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Dodgers Can’t Mask Their Mistakes in Padres’ 4-3 Victory

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Long before the Padres caught Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia illegally using his mask in the crucial play of their 4-3 victory Friday night, they knew something was up when another catcher walked into their clubhouse.

Yes, they knew it would be a most unusual night when they saw Tom Lampkin a couple of hours before game time.

The last anyone had heard from Lampkin, he was catching for triple-A Las Vegas.

But Lampkin never changed out of his blue jeans. He was nothing more than a walking insurance policy. He had a ticket to the game, and then a 10 p.m. flight back to Las Vegas when the Padres were not able to trade Benito Santiago.

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So it was fitting the Santiago was at the plate when the game turned in the eighth and the Dodgers announced they were playing the game under protest--a protest they withdrew afterward.

It was tied, 3-3, and Fred McGriff was standing on third base when Santiago took a pitch from reliever Jay Howell that bounced in the dirt. The ball trickled away from the plate, to Scioscia’s right.

Rather than stop the ball with his glove, he took off his mask and scooped it up. By the time the ball was returned to Howell, Padre Manager Greg Riddoch and base coaches Bruce Kimm and Rob Picciolo had converged on home plate umpire Jerry Layne.

The game was delayed for 10 minutes while the trio pleaded their case. A catcher cannot use his mask to catch a ball, they said. The three base umpires joined in the discussion.

The umpires huddled and apparently denied Riddoch’s request. But Riddoch, Kimm and Picciolo argued some more, the umpires huddled again and then they summoned Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda.

The Padres were right, the umpires said, and they waved McGriff in from third with what proved to be the winning run.

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They cited rule 7.05 (d), and Scioscia was charged with an error--the Dodgers’ fifth of the game.

It was a happy ending to a long day for the Padres, one that started in Waterloo, Iowa.

Friday’s 9 p.m. waiver deadline came and went, and not only did the Padres not trade Santiago, General Manager Joe McIlvaine hung up the telephone after his last call without having made any moves.

“I think our team is in place,” said McIlvaine, who is with the Padres’ Class-A affiliate in Waterloo. “I think we’re ready to contend. This is what we’ll go with.

“May the best team win.”

The actual trading deadline is Aug. 31, and all playoff rosters must be set the next day. But it now becomes more difficult to make trades because teams must first pass their players through waivers.

McIlvaine wouldn’t say how close he got to trading Santiago but, with the Padres summoning Lampkin to Los Angeles, he was obviously hopeful of unloading the remaining portion of Santiago’s $3.3-million salary.

Lampkin received a telephone call from Ed Lynch, the Padres’ director of minor leagues, about 11 a.m. on Friday.

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“He said, ‘We want you to go to Los Angeles today,’ ” said Lampkin, who was batting .316 with one homer and 35 RBIs in Las Vegas. “He said, ‘We don’t know what is going to happen, we just want you to show up.’

“He told me there was a chance I could be up here the rest of the year or there was a chance I could be here for two hours.”

Dan Walters, Santiago’s backup, has been unable to play since straining his right hamstring on Wednesday. The Padres figured Lampkin would provide insurance in case Walters’ condition worsened on Friday.

But there was another reason which explained Lynch’s telling Lampkin that this assignment could last the season.

“If (a Santiago trade) had happened, Walters would not be capable of playing,” McIlvaine said. “That was the second reason he was there.”

Santiago wasn’t fazed by Lampkin’s appearance.

“I’m just here to play,” Santiago said. “It’s just another day in my life.”

McIlvaine refused to disclose how close he came to trading Santiago.

“I don’t want to say,” he said. “I talked to a lot of teams about a lot of different players.

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“I talked to a lot of general managers, and it just wasn’t happening. Most of it was because of the big contracts. (Trades) are tough to do.”

And McIlvaine insisted he was not disappointed.

“I like our team the way it is,” he said.

One thing not to like, though, is the Padres’ penchant for blowing leads in Dodger Stadium this summer. Including a 1-0 first-inning lead that became a 2-1 Dodger lead by the end of the first on Friday night, the Padres have blown seven of them in their past five games here.

“Don’t think we don’t know that as players, because we do,” Tony Gwynn said.

He then referred to the game the Padres blew in their series-opening, 6-5 loss Thursday night.

“When we were leading, 3-1, the first thing that crossed my mind was that we’ve had trouble closing these guys out up here before,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll think of that the rest of the series.”

But Randy Myers came on to pitch the ninth on Friday and notched his 20th save, and the Padres pulled to within 4 1/2 games of the division-leading Reds. Starter Bruce Hurst (11-6) earned the victory.

“You get to this stage of the season, these games are important to us,” Gwynn said. “(The Dodgers) are just trying to play good baseball and finish the season strong.

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“Never mind the fact that they had lost seven of eight before we came in here. I knew that they would be tough going in. A lot of people thought we’d come in here and walk past these guys.

“With (Jose) Offerman leading off and (Brett) Butler batting second with his ability to bunt and run, it’s a whole different set of circumstances.”

Offerman showed why Lasorda has inserted him in the leadoff role in the fifth when, with the score tied, 2-2, he led off with a good bunt down the third-base line. Gary Sheffield, charging, threw off-balance and past McGriff, allowing Offerman to take second.

Then, with Butler at the plate, Offerman took third on a Hurst balk. Butler then wasted no time in drilling an RBI single to left.

But on this night, Eric Karros’ three singles were outweighed by five Dodger errors.

Of course, Lampkin was long gone by then.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this in my career,” Lampkin said.

The Catcher’s Mask Ruling

The Padres’ Fred McGriff was awarded home Friday night when umpires decided that Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia violated the following rule by stopping the ball with his mask:

7.05 Each runner . . . may, without liability to be put out, advance--

(d) Two bases, if a fielder deliberately touches a thrown ball with his cap, mask or any part of his uniform detached from its proper place on his person. . . .

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