Padres Fall Further Out of Race : Baseball: Reds pick up 7-4 victory. Padres now 11 games out of lead.

The Padre clubhouse is quieter than Ross Perot’s campaign headquarters these days. The Padres keep losing--7-4 Saturday night to the Cincinnati Reds--and elimination is creeping ever so close.

It’s painful enough for the Padres (75-66) knowing that their season is all but over. They plummeted to a season-high 11 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League West, leaving their magic number for elimination at 11.

Yet the most difficult aspect is realizing what lies ahead.

“This team is as talented as any team in baseball,” Tony Gwynn said. “I’ve never had so much fun in my life just watching the kind of years everyone’s having.

“I mean, it’s hard to assemble this much talent on one team.”

Gwynn paused for a moment, and then speaking almost in a whisper, said: “I guess the way things are nowadays, it’s just as hard to keep it together.”

The Padres, who opened the year with a $29-million budget, will be torn apart in the off-season. Veterans will be dumped; others will be traded. Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, says the moves will be necessitated to reduce their payroll to less than $25 million.

It’s no secret what moves will be made:

All-Star catcher Benito Santiago and reliever Randy Myers will be the first to go, via free agency. The Padres say they can’t afford to make competitive offers. Reliever Larry Andersen will be released. Starter Bruce Hurst will be traded.

That’s for starters.

“We’re going to have to look at ways to cut the budget,” McIlvaine said recently. “It’s that simple.”

Although the Padres say they can cut the current budget by about $11.3 million--which also includes the early departure of Craig Lefferts and starter Ed Whitson--they still have to make room for salary increases.

Although Fred McGriff’s pay will remain the same, the Padres will have to shell out an extra $2 million for Gwynn and $1 million for starter Greg Harris. And they are anticipating at least a $2.5-million hike for third baseman Gary Sheffield, and possible $1-million raises for outfielder Darrin Jackson and starter Andy Benes.

“You’ve got to ask yourself if it’s all about winning or making money,” Gwynn said, “and there’s only a few people who know the answer.

“If they want to win, and make money next year, we’re going to have to put 3 1/2 million people in the stands.”

Unfortunately for the Padre ownership, they can’t even attract 20,000 fans per game. The Padres drew only 15,879 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, virtually assuring that they will draw fewer than 1.8 million fans this season.

The consequence, the Padres say, is that they’ll lose about $10 million.

It doesn’t matter to the locals that the Padres have five All-Stars, the league’s leading home run hitter and a closer who ranks second in the league. The Padres have been nothing more than a .500 team since mid-April, losing 14 of their last 25 games.

The Padres looked flat once again in their fourth consecutive loss to the Reds, outscored 28-11. In fact, the four runs the Padres scored in the ninth, set up by two infield blunders, equaled their overall total in the previous 33 innings.

Perhaps the most-talked about play of the night was the eighth-inning maneuver by Padre Manager Greg Riddoch.

Hurst, who missed his last start because of an inflamed rotator cuff, opened the eighth inning trailing, 2-0. Barry Larkin greeted him with a homer to center field. Reggie Sanders followed with a single, and after Willie Greene flied out, Joe Oliver doubled.

Riddoch brought in right-handed reliever Jeremy Hernandez, who intentionally walked left-handed hitter Paul O’Neill. Red Manager Lou Piniella, as expected, summoned left-handed pinch-hitter Jeff Branson.

Out came Riddoch again, this time to remove Hernandez. Hernandez couldn’t believe it. He began laughing on the mound, shaking his head while walking to the dugout. Even Hurst, who already was in the clubhouse, was stunned.

“I guess they got the matchup they wanted,” Hurst said. “Jeremy did his job.”

Strange game?

“Strange, I don’t know. There have been some goofy ones. This one ranks right up there.”

Rodriguez struck out pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez, but then gave up a 3-and-2 single to center by pitcher Jose Rijo, scoring two runs for a 5-0 Red lead.

“I didn’t think it was unusual,” Riddoch said. “It was a better matchup. It’s like who would you rather face, Sheffield or (Jeff) Gardner?”

The Reds scored two more runs in the ninth inning on Sanders’ two-run homer off Tim Scott for a 7-0 lead. The Padres finally scored four runs when Piniella removed Rijo and inserted Milt Hill.

Victimized by two infield blunders, Hill couldn’t finish the job. Rob Dibble finally stopped the shenanigans by striking out pinch-hitter Gardner and Tony Fernandez.

Just like that, the Padres had lost their fourth out of their last five games.

Perhaps it was apropos when Gwynn said before the game: “We have some people in here who don’t like the manager, don’t like the front office, and don’t like decisions that are being made.

“Everybody has their ideas what is best for the club, but the decision is theirs, not ours.

“This is the first time I’ve seen so many questions that have to be answered when the season ends.

“Man, it’s going to be some winter.”

Triple Crown Watch

Batting Average

Andy Van Slyke, Pittsburgh: .334

Gary Sheffield, Padres: .330

John Kruk, Philadelphia: .324

Home Runs

Fred McGriff, Padres: 34

Gary Sheffield, Padres: 30

Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh: 28

Runs Batted In

Darren Daulton, Philadelphia: 99

Terry Pendleton, Braves: 94

Fred McGriff, Padres: 93

Gary Sheffield, Padres: 93