Padres Defeat Giants : Baseball: No fights, just strong pitching from Bruce Hurst and strong offensive and defensive plays in the Padres 8-0 victory over the Giants.

It was the burning question Thursday: Just how were the Padres going to do it?

Would starter Bruce Hurst plant a fastball into the rib cage of a San Francisco Giant? How would the Padres avenge last week’s brawl?

Surprise, they went out and whipped the Giants, 8-0, in front of 22,681 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The fans, maybe anticipating another fight, instead saw third baseman Gary Sheffield hit his 15th homer of the season. They saw dazzling fielding plays by shortstop Tony Fernandez and left fielder Kevin Ward. Hurst’s seven-hit shutout served as the knockout punch.

“That’s the best way to do it,” Sheffield said, “just pound the ball, pick it up, and throw it. This shows we can put all the fighting behind us and play baseball like we’re capable of playing.”

Hurst (7-5) simply overwhelmed the Giants, pitching his fifth complete game of the season, striking out a season-high 11 batters--the most by a Padre this year.

The onslaught left the Giants (33-37) staggering in the National League West. They tied a franchise record by being shut out for the third consecutive game and have lost 10 of their last 12 games. Their only run in the last 43 innings was a run-scoring single by Kevin Bass in the 11th inning Sunday during their 1-0 victory over the Padres.

Perhaps the biggest irony of the Padres’ victory on this night was that Sheffield--the man who set up last week’s brawl when he hit two homers and drove in six runs--again provided the crushing blows.

Sheffield, batting .417 with five homers and 12 RBIs against the Giants this season, drove in the game’s first run with a single to center in the first inning. He hit his career-high 15th homer in the third inning. He drew a bases-loaded walk for another RBI in the fifth. And he finished his night with another single in the seventh.

All this from the only guy in the game who has more of a grudge against the Milwaukee Brewers than the Giants.

The remnants of last week’s brawl, the Padres say, are going to be on the Giants’ conscience.

McGriff wouldn’t have a strained rib cage. McGriff and Wilson wouldn’t have been suspended for four days and fined $1,000. The circus atmosphere before the game never would have existed.

“We all know they threw on purpose, no matter what they say,” Padre reliever Rich Rodriguez said.

The Padres, who privately say they will retaliate against Wilson or reliever Jeff Brantley in some fashion before the season is over, actually were most perturbed Thursday at the ambience the brawl created.

They listened to the hype on the talk shows, watched videotape, read the sports pages and even saw their club promote the episode on the scoreboard Tuesday.

“They were trying to use it to sell tickets,” the Padres’ Tony Gwynn. “Twenty-seven thousand (fans), that’s a pretty good non-promotional night for us. I guess our brand of baseball wasn’t good enough, so we use the fight to sell tickets.

“Is that right? Of course not. It’s brutal.

“Just because of one guy’s stupid pitch, we had 25 guys dancing on other another, people’s toes getting stepped on, jersey’s getting ripped, everything. There’s still lingering effects from the brawl, but nobody talks about that.

“It’s sick.”

The Padres, who will be without McGriff until Saturday, have been able to survive primarily because of Sheffield’s exploits. He has been inserted into McGriff’s cleanup spot the last two games, and has responded by going five for seven with two homers and six RBIs.

The Padres are 22-6 this season when Sheffield drives in a run, and 16-28 when he doesn’t.

Perhaps then it was understandable, albeit tongue-in-cheek, why Padre Manager Greg Riddoch was asked how difficult it will be taking Sheffield out of the cleanup spot.

“It will be really hard,” said Riddoch, who returned after a two-game absence with an inner-ear infection, “until Fred comes back. Then, it will be easy.”

When McGriff does return, and memories begin to fade over last weeks’ brawl, would he still like to see one of his pitchers retaliate with a purpose pitch before the season ends?

“I better stay away from that one,” McGriff said, smiling. “I don’t want to get myself in trouble, or get anyone upset.

“You know what I mean?”

Exactly.