No Rest, Only a Loss, for Weary : Baseball: A 4-1 defeat leaves Padres nine games out and resigned to playing for second.

The Padres trudged into the team hotel at 4:30 in the morning Wednesday and tried to catch a little sleep, but it was of no use.

They still were groggy and irritable when they arrived at Dodger Stadium, hardly in a mood to go to work.

The Padres simply couldn’t get their minds off their 16-inning defeat the previous night in San Francisco, and after they lost 4-1 to the Dodgers in front of 22,067 at Dodger Stadium, they wondered what they’ll do with the rest of their season.

Losing their second consecutive game, the Padres (74-64) dropped nine games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League West and re-focused their goal on catching Cincinnati for second place.

The Braves’ magic number for eliminating the division has been reduced to 16 games. If they play only .500 the rest of thee season, the Padres would have to go 21-3 simply to force a one-game playoff.

“You hate to say it,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said, “but it looks pretty bad right now. At this state, nine games look so much larger. It was such a big game (Tuesday), it hurt to lose.

“Facing Atlanta in seven of our last 10 games, we have fate in our own hands at that point. But that’s only if we’re seven out, not nine.”

Perhaps, the Padres say, they don’t deserve to win it, anyway. They have lost four of their past five games to the comical Dodgers.

The Padres, who got only four hits against Dodger starter Kevin Gross--including none after Fred McGriff’s leadoff single in the fourth--appeared to be suffering the repercussions of their 6-5, 16-inning defeat Tuesday to the San Francisco Giants.

One look at the Padre lineup was all that was needed to reveal that something was wrong.

Gwynn was out of the lineup with a sore left knee. Catcher Benito Santiago, who caught the entire game Tuesday, was out. And infielders Craig Shipley (sore knee) and Jeff Gardner (hip pointer) were unable to play because of injuries.

The Padres, panicking that they might not have enough infielders, called up Paul Faries before the game.

“I figured I’d be in Las Vegas the rest of the year,” Faries said, “especially with the playoffs going on. I was looking forward to it.

“But I’ll take this any day.”

Yet the Padres were lethargic. They have scored only one run in their last 18 innings, and have gone 15 games without a stolen base.

With only three weeks remaining, the Padres might begin to take a peek at 1993. Dan Walters is expected to start catching more often. Frank Seminara and possibly Doug Brocail might remain in the starting rotation. Relievers Tim Scott and Jeremy Hernandez might be used more frequently in crucial situations.

The Padres also hope to see starter Greg Harris (2-7) emerge. Harris, who yielded seven hits and three earned runs in three innings, failed to win again Wednesday. He is 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA since coming off the disabled list and winless since May 31.

Harris worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, getting Henry Rodriguez to pop up on a 3-1 count.

Harris couldn’t escape trouble in the third inning. Brett Butler hit a one-out single to left and was on second with two outs when Darryl Strawberry came to the plate.

Strawberry, activated 10 days ago after being out with a herniated disc in his back, had not driven in a run since July 19. But he drilled a double, and when left fielder Oscar Azocar bobbled the ball, Strawberry stunned everyone by taking third.

Harris couldn’t get out of the mess. He walked Eric Karros, and then surrendered a run-scoring single to Rodriguez, turning a 1-0 Padre lead into a 2-1 deficit.

The Dodgers extended their lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning when Jose Offerman led off with a double, and scored on Lenny Harris’ groundout. They added another in the eighth on Karros’ single off Rich Rodriguez.

“It’s a frustrating time,” Gwynn said. “We’ve played pretty good ball this whole year, but it just seems that whenever we won, the Braves won. And when we lost, the Braves kept winning.

“To me, when (Gary) Sheffield and McGriff get the opportunities, we’re a much better ballcub. If they don’t get the opportunities, they can still do damage, but not nearly as much as they could be doing.

“Sheffield and McGriff are going to have to be the guys who carry the load, and our job is to give them as many opportunities as we can.”

Triple Crown Watch

Batting Average Gary Sheffield, Padres: .332 Andy Van Slyke, Pittsburgh: .330 John Kruk, Philadelphia: .322

Home Runs Fred McGriff, Padres: 34 Gary Sheffield, Padres: 30 Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh: 28

Runs Batted In Darren Daulton, Philadelphia: 95 Gary Sheffield, Padres: 93 Terry Pendelton, Braves: 93 Fred McGriff, Padres: 92