PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Gwynn Slips Into Rare Slump as Average ‘Plummets’ to .332

Tony Gwynn knew this would happen sooner or later. There hasn’t been a season yet where he hasn’t endured at least one slump.

Gwynn is in a two-for-24 skid, and his batting average has fallen from .367 to .332 this month. He batting only .083 in the last five days.

It’s the first time since April 17 that his batting average has reached such depths.

“I’m in the gutter, man, I’m really struggling,” Gwynn said. “My mechanics are bad, real bad. It’s fairly obvious I’m struggling because I haven’t hit the ball to left field in about five games.

“I need to go home and hit so I can find it.

“I know you can’t stay on an even plane all year, but when you go through a spell like this, it doesn’t mean you have to like it.”

Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, noting that Padre third baseman Gary Sheffield is hitting .412 with four homers and nine RBIs at Candlestick Park this season, told him: “You really love this place, don’t you?”

Said Sheffield, who is hitting .315 overall with a career-high 13 homers and team-high 47 RBIs: “Hey, I really love this league.”

The ex-Padre player of the week is Chris James of the San Francisco Giants, who showed surprising restraint Thursday in the brawl with the Padres.

Although he’s one of the most intense players in baseball, James didn’t run out into the melee throwing roundhouse punches.

What happened, didn’t he want to throw a few blows at a few of his ex-teammates?

“No, but if (Jack) McKeon was out there,” James said, “it would have been a different story. I would have wanted a piece of him.”

McKeon was the Padre general manager who traded James to Cleveland along with second baseman Carlos Baerga and Sandy Alomar in exchange for Joe Carter.

“I’ve never forgiven him for that one,” James said.

Padre starter Greg Harris, on the disabled list since June 1, will be activated before the game and start today. The Padres are expected to make room for Harris on the roster by releasing outfielder Gary Pettis.

The Padres will keep a 12-man pitching staff through Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers, and then are expected to outright left-handed reliever Pat Clements to triple-A Las Vegas. They’ll call up outfielder Phil Stephenson to replace Clements.

“I’m so anxious to get out there again,” Harris said. “I’m glad I took the extra five days off because now I know I’m healthy. I won’t have that in the back of my mind when I pitch.

“If I had gone out last time and couldn’t make it, I would have felt terrible if somebody had gotten released or optioned because of me.”

The Giants made a couple of dramatic moves after the game, placing veteran pitcher Kelly Downs on waivers and optioning rookie shortstop Royce Clayton to triple-A Phoenix.

Starter Billy Swift was activated from the disabled list, and shortstop Mike Benjamin was called up from Phoenix to replace Clayton on the roster. Downs was 1-2 with a 3.47 ERA, and Clayton was batting .207 with three homers and 16 RBIs.

“I’ve seen a lot of frustration in his actions,” Al Rosen, Giant general manager, said of Clayton. “Making the transition from double-A to the big leagues is very difficult. He’s got great talent, and he’ll be back.”

The Giants will know Wednesday whether anyone placed a claim on Downs. If he goes unclaimed, as expected, the Giants will be responsible for paying the remainder of his $925,000 contract. The baseball craze in Denver with the Colorado Rockies reached new heights this week when they played their first minor league games in Bend, Ore.

In the first game, Will Scalzitti hit the first homer in Rockies franchise history onto an Albertson’s grocery store. Two residents of Bend hoisted their child onto their shoulders and onto the roof to retrieve the ball.

Naturally, public relations director Mike Swanson, formerly of the Padres, wanted the ball for their Hall of Fame. He entered negotiations, thinking it might take another autographed ball, or perhaps a bat, to obtain the ball.

Instead, after hours of negotiations, Swanson didn’t get the ball until he handed them two hats autographed by Scalzitti, 14 team autographed balls and the promise of two-round trip airline tickets to Denver and three tickets for opening day in 1993.

After all of that, they still had the gall to tell Swanson, “It wasn’t a matter of money, we just wanted Scalzitti to be comfortable with it.”