PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Benes Expresses His Frustration After Another Disappointing Year

As far as Andy Benes was concerned, Sunday’s game was a microcosm of the type of season he has had.

Denied a victory despite shutting out the Atlanta Braves on two hits for seven innings, the Padre right-hander had an empty feeling. His teammates’ futility at bat and Randy Myers’ failure in relief made the Padres 2-1 losers in 10 innings.

“It was kind of a typical game for me,” said Benes (13-13). “It’s just frustrating. The whole year has been frustrating. I pitched well enough to win so many games, but you’re judged by how many you win, so I’m just a 13-game winner. It’s been that way for 3 1/2 years.

“People don’t see that Andy Benes was last in the National League in run support last year and still won 15 games. When it seems like any pitch can beat you, it’s tough.”

The statistics for Benes’ last six starts illustrate what he said. He has given up only seven earned runs in 41 innings, a 1.54 ERA, yet has only a 3-2 record over that span.

Because Benes will be eligible for arbitration in the off-season, he was asked if he expected his modest victory total to be used against him.

“I’ll put up my numbers,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t have to go into the hearing with earplugs on and working a crossword puzzle.”

As hard as it has been for Benes to win, he has the satisfaction of having shaken the slump that led some skeptics to speculate his great finish a year ago was an aberration. He had a 1.77 ERA in his last 15 starts of 1991, posting an 11-1 record after going 4-10 previously.

“I finally have some mental stability,” he said. “I don’t throw the resin bag, or scream and yell. I don’t let things bother me like they used to.

“That’s what’s important. I get the ball, focus on the catcher and throw. If I’ve gotten anything out of this year, it’s that. Now I just go out there and hope to catch a break here and there.”

The Braves’ Lonnie Smith, who never has been cited for defensive excellence, unwittingly made himself a hero with a box-seat occupant when he committed an error in the third inning.

Smith dropped Phil Stephenson’s foul to left field, and a left-handed fan with a first baseman’s glove reached over the railing and caught it.

Sidelined for the season with a strained collateral ligament in his left knee, right fielder Tony Gwynn will not make the Padres’ last trip of the season to Houston and Atlanta this week. Gwynn had held out hope that he would be able to play in Atlanta, but gave up on the idea when his knee failed to show improvement. He has played only four innings since Sept. 8, when he suffered the injury after tying his career high of five hits in a 16-inning game in San Francisco.

This is the third consecutive year that Gwynn, a four-time National League batting champion, has missed the end of the season because of an injury. He finished with a .317 average, running to 10 his streak of .300-plus seasons since hitting .289 as a rookie in 1982.

Padre shortstop Tony Fernandez extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the third inning Sunday. He is hitting .365 during that period and has his average up to .270.

The Padres will play their first doubleheader in two years Friday when they open a four-game, season-ending series in Atlanta. The extra game resulted from a rainout Aug. 12. Their last doubleheader was against the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 22, 1990.