Padres Set for Week with Focus on Season

This is the week that could be felt by the Padres for a long time.

Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine set the stakes with his weekend comments. When asked whether Manager Greg Riddoch--whose contract expires after 1992--will be retained for next season, McIlvaine responded that he wants to see if Riddoch “can manage in a pennant-type race.”

Welcome to a pennant-type race.

The third-place Padres, 6 1/2 games back, embark on a nine-game odyssey beginning tonight that will take them to Atlanta (first place in the NL West, winner of nine of 10 games, Cincinnati (second place) and Pittsburgh (first place in the NL East, winner of 10 in a row).

“We’re playing both teams ahead of us,” third baseman Gary Sheffield, who suffered a concussion on Sunday but is expected to be in the lineup in Atlanta on Tuesday. “If not a sweep, we’ve got to at least win each series.

“If we do that, we’ve got a chance. If not, we don’t have a chance.”

Along with their bats and balls, the Padres have packed both their own fate and that of their manager.

A good trip could produce one of the more exciting Septembers that the Padres have seen in a while. And that could salvage Riddoch’s job.

A poor trip will probably have the Padres planning for 1993 by the time they return on Aug. 22. And will probably mean, among other things, that the Padres will send Riddoch packing.

As they left, the Padres were certainly aware of McIlvaine’s comments implying that the rest of the 1992 season will be a test for Riddoch. Although no players would comment on the record, some expressed surprise Sunday at McIlvaine’s timing--which added pressure to the Padres’ already difficult task.

McIlvaine, though, claims that the pressure facing the Padres this week is not as intense as some may think.

“We’ve still got nine games left against Atlanta and Cincinnati (including this week’s series),” McIlvaine said. “Sure, this is an important trip. They’re all important. But we still have a lot of games left with the clubs we’re trying to catch.

“I think since Atlanta beat us, we need to send them a little message.”

Atlanta has brushed away the Padres this season like a summer gnat. The Braves have won seven of nine from the Padres, including a 3-0 mark in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

“We’re going to find out in a hurry,” said pitcher Andy Benes, who is scheduled to start Wednesday night in Atlanta. “We’ve got something to prove to ourselves the way we played in Atlanta last time.

“The way I look at it, honestly, it doesn’t matter if we beat Houston, Atlanta or Cincinnati. We’ve just got to win. We have to be ready to play every day.

“But obviously, when you’re playing the top three teams, it’s important.”

Typically, Riddoch is downplaying the week.

“We don’t have to win anything out of anything,” he said. “We just have to take it one day at a time.”

But being 6 1/2 games and 2 1/2 behind Cincinnati suggests that, eventually, be it this week or in September, the Padres indeed must win a certain number of games to overtake their rivals.

And more significant than the deficit is that the Padres trail Atlanta by eight in the loss column. Also, it is much easier for the pursuer to catch one team than it is to catch two teams.

“Our guys believe they can compete, that they can go to Atlanta and face the best pitching staff in the league,” Riddoch said. “Just keep an eye on us.”

As far as pitching matchups go, the Padres couldn’t have hoped for much better.

In Atlanta, the Padres will miss both Tom Glavine (17-3, 2.64 ERA) and Steve Avery (9-8, 2.77.

In Cincinnati, they will miss Jose Rijo (9-8, 3.07) and, unless the Reds jockey their rotation, Greg Swindell (10-5, 2.77).

Meanwhile, the Padres’ Bruce Hurst (11-6, 3.26) pitches the opener tonight in Atlanta--which means he should also be able to face Cincinnati on Sunday.

Riddoch, though, isn’t impressed that the Padres will miss Glavine and Avery in Atlanta, pointing out that the Braves’ 19 shutouts leads the major leagues.

“They wouldn’t have the record they have now if it was just their two top pitchers,” he said. “We’re facing their second-best pitcher--John Smoltz. And we have our No. 1 guy going in there--Hurst. That’s the way you like it. It will be a great matchup.”

But, despite missing Glavine and Avery, playing in tomahawk-chopping Atlanta is never easy. The Braves have played before 25 consecutive home sellouts.

“It will be a lot of fun playing in front of a sold-out stadium,” Benes said. “There will be a lot of excitement.”

Unless, of course, the Padres play as poorly as they did last time in Atlanta, whereupon they will find themselves 10 games back rather quickly.

“By this time next Sunday we could be the same (in the standings), significantly better or significantly worse,” McIlvaine said.

“At least we’re playing the teams ahead of us. These guys are ready.”