill. Gant then scored on Blauser’s sacrifice fly to left. Seminara later intentionally walked Lemke before the inning was finished.

An inning later, Seminara pitched to only four batters before giving way to Rich Rodriguez. Deion Sanders walked, Terry Pendleton singled and, after Gant’s fly to left field, Justice tripled.

And that was all for Seminara.

The difference between Sunday in San Diego and Tuesday in Chicago?

“He was flying open a little bit,” Riddoch said. “He was leaving more ball over the middle of the plate.”

Said Seminara: “In Chicago, I was getting on top of the ball better and driving it to home plate. Today, I was trying to be too fine.

“It’s all a part of having experience. I’ve just got to let my natural ability take over sometimes rather than trying to be so picky. That’s what baseball is all about--going out there and being confident.”

Smoltz, meanwhile, gave Atlanta its second consecutive complete game.

“It’s a challenge going against a great-hitting team--if not the best-hitting team,” Smoltz said. “I know I can’t get away with too much stuff.

“These guys don’t really steal bases. They sit back and wait for the big inning.”

This morning, the Padres are still waiting.

Padre Attendance

Sunday: 18,924

1992 (30 dates): 718,198

1991 (30 dates): 752,228

Decrease: 34,030

1992 average: 23,939