Harris Hurt Once Again; Padres Lose

It was a simple bunt attempt, one that Padre starter Greg Harris has made hundreds, maybe thousands of times in his baseball career. It has become as routine to him as eating cereal in the morning.

This time--Sunday afternoon in midst of the Padres’ 1-0, 11-inning defeat to the San Francisco Giants--was different. This time when he squared away to bunt, the ball sailed in on his hands.

And this time, his right hand never moved.

The ball hit the middle finger on his pitching hand, smashing it against his bat. He didn’t feel any pain right away, but when he looked down at his batting glove, the finger was grotesquely out of whack.

He immediately knew his season was ruined, and the Padres’ hopes of reaching the playoffs might be just as fractured.

Harris was told by Bay Area doctors that he’ll be out at least four to six weeks.

Realistically, the Padres aren’t counting on his return before late August.

“I’ve seen breaks like that before,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “I think it’s going to be longer than six weeks.”

Said Harris: “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. It’s not like I can pitch with three fingers.

“I mean to me, that’s the finger.”

The Padres (36-33) have no idea how they’ll compensate for the loss of Harris. They’ll discuss their alternatives today, and likely will purchase the contract of starter Mark Knudson of triple-A Las Vegas.

Knudson figures to be the best of their limited alternatives. He is 7-3 with a 3.90 ERA, pitching 15 consecutive shutout innings. Yet, he also has surrendered 98 hits and 30 walks in 85 1/3 innings, yielding a .294 batting average.

The trail of paperwork will begin today. Harris, who lasted about one hour between stints on the disabled list, will return to the DL. Since they already released outfielder Gary Pettis earlier in the day to make room for Harris, they will purchase the contract of left fielder Phil Stephenson. Knudson probably will rejoin the team later in the week and replace one of the Padres’ seven relievers, most likely left-hander Pat Clements.

“I guess we should be getting used to improvising,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said, “but it doesn’t make it any easier. This one’s tough, very tough.”

This has become the “Year of the Finger” in Padre folklore. Padre catcher Benito Santiago already is on the disabled list with a broken little finger that occurred May 30 while sliding in second base in St. Louis. Gwynn still is playing with a broken tip of a middle finger that occurred May 19 when slamming it in a car door.

Now, Harris has sustained the worst finger break of all. The finger is mangled between the first and second joints, and X-rays reveal the bone is twisted. He’s scheduled for an examination today by specialist Dr. Merlin Hamer in San Diego, who’ll determine if a pin must be inserted into the finger.

“If that happens,” Harris said, softly, “it could be a long time.”

Harris was placed on the disabled list with back problems after his May 31 start, and Sunday was supposed to be his coming home party. This was the day when Harris (2-4) was going to show his teammates that they could depend on him the rest of the way.

He looked every bit like he was back in the first two innings, too. He didn’t allow a hit, and only one ball was hit out of the infield. He was even showing up Giant starter Billy Swift (6-0), who was making his return off the disabled list.

In fact, it appeared that Swift’s stay would be short. Padre second baseman Kurt Stillwell opened the third inning by drilling a single off Swift’s left knee. Swift dropped to the ground, and the crowd of 32,958 at Candlestick held its breath. After several minutes, Swift was able to walk around and continue.

Harris was the next batter he faced. Swift threw a high fastball, Harris squared away to bunt, and the ball sailed into his hands. Harris never saw the pitch.

“It didn’t even hurt that much at first,” Harris said, “but I looked down at my batting glove and saw my finger.”

The Padres immediately wrapped Harris’ finger and took him to Palo Alto Hospital for X-rays.

The Padres still were able to survive the sudden departure of Harris with brilliant pitching from the bullpen. Rich Rodriguez, who ran into the game to pinch-hit for Harris, and then ran back to the bullpen to warm up, was uncanny.

The Giants did not get their first hit until two outs in the seventh, when left fielder Cory Snyder sneaked a ball just past shortstop Tony Fernandez. After Rodriguez’s five shutout innings, Mike Maddux came on in the eighth and was just as effective. He didn’t allow another hit in his three-inning stint.

Yet, despite having only one hit through 10 innings, without a single runner reaching second, the Giants stayed in the game for one reason. The Padreswere almost helpless at the plate.

The Padres got only five hits in the game, and only two after the fifth inning.

The Giants finally broke through in the 11th off reliever Jose Melendez. Robby Thompson opened the inning by slapping a ball just inches fair down the the third-base line for a double. Kirt Manwaring sacrificed on an 0-2 pitch, allowing Thompson to reach third.

That brought up left-handed pinch-hitter Kevin Bass. The Padres decided to pitch to Bass rather than set up a possible double-play situation with the speedy Mike Felder on deck.

Melendez got ahead of Bass on a 1-2 count, and tried to fool him with changeup. Instead, Bass hit the ball over the head of drawn-in center fielder Darrin Jackson, and the Padres slowly trudged back to the clubhouse.

“Somehow we’re going to have to hang together through this,” Gwynn said. “We can’t worry about overtaking anybody, we’re just going to have to stay within shouting distance.

“Believe me, we’re going to have to scrap for everything we get.”