Padres Fail in Clutch, Fall to Giants

The Padres have tried everything with left fielder Jerald Clark. They’ve coddled him, cajoled him, praised him, placated him and even have tried to humor him.

Nothing has worked, and nothing is left to try.

The Padres, who lost 3-1 to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday at Candlestick Park, acknowledge that their patience is almost exhausted.

The Padres--who are expected to release outfielder Gary Pettis today to make room for pitcher Greg Harris--soon will work Clark out of their left-field plans. They will call up left-handed outfielder Phil Stephenson, perhaps on Thursday, and platoon Stephenson with right-handed hitter Kevin Ward. Clark will be relegated to the bench.

“I’ve had as much patience with him,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, “as any player I’ve ever had. We’ve given him plenty of opportunities. He just hasn’t come out of it.”

Although Clark had two hits Saturday, raising his batting average to .194, his eighth-inning at-bat had the Padres throwing their hands to the heavens.

Behind 3-0, the Padres finally got untracked in the eighth off Giant starter Bud Black (4-1). Third baseman Gary Sheffield, who’s hitting .412 with four homers and nine RBIs against the Giants this season, opened with a single to left. Ward drew a full-count walk, prompting Giant Manager Roger Craig to summon Jeff Brantley from the bullpen.

Darrin Jackson greeted Brantley with a long fly ball to right field that got caught in the wind. Right fielder Willie McGee drifted back but lost the ball at the last moment, and it bounced against the fence. Although Jackson kept running, Sheffield and Ward had no way of knowing the ball would drop, leaving the Padres with the bases loaded.

Brantley then forced in a run by walking catcher Dan Walters on five pitches. The bases still were loaded, and up stepped Clark.

The Giants, willing to concede another run, were playing at double-play depth. Clark could hit the ball anywhere in the infield, and the Padres would have another run.

Well, almost anywhere.

Clark swung at the first pitch and hit a bouncer toward third baseman Matt Williams. Williams stepped on the bag for one out and threw to catcher Kirt Manwaring, who tagged Ward. The inning ended moments later when Kurt Stillwell grounded to second.

“You can’t hit that ball to third base,” said Merv Rettenmund, Padre batting coach. “Anywhere on the field is OK, but not there.

“He was having a good game, too, all the way up until that last at-bat.”

Clark, who has not batted higher than .194 since April 16 and has gone 142 at-bats without a homer, knows he is lucky to be playing. If not for the rib-cage injury to first baseman Fred McGriff, he might already be benched instead of playing first base.

Still, when Stephenson walks into the Padre clubhouse, don’t expect Clark to welcome him.

“I won’t like it,” Clark said. “Hell no, I won’t like it. But they can do what they want. It’s a free world. How am I going to stop them?”

If Clark had any idea what he was doing wrong, perhaps this would be easy to take. He wouldn’t have to go home at night, watch video after video and swing in the garage until he grew calloused.

“I can’t even get frustrated anymore,” Clark said, “because I’ve been in this (drought) for so long. I can’t even get upset or act anymore. Believe me, if I did, I’d have a heart attack.

“I know one thing, no matter what happens or what they do, I’m not going to quit on this.”

The Padres (36-32) need more production from left field if they are to stay in the National League West race, particularly with catcher Benito Santiago still out with a broken finger.

The Padres have the least productive left-fielders in baseball, and no hitter in the league is faring worse than Clark. Ward took his turn at the position Saturday--also batting cleanup--and fared no better.

The Padres had runners on base in each of Ward’s five plate appearances, but he was hitless. He ended the game with runners on first and second by looking at a third strike from reliever Rod Beck.

The Padres desperately need McGriff, who has missed two games after being injured in Thursday’s brawl, back in the lineup. The Padre hope he can return Monday against the Dodgers.

“Nothing against Kevin,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said, “but we’re having situations when you want your horse in there. You’d love to have him in there, but (Giant pitcher) Trevor Wilson took care of that.

“I know what their argument will be. They’ll say, ‘We don’t have Will Clark either. But they can blame Trevor Wilson for that, too. If he had just gone out and pitched, and hadn’t been stupid, none of us would have been in this predicament.”

Thursday’s brawl also might also have been responsible for Padre starter Craig Lefferts’ back ailment that limited him to 3 2/3 innings Saturday. Lefferts, whose back began giving him trouble Friday, had difficulty getting loose.

The Giants, who snapped a seven-game losing streak, teed off on him for eight hits, and scored all three runs in the third inning on a two-run single by Cory Snyder and a run-scoring single by Kirt Manwaring. They knocked Lefferts (8-5) out of the game in the fourth, his shortest outing since his season opener April 9.

“It was pretty stiff and all knotted up,” Lefferts said. “There was no sharp pain or anything like that, but I just couldn’t get loose. I really don’t know how it happened.

“Hopefully, it won’t cause any further problems. I’ve taken some muscle relaxers and (anti-inflammatory medicine), so we’ll just have to see what happens.”

The Padres avoided further incidents Saturday, although a frightening moment occurred in the ninth when Sheffield was hit in the left biceps by Giant reliever Jeff Brantley. Sheffield never made a move to charge the mound.

“He tried to come in, and the ball got away from him,” Sheffield said. “It was pretty obvious. He was just trying to do his job, so I have no problem with that. It made no sense to put me on.

“I’m fine, but it’s no secret we need Fred back. We need him bad. Everyone’s seeing different pitches without Fred.

“We can’t go a long period without him, or we’ll be in real trouble.”