Reds’ Outburst Dashes Padres’ Grand Plans

The Padres vowed this would be the red-letter day. They predicted by the time they left town Sunday, they would be in second place in the National League West, leaving the Cincinnati Reds behind for good.

But after being blasted 12-2 Sunday by the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium, the Padres find themselves thoroughly bewildered.

“It seemed like they were real flat and we should have taken advantage of them,” Padre third baseman Gary Sheffield said. “We thought we’d steal some games from them and concentrate on Atlanta the rest of the year.

“But it didn’t happen, and now we’ve got some problems.”

Although the Padres (64-54) lost back-to-back games for only the fourth time since the All-Star game, they trail the Braves by 7 1/2 games and the Reds by three.

“The hard thing is knowing how good we are,” Padre first baseman Fred McGriff said. “I think we’ve got the best talent in the league. Nobody’s got a better lineup, I know that. That’s why it’s so frustrating, because it’s too good of a team to be losing.”

The Padres, according to one owner who wishes to remain anonymous, have experienced slight cash-flow problems. Although the Padres will receive about $12.5 million in expansion fees this winter, that money will be used to pay off a bank loan that was used to purchase the club, the owner said.

Team officials estimate they will lose between $7 million and $10 million this season with a $29 million budget. The Padres, then, will have to cut their budget unless they find a way to make the playoffs and increase revenue.

If there are no playoffs, there will be no Barry Bonds, no Greg Maddux, no Benito Santiago . . . and maybe not even a multi-year contract for Sheffield.

“That’s why we’ve got to win this year,” one Padre source said, “because I’m afraid this might be our best chance.”

Said Padre Manager Greg Riddoch: “I think we have the best lineup on the field in the league. But you also have to say the Braves have the best starting pitching and the Reds have the best bullpen.”

“Today was just one of those ugly days, but I’m not giving up.”

The Padres, who suffered their second-most lopsided defeat of the season, had the game in their grasp in the fifth inning. Trailing 3-0, the Padres got a single from pitcher Bruce Hurst. Tony Fernandez walked, and Tony Gwynn blooped a double, scoring Hurst and advancing Fernandez to third.

That brought up Sheffield, whose 11-game hitting streak later came to an end. Sheffield hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the Reds’ lead to 3-2.

Reds Manager Lou Piniella ordered Tim Belcher to walk Fred McGriff intentionally, the fifth time McGriff walked in two days.

The strategy worked. Darrin Jackson hit a fly ball to shallow center field, keeping Gwynn at third. And catcher Benito Santiago, in an 0-for-16 slide, fouled to first.

The Reds broke open the game in the fifth, and again Padre Manager Greg Riddoch was second-guessed by several veterans, this time for leaving Hurst in the game one batter too long.

Hurst (12-7), enduring his worst outing in a month, surrendered a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez. After Bip Roberts flew out to deep left field, Reggie Sanders and Barry Larkin hit singles, scoring one run for a 4-2 lead and leaving runners on second and third. Riddoch went to the mound, presumably to remove Hurst.

“Actually, I just wanted to see how Bruce was feeling,” Riddoch said, “and to see if he wanted to pitch to (Darnell) Coles.”

Hurst said he was fine. Riddoch returned to the dugout. Two pitches later, Coles lined a two-run double for a 6-2 lead.

Hurst exited, having yielded nine hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

“I thought I made some pretty good pitches, not great ones,” said Hurst, whose four-game winning streak ended, “and they beat me. That’s a pretty good hitting team.”

The Reds scored six runs in the final two innings off the Padre bullpen.

“It’s not over with,” Sheffield said, “but when we lost that game (Thursday) to the Braves, it really hurt us. That was a big series for us. Now, we can’t even afford to win two out of three anymore, we have to start sweeping people.