Padres Fall in 11th

Padre starter Dave Eiland was stunned by the scenery. The city lights were more magnificient than he ever imagined. The night life was captivating.

It was the first time Eiland had ever visited Las Vegas, and after spending the last month in the city that never sleeps, he’s going to recommend it to all of his buddies in Florida.

With all apologies to the Las Vegas tourist industry, Eiland hopes he never returns. The Padres may never want to send him back.

But after their gut-wrenching, 6-5, 11-inning defeat Monday to the Dodgers, the Padres may ask if he can bring along some relievers next time he visits.

Eiland, making his first start in nearly two months for the Padres, far exceeded the Padres’ wildest expectations.

Eiland, who was uncanny for the first five innings, wound up yielding only three hits and two runs in his six-inning stint. If not for a careless balk, Eiland may won his first National League game.

Instead, the Padres found themselves blowing two saves in one game, losing on Mike Sharperson’s two-out single in the 11th off loser Pat Clements. Todd Benzinger provided the bulk of the damage earlier in the inning on a two-run single to right.

Yes, somehow, someway, the Padres managed to blow a 3-2 lead in the 10th inning thanks to Randy Myers. They then topped the feat by slowing a 5-3 lead in the 11th thanks to Rich Rodriguez and Clements.

Rodriguez opened the inning by walking Eric Davis. He compounded matters by yielding a single to Eric Karros, who went to second when no one was covering second base. He parted for Clements, who promptly gave up the two-run single to Benzinger.

It mercifully ended when Brett Butler ...

The defeat not only ruined Eiland’s performance, but Jerald Clark’s dramatic pinch-hit single in the 11th that appeared to be game-winner.

Clark was packing his bags Monday morning, but didn’t know if he sould packing for three days in Los Angeles or three months in Boston.

“I thought I was gone for sure, the way everyone was talking,” Clark said. “I didn’t want to leave. No way. I love it in San Diego.

“But it was out of my control, man.”

But after failing in their attempt to trade Clark earlier in the day, the Padres gleefully watched Clark deliver what looked to be the game-winning hit Monday.

Well, with the way Clark’s luck is running, wouldn’t you know that it would be all for naught?

Really, with the way the Padre bullpen failed them, who could blame them for looking at the brigth side?

“‘We’ve been looking for five healthy starters all season,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “Now, I think we may finally have them. The big key for us the rest of the season is Frank Seminara and Eiland.

“Seminara’s shown that he only lacks experience to be very effective. And the way Eiland looked, we could be all right.

“If he can throw his good sinker and slider, he’s going to be real successful for us.”

Eiland was uncanny for the first five nnings, thorougly and completely dominating the Dodger lineup. The Dodgers couldn’t even obtain a hit, much less hit the ball out of the infield.

Eiland retired the first nine batters he faced, with third baseman Dave Hansen being the lone Dodger to hit the ball out of the infield. Leadoff hitter Brett Butler ended any of Eiland’s illusions for a no-hitter when he opened the fourth with a bunt-single.

Still, it wasn’t until the sixth when the Dodgers finally were able to even reach second base, and Eiland could only blame himself for his misery.

He opened the sixth inning by walking No. 8 hitter Jose Offerman on five pitches. Eiland struck out Tom Candiotti for the first out, but then allowed Offerman to steal second on his slow delivery. No matter, Eiland induced a fly ball to center from Butler, and still seemed to be of little danger.

Then came trouble. Big trouble. With a capital T.

Eiland suddenly lost his control. He fell behind 2-and-0 to Mike Sharperson when pitching Coach Mike Roarke came to the mound to see if Eiland was hurt. Eiland convinced him he was Ok.

Eiland proceeded to walk Sharperson on four pitches, and Roarke came to the mound again for his first official visit. Again, Eiland said he was just fine.

To prove his point, Eiland threw a first-pitch strike past Lenny Harris. He then got Harris to dribble the second pitch off his foot for a foul ball.

Needing only one more strike, Eiland made the critical of looking back and checking out Offerman at second base. He was called for a balk by second-base umpire Terry Tata, allowing everyone to move up a base.

It proved to be a huge mistake. Two pitches later, Harris slapped a ball up the middle just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Tony Fernandez, and the Dodgers tied the game.

The Padre lineup hardly struck fear in the heart of Dodger starter Tom Candiotti. In fact, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

When third baseman Gary Sheffield was scratched before the game because of a strained left thumb, the Padres suddenly found themselves quite vulnerable.

Just what kind of difference did it make without Sheffield?

Padre starter Dave Eiland has one home run this season.

Only three other players in the lineup had more than two.

Sheffield was injured in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Giant outfielder Willie McGee was attempting to steal third, and when Sheffield put on the tag, McGee’s foot caught Sheffield in the thumb.

“I tried to put a sweep tag on him,” Sheffield said, “but I couldn’t get away from his foot. I thought I’d be all right, but it really swelled up, and it’s pretty sore.

“The nice thing about it was that he 1/8McGee 3/8 called up and apologized, wanting to see if I was Ok. You don’t see that happen much in baseball. That made me feel good.

“I think I’ll be all right, it will just take a day or two.”

Still, even without Sheffield’s 15 homers and 54 RBIs taken out of the lineup, the Padres managed to piecemeal bits of offense.

In fact, much to Candiotti’s surprise, the Padres managed to stake themselves to a 2-0 lead after three innings.

Padre shortstop Tony Fernandez, who entered the game batting .167 against Candiotti, somehow found a way to hit him on this night. He had a double and triple in his first two at-bats, and was responsible for making Candiotti’s life miserable.

Fernandez led off the third inning with a triple into the left-center gap when left fielder Eric Davis and center fielder Brett Butler ran into one another. Tony Gwynn followed with a sacrifice fly to left, providing the Padres with a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, it was catcher Dan Walters’ turn to create havoc. He opened with a double to left, and was able to advance to third on Tim Teufel’s long fly ball to right.

Craig Shipley, who was subbing for Sheffield, never even had to put the bat on the ball. After getting ahead in the count, 0-and-2, Candiotti could only sickenly watch his knuckleball carom off catcher Carlos Hernandez’s mitt to the backstop. Walters scored easily.