Santiago Has a Perfect Day Off--Three for Three

Golf, now that’s a good day-off activity. Or fishing. Something far away from the phones and farther away from work.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Benito Santiago was in the far corner of the dugout Wednesday as the Padres began an eventual 7-3 victory over Cincinnati. He wasn’t scheduled to play. Maybe in an inning or so it would be time to flip his cap around, lower the sunglasses and kick up his feet.

Then, in the bottom of the second inning, Dan Walters suffered a strained right hamstring while rounding second. The Padres eyed Santiago at the end of the bench. Manager Greg Riddoch waved his hand.

Some people use an answering machine expressly for this purpose. They monitor calls and, when the boss rings, they snicker in the background.

Santiago, left without a choice, quickly grabbed his helmet and hurriedly loosened up. Three hours later, he was glad he did.

He finished three for three with two RBIs, and he also threw out Dave Martinez on a steal attempt in the seventh.

“It was going to be a day off, huh?” Santiago said afterward, smiling. “It’s tough sometimes when you don’t think you’re going to be playing. You’ve just got to try to do the best you can, but it’s tough when you’re not even loose.”

The three hits bumped his average up to a season-high .267.

His stint on the disabled list with a fractured finger is now a distant memory. In his past eight games, he is batting .462 (12 for 26) with six RBIs.

“I’m real comfortable,” he said. “I’m seeing the ball better and taking some strikes.”

Yes, read his lips: Santiago, a textbook free swinger, is actually taking strikes . And Padre batting coach Merv Rettenmund credits Santiago’s current run to this patience.

“He’s been very selective the last six or seven games,” Rettenmund said. “When he came back (July 11), his first 20 at-bats were just giveaways. But before he got hurt, he was swinging like this.

“He’s been really good with men on.”

Santiago came to bat in the third Wednesday with two out and runners on first and second and hit a hard single to shortstop off Tom Bolton, knocking in Tony Gwynn from second.

In the sixth, Santiago collected a leadoff double against Scott Ruskin.

And in the seventh, again with two out and runners on first and second, he singled to right against Dwayne Henry, allowing Fred McGriff to score.

“Hey, not bad at all,” Santiago said. “I’m not complaining. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes you go 0 for 5 or 0 for 6.

“Today I was cold and didn’t even stretch and I had a good game.”

Sometimes, vacations are postponed. Sometimes, businessmen do their best work on days off. The office is quiet and the desk gets cleaned off quickly.

“Nice day off, Benny,” Gwynn said as he passed Santiago’s locker on his way out.

Santiago beamed.

“Thank you, Tony,” he said. “Thank you.”