Loss Keeps Padres in Nosedive : Baseball: Astros batter five pitchers in 11-0 victory. Defeat is Padres’ ninth in 14 games.

Padre reliever Larry Andersen hoped laughter would ease the pain Tuesday night, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t even smile.

He wants badly to prove he can still pitch and show the Padres that their decision to sign him two years ago as a free agent really wasn’t a waste of money. He wants to exhibit the skills that once made him one of the top setup men in baseball.

Yet after the Padres’ 11-0 loss to the Houston Astros in front of 10,046 at the Astrodome, Andersen conceded that he is frightened.

But the numbers are scary: 5 2/3 innings, 13 hits, 6.35 ERA, a .448 batting average against.

“I can’t help but doubt myself,” Andersen said, “but it’s inevitable with the way I’ve been pitching. I’m reaching back for something that’s not there.

“I keep thinking it’s got to get better. I’ve hit the bottom of the barrel, and then there are games like this.”

Andersen, entering a game in which the Padres already trailed, 4-0, made a comeback impossible. He allowed four hits and three runs (two earned) in a third of an inning, turning a close game into their biggest rout of the season.

If it weren’t for the fact that Andersen is in the second year of a $4.35-million contract, the Padres probably would consider releasing him when it’s time to make room on the roster for starter Greg Harris.

Instead, the Padres are expected to retain him for the season. When it ends, the Padres will pay him a $350,000 buyout instead of picking up his $2 million option. He’ll be invited back, but only if he agrees to play at the major league minimum of $109,000.

“This is the worst and most frustrating year of my career,” Andersen said. “I’ve had some tough years before. I don’t know if I could have pitched worse than I did in ’82. But at least I was out there pitching.

“There’s nothing positive I’m doing out there now.”

The Padres’ demise Tuesday wasn’t Andersen’s fault alone.

The Padres were beaten by a pitcher (Brian Williams) who won his first major league game by pitching six shutout innings and yielded three hits to a catcher (Scooter Tucker) who never had a major-league hit.

The Astros had a season-high 15 hits (including five doubles), the Padres committed a season-high four errors, and each of the Padres’ five pitchers surrendered at least a run.

It was a continuation of the Padres’ woes with the No. 3 spot in the rotation. Rich Rodriguez, starting in place of Greg Harris, allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) in four innings. The Nos. 3 and 5 spots in the rotation this season have won only two of 24 starts.

“After Rich left,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said, “it got ugly in a hurry.”

The Padres’ bullpen trio of Andersen, Pat Clements and Randy Myers allowed nine hits and eight runs (six earned) in only three innings.

The entire mess left the Padres (33-31) a season-high 5 1/2 games behind the division-leading Cincinnati Reds. The Padres, losers of nine of the past 14 games, are coughing in the dust of the runaway Reds and Atlanta Braves.

The Padres have a bullpen stopper, Myers, with a 6.60 ERA; a left fielder, Jerald Clark, who is batting .184; and a pitching ace, Bruce Hurst, who has asked to be traded.

“It’s become a mess around here,” said one Padre veteran. “If the front office doesn’t make a move, we’re in big trouble. We’ve got to make a trade.”

Hurst is the most luxurious player the Padres have to offer, and rumors abound that the Padres may go after a power-hitting outfielder and try to win the division simply with offense.

Are the Texas Rangers interested in making a deal, offering left fielder Kevin Reimer and a pitcher?

“Do you give up something significant for pitching?” said Tom Grieve, Ranger general manager. “I don’t know. I’m not sure we’re in the market for a major deal with pitching, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be at some point.”

The Padres, who have a 3.85 ERA, meanwhile will try to scrape by with the little pitching that remains. Rodriguez, who had made only one start in his career, looked strong for three innings.

Eric Anthony started Rodriguez’s demise with a single to center in the fourth. Pete Incaviglia flied to right for the first out, but then Rodriguez made the critical mistake. He walked Tucker, who was playing in only his second major league game.

Riddoch summoned his bullpen into action, and pitching coach Mike Roarke went to the mound for a talk. Something clicked. Rodriguez struck out No. 8 hitter Rafael Ramirez and seemingly was out of danger.

After all, Williams was up next, and the last time he even held a bat was in spring training.

Rodriguez, thinking this would be the easiest victim of the night, threw a slider down the middle. He then watched in disbelief as Williams sliced the ball down the right-field line.

The ball hit inside the foul line, spun toward the wall, over the bullpen pitchers’ mound, and past right fielder Tony Gwynn. By the time Gwynn retrieved the ball, Anthony and Tucker were across the plate, and Williams was standing up at third.

Williams was credited with a double, his first hit of hit of his career, and Gwynn was charged with his fourth error of the season. The Astros went onto score eight more runs, the Padres made three more errors, and four more pitchers went down in flames.

“It was the kind of night,” Andersen said, “where you feel like shooting somebody.”

He couldn’t even smile.