PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Stillwell to Undergo CAT Scan After Collision With Fernandez

Just when the Padres were able to field the lineup they envisioned in spring training for the first time in nearly two months, Tony Fernandez’s right side met Kurt Stillwell’s left side.

The two met in a nasty collision in the sixth inning on a ground ball hit by Philadelphia third baseman Dave Hollins, and the game was delayed for nearly 10 minutes while trainers attended to both players.

Stillwell had to leave the game and was taken to Scripps Clinic where, according to Padre team doctor Jan Fronek, he was to undergo a CAT scan on his abdomen. At the least, Stillwell sustained a bruised left rib cage.

Fernandez stayed down for three minutes but remained in the game despite, according to Fronek, sustaining bruises on both rib cages.

Fernandez said that at first he thought he was hurt worse than it turned out. But, he said, the thought of missing the All-Star Game didn’t occur to him.

“You’re just thinking that you’re hurt, period,” Fernandez said.

The injuries occurred when both Padre infielders went into the hole after the ball and, at the last second, Fernandez attempted to avoid Stillwell.

Fernandez said he had never been involved in that hard of a collision in the infield.

The All-Star break, when memories are made . . .

Tony Gwynn struck out twice in a game for only the second time since 1989. He was called out on strikes by home plate umpire Bill Hohn in the fourth inning and then struck out swinging in the eighth. Barry Jones was the pitcher in the fifth; Wally Ritchie in the eighth.

Gwynn struck out twice against Montreal on April 30 (against Ken Hill and Jeff Fassero). Before that? On June 13, 1989, against Cincinnati.

The timing seemed perfect.

Sunday morning, the Angel game in Detroit was televised in San Diego. Padre outfielder Jerald Clark’s brother, Phil, started in right field for the Tigers.

And the Padres weren’t scheduled to play until late afternoon.

Jerald Clark had never seen his brother play professionally.

He still hasn’t.

It seems Jerald had a commitment to appear Sunday at the All-Star FanFest. Phil, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

“I talked to him last week,” Jerald Clark said. “He was doing good. He said he’s gotten to play against left-handers. He said he’s learning some things up there. People are willing to help him out--that’s positive.”

But, alas--Clark, hitting .377, was optioned back to triple-A Toledo after the game as the Tigers made room for Rob Deer, who is returning from the disabled list.

And at this rate, it may be a while before Jerald Clark gets to see his brother. He tried once earlier this summer, when the Padres were in Chicago and the Tigers were in Milwaukee. Clark was going to drive to Milwaukee after the Cubs-Padres game. But the Padres-Cubs went extra innings.

Greg Harris, on the disabled list with a broken right middle finger, threw about 30 pitches off of the mound on Sunday for the first time since breaking the finger on June 21.

“I was pretty surprised,” said Harris, who still has two small screws in the finger, which is still protected by a splint. “It didn’t feel that strange, it really didn’t.”

Harris said that throwing with a splint on his finger isn’t as difficult as it sounds.

“It doesn’t bother my mechanics,” Harris said. “I can work on some things I may not have worked on if there was no injury.

“I can do a lot of things.”

Harris also said that pitching coach Mike Roarke has him experimenting with throwing from different spots on the rubber. Harris was bothered earlier in the season by a sore back and Roarke’s thinking is that, if Harris pitches from different spots on the rubber depending on where he wants to throw the pitch, he may square up to the plate better and avoid extra stress on his back.

So between that and his splint-aided, three-fingered fastball, Harris is raring to go.

“I’m going to get a lot accomplished,” he said.

The Padres will reconvene Wednesday for a 9 a.m. practice at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium before flying to Montreal later that day. Padre Manager Greg Riddoch has told All-Stars Fernandez, Gwynn, Gary Sheffield, Fred McGriff and Benito Santiago that they do not need to be at the workout. . . . The Phillies sent pitcher Pat Combs to triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game and activated outfielder Lenny Dykstra from the disabled list. . . . All-Star numbers: Philadelphia catcher Darren Daulton’s 58 RBIs are the most by a Phillie at the All-Star break since Mike Schmidt’s 58 in 1987. Schmidt had 66 in 1986.