Stillwell Mirrors Padres’ Struggles : Baseball: Second baseman continues slump in 3-0 loss to Montreal Expos.

Second baseman Kurt Stillwell retreated to the trainers’ room Friday night after the Padres’ 3-0 defeat to the Montreal Expos, not knowing whether to cry or scream.

It’s certainly not his fault alone that the Padres quickly are falling out of the division race. But Stillwell finds himself burdened by guilt.

Darrin Fletcher’s bouncer caromed off Stillwell’s glove and rolled into center field for a two-run single in the fourth inning. Stillwell then threw away Larry Walker’s bouncer up the middle in the eighth, leading to an unearned run. And it was Stillwell’s bat that let down the Padre offense.

“It’s like everything’s going wrong at once,” Stillwell said. “I know I’m better than this. I know I can hit. I know I can field.

“I just don’t know what’s happening.”

While the Padres (47-44) sank to 6 1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League West, Stillwell remains in a funk.

Stillwell, who was signed to a three-year contract in the off-season to fill the Padres’ void at second base, is batting only .137 the past five weeks. He’s batting .230 for the season, and his 15 RBIs this season are easily the lowest of any Padre regular.

The Padres, according to a National League scout, have begun shopping Stillwell. If they fall out of the division race, they may be peddling Stillwell, catcher Benito Santiago and pitcher Craig Lefferts to anyone who’s interested.

“Right now I’m just pressing, and I don’t know why,” Stillwell said. “It’s like I can’t let it all hang out. I don’t know if I’m tense or not.

“I’m not looking for sympathy, but I’m not myself.”

The Padres can say the same about themselves. They have gone 15 days without beating anyone but the Philadelphia Phillies.

Certainly, they have proven they don’t have a clue against the Expos, who have defeated them in eight of 10 games this season. Padre starter Andy Benes was the latest victim. Although he allowed only two runs in seven innings, he received no offensive support.

Benes (7-8) typifies the Padres’ ineptitude against the Expos (46-44). He has lost six consecutive decisions against Montreal, including four this season. The last time he beat them was Aug. 24, 1990.

“I can’t believe I’m going to have to wait until 1993 to beat them again,” Benes said. “At least I’m done with them this year, so I’ve got that going for me.

“We wanted so bad to get off to a good start the second half, and losing the first two games isn’t what we envisioned. Instead of worrying about the Reds or Braves, we should be more worried about the Giants behind us.”

Indeed, the Giants are two games behind the Padres. In fact, the Padres’ loss, in front of 31,123 at Olympic Stadium, leaves them as close to last place as first.

“It’s like we’re taking a step backwards each night,” said one Padre veteran. “Montreal has all the energy, and we don’t have any. It’s not a good feeling right now.”

Although starter Chris Nabholz (6-6) pitched well for the Expos, the Padres conceded, he certainly shouldn’t be shutting them out for eight innings. Former Dodger John Wetteland entered the game in the ninth for his 18th save. The Padres had no extra-base hits.

“It’s not like Nabholz was blowing guys away and we had no chance,” said Padre first baseman Fred McGriff, who failed to hit a homer against the Expos for the first time in five games. “I just don’t know what it is right now. . . .”

Benes kept the Padres in the game by limiting them to two runs and seven hits--and came only a few feet away from holding them scoreless.

Delino DeShields led off the fourth inning with a single to left. Marquis Grissom flied to right for the first out. DeShields then took off in an attempt to steal second. Padre shortstop Tony Fernandez moved over to cover the bag, and John VanderWal slapped the ball past him.

Walker moved the runners up on his grounder to McGriff at first, and Benes needed only to retire Fletcher to get out of the jam. Fletcher entered the game batting .212 with only one homer and 10 RBIs.

But Benes fell behind in the count 2-and-0. His next pitch was a fastball over the heart of the plate. Fletcher hit a hard shot to Stillwell’s right.

Stillwell dove, but the ball caromed off his glove into shallow center field. By the time he picked the ball up, DeShields and VanderWal scored.

“It was in my glove, and just came out,” Stillwell said.

It was all the Expos would need. Although the Padres hit the ball hard most of the night, they never could mount a rally against Nabholz.

The Padres had a baserunner in every inning but the sixth, but could reach second base only twice. They hit into three double plays, including two on line drives.

Their best scoring opportunity occurred in the seventh when McGriff hit a one-out single to right. Darrin Jackson then hit a line drive toward the right-center gap.

Just as the ball was dropping, Walker made a diving catch.

“That could have changed the whole game,” Jackson said. “It was the play of the game. If he misses it, we’ve got a run in and I’m on third. It was some play.”

Said Walker: “It’s 2-0, a guy’s on base, so you have to take a chance. I was pretty sure I’d get it.”

The defeat ruined Padre Manager Greg Riddoch’s 47th birthday.

“I still think we can win this thing,” said outfielder Tony Gwynn, who had two hits to raise his average to .319, “but it’s becoming harder by the day. We’ve got to get things rolling real quick.”