PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Eiland to Rejoin Starting Rotation; Gene Harris Is Sent to Las Vegas

The Padres’ revolving pitching staff took another turn on Friday: The club activated Dave Eiland from the disabled list and outrighted Gene Harris to triple-A Las Vegas.

Eiland, who was on a 30-day rehabilitation assignment, will resume his role as the Padres’ No. 5 starter and will start on Monday in Los Angeles.

“Everything is fine, finally,” said Eiland, who went out on the rehab assignment after suffering from back spasms. After that, he suffered from blisters on the middle finger of his pitching hand during two starts in Las Vegas.

“The (finger) is still tender, but it feels fine now,” Eiland continued. “I haven’t had problems with my back the whole time.”

Eiland was 3-0 in Las Vegas with a 3.00 ERA in six starts.

“I was happy,” Eiland said. “Except for the blister, everything went fine. I threw the ball well, got to work on some things and had some success.”

Harris, who was the forgotten man in the Padre bullpen, will join the Las Vegas starting rotation. Harris has pitched only twice in two weeks and passed through waivers without being claimed by another major league team.

He was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in seven games with the Padres.

“When you’ve got (Mike) Maddux, (Larry) Andersen and (Jose) Melendez from the right-hand side in the bullpen, you’d be keeping a guy who wouldn’t get an opportunity to pitch much,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “We told him what we wanted him to do--go down and be a starter. Do as good as he can, and we’ll see what happens.”

The suspension has ended. His strained rib cage has finally, for the most part, cleared up.

And tonight, after missing seven games, first baseman Fred McGriff will rejoin the Padre lineup.

“Based on what I know, I think he’s probably ready to go,” Riddoch said. “I think he’ll be there tonight.”

Said Padre trainer Bob Day: “He’s fine. He should play (tonight). That’s what we’re planning on.”

Despite missing seven games, McGriff leads the NL with 31 extra-base hits and a .592 slugging percentage.

The most unusual play of the night came in the fifth inning, when Tony Fernandez was caught stealing twice--with the same batter, Tony Gwynn, at the plate.

The first time, Fernandez was nearly picked off of first by pitcher Bud Black, but Fernandez put a fake on first baseman Cory Snyder and made it back to first safely. Official scorer Phil Collier called an error on Snyder, making it caught stealing 1-3.

A few pitches later, Fernandez broke for second but was thrown out by catcher Kirt Manwaring.

Since official records have been kept on the matter--1951 in the NL and 1920 in the AL--Fernandez is only the fifth player in major league history to be caught stealing twice in an inning. The last was Donell Nixon of San Francisco in 1988.

It was a night of unusual plays. With Kurt Stillwell on second base in the seventh, Fernandez hit a line drive that hit second base umpire Jim Quick. Quick never had a chance--he ducked, but the ball hit him in the thigh. (And you thought Quick just wasn’t quick enough.)

The play was quickly ruled a dead ball. Fernandez was awarded first, and Stillwell had to stay at second.

Outfielder Oscar Azocar is back from Venezuela, where his wife, Liliana, gave birth to twin girls by Caesarian section on Saturday night.

“Everything’s perfect,” said Azocar, who already has one son. “Friends tell me there’s a big difference between boys and girls. They tell me girls make you change.”

It’s a longshot, but you can’t blame Andy Benes for hoping. He has a fervent wish that his younger brother, Alan, will join him in the Padres’ pitching rotation in the not-too-distant future.

The Padres drafted Alan Benes out of high school two years ago, but he opted to attend Creighton University. Now 20, he was recently named a third-team All-American by Baseball America after his second consecutive 11-3 season.

“He’s 6-5 and 215 and he throws 88-90 miles an hour,” Andy said Tuesday. “He’ll be eligible for the (amateur) draft next year, and it sure would be nice if he came here.”

Had the current draft rule regarding non-signees been in effect when the Padres selected Alan Benes, they would still have rights to him. As it is, they would have to draft him again.

The Giants’ Will Clark did not start Friday night because of bruised ribs. Clark hurt his ribs going after a foul ball Tuesday in Atlanta. He played on Thursday in San Diego, going 2-for-4. . . . Major league baseball has asked Riddoch to take part in a baseball clinic for kids during the All-Star festivities next month in San Diego. . . . The time for the Padre-St. Louis game on July 8 has been moved up to 6:05 p.m. because of a postgame concert by the Four Tops and Temptations. . . . Minor league report: Paul Faries is leading Las Vegas with a .333 batting average through Thursday’s games. Tom Lampkin is next at .327. Dave Staton is batting .307 with 10 homers and 39 RBIs. Former Houston pitcher Jim Deshaies is 4-3 with a 4.81 ERA. He has pitched in 16 games and started six.