Benes Perks Up Padres

There was a sense of doom in the Padre clubhouse Wednesday morning. Players were in a rotten mood from the previous evening.

“I knew I had to do something,” Padre starter Andy Benes said. “Everybody looked pretty down. It wasn’t a real good feeling around here.”

By mid-afternoon, Michael Jackson’s voice was blaring from the stereo, players were bopping, and the Padre clubhouse was the in place to hang out.

Benes pitched a four-hit shutout, leading the Padres past the Houston Astros, 5-0, in front of 11,523 fans at the Astrodome.

“We needed this one, we really did,” said outfielder Kevin Ward, who went two for three with an RBI. “With everything that’s gone on around here, it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Certainly, their three-day visit to Houston won’t be treasured in Padre folklore. Although they won two of the three games against the Astros, there were few fond memories.

Monday afternoon: Padre starter Bruce Hurst, who continues to have differences with Manager Greg Riddoch, asked to be traded.

Tuesday night: The Padres lose, 11-0, committing four errors in their most embarrassing defeat of the season.

Wednesday morning: Padre broadcaster Bob Chandler packs his bags and realizes his 1984 World Series ring and father’s Naval Academy ring had been stolen from his hotel room.

“I can’t say we had a lot of fun here,” Riddoch said, “but Andy sure made things a whole lot better. Maybe this will get us started again.”

The Padres (34-31), who have lost four games in the standings since leaving home a week ago and are 5 1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds, will need to count on Benes if they are to be on in the leader board of the National League West.

If Benes’ performance Wednesday was any indication what could be ahead, it indeed might be foolish to count the Padres out of the division race.

Benes, pitching the third shutout of his career, was dominant from the first inning through the final out. He allowed only seven balls out of the infield, and only two of the final 19 batters he faced managed the feat.

“When he’s pitching like he was today,” catcher Dan Walters said, “you feel sorry for the other guys because they just don’t have a chance.

“When he throws like he did today, he’s as good as anyone in the game.”

For the first time in nearly a month, Benes had all of his pitches working. The changeup was dazzling. The slider was overpowering. And it made his fastball untouchable.

Benes finished the game with eight strikeouts--his total amount in the three previous starts combined.

“I needed to help us out,” Benes said, “and I hadn’t been doing that. I haven’t been giving us seven, eight innings each time. And the worst feeling was that we were losing those games.

“It was a helpless feeling when you’re not pitching the way you’re capable.”

Benes, who had not won a game since May 22, had failed to complete six innings in three of his last four starts, yielding a 6.00 ERA. Compounded by the woes of the Padres’ fifth starters and Greg Harris’ back injury, the Padres had begun to fade in the division race.

This time, working on his footwork between starts, Benes was as sharp as he has been all season. Never can he remember having such pinpoint control with his slider. Never can he remember throwing as many as 15 changeups in a game, most of them for strikes.

“The last few starts,” Benes said, “all I had was a fastball. And that’s not going to cut it up here. Hopefully, this will be the start of something good for me.”

The least it will do is bring back a clean-shaven face. Benes quit shaving the last week, vowing not to shave until he won. The beard came off Wednesday.

“I was just hoping it wouldn’t be until the end of July,” Benes said, “or I’d be in real trouble with my wife.”

Benes, who has pitched 18 scoreless innings at the Astrodome this season, benefited as much from the Astros’ defense as his own offense. All of the Padres’ runs were unearned, thanks to three errors by the Astros.

Who could blame the Astros for their errors? It was a case of not believing what they were seeing.

Although the Astros limited the Padres’ top of the order to one single, it was the bottom of the order that came through for a change.

“Just call us ‘Special Force,’ ” said outfielder Oscar Azocar, trying to lend a helping hand to the Padre promotion department.

Azocar, Ward and second baseman Kurt Stillwell scored four of the Padres’ five runs, and had four of their six hits. And there was Walters once again doing his imitation of Bip Roberts, making a head-first slide into first base to raise his batting average to .239.

As utility infielder Craig Shipley said: “He might be the only guy who defies the head-first slide. It slows down most guys. For him, it makes him faster.”

It proved to be quite a sight, particularly considering the fifth through eighth hitters in the Padre lineup entered the game having combined for all of three homers and 25 RBIs. That’s nothing more than a good couple of weeks for first baseman Fred McGriff.

“The second four in the lineup showed they can play some pretty good music, too,” Riddoch said. “They were the lead singers today. When you have the whole team going, that’s sweet music to my ears.”

The only runs the Padres needed came in the second inning, when Ward hit a one-out single, followed by Stillwell’s single to left. Left fielder Luis Gonzalez bobbled the ball, allowing Ward to third. His throw was cut off by shortstop Rafael Ramirez, who threw to second in an attempt to get Stillwell.

Oops. The ball skidded off second baseman Craig Biggio’s glove into right field, allowing Ward to score and Stillwell to scamper to third. Benes, feeling a bit more brave, followed with a long fly to deep center off Willie Blair (0-1) for his first sacrifice fly in at least two years.

“It was just an overall great feeling today,” Ward said. “The top of the order had been carrying us pretty much the whole year, so it was nice for us to finally do something.

“Maybe this is what we need, and things will settle down.”