Dodgers Praised as Padres Win, 8-2 : Baseball: Tony Gwynn breaks ranks, insists L.A. is the team to beat even after San Diego does exactly that.

It was painful for all-star right fielder Tony Gwynn to spit out the words. When you’re employed by the San Diego Padres, you’re taught from the outset never to say kind things about Los Angeles.

You can bring up the smog. Talk about crime. Laugh about the NFL ghost town. But whatever you do, never, ever, say anything complimentary about the Dodgers.

Gwynn, perhaps caught in the euphoria of the Padres’ 8-2 rout of the Dodgers Wednesday night in front of a paid crowd of 28,095 at Dodger Stadium, couldn’t help himself.

“Hey, I feel great about our team,” Gwynn said, “but the truth is that the Dodgers are the team to beat in our division.

“It’s disgusting how good they are. My God, Raul Mondesi is batting sixth? And the scary part for the rest of us is that they’re going to be good for a long time.

“They’ve got that intimidating lineup, that great pitching, it reminds me of those Dodger teams in the glory years. They’re like the model franchise. They have that Dodger pride again.

“If someone’s going to beat those guys, they better do it this year before those guys become unbeatable.”

The Padres (30-28), perhaps sensing just that, moved to within one game of the first-place Colorado Rockies behind third baseman Ken Caminiti’s career-high four hits, two homers and five runs batted in. This is the closest the Padres have been to first place since July, 1985, and they now are making plans that could really shake up the National League West.

The Padres have begun preliminary talks with the Toronto Blue Jays in an attempt to acquire either all-star outfielder Joe Carter or all-star second baseman Roberto Alomar. If they’re successful, Gwynn believes the Padres could be the team to beat.

“We just need that one bat,” said Gwynn, a five-time batting champion, “because our pitching is unbelievable. I can’t think of a time we ever had four guys throwing the ball like this.

“Believe me, it feels good to come to the ballpark again. I feel like I’m 25 again. I don’t care what they pay you, this is what it’s all about.”

The Padres, behind the performance of Andy Ashby (5-4), who yielded two hits in seven innings, again dominated the Dodgers’ vaunted offense. The Dodgers sent 33 consecutive batters to the plate during one stretch over two games without getting a hit. Mike Piazza finally ended the drought with a two-out single in the fourth, the Dodgers’ first hit since Piazza’s third-inning double Tuesday night.

Remarkably, the Padres’ No. 3 and 4 hitters, Gwynn and Caminiti, batted .733 (11 for 15) with eight runs, three homers and 11 RBIs the last two nights. The Dodgers’ 3-4 duo of Piazza and Eric Karros batted .143 (two for 14) with one run and no homers or RBIs.

The Padres also delivered Ismael Valdes’ first shellacking of the season, ending his five-game winning streak. Valdes (5-3) gave up seven hits and five earned runs in only five innings, surrendering as many runs Wednesday as he has in his last four starts combined. In fact, Caminiti’s two homers were as many as Valdes has yielded in his last seven starts, spanning 56 innings.

Valdes, appearing so relaxed before the game that he actually was chatting with reporters and granting interviews, still was plagued by his his first-inning woes. Yielding nearly a .281 batting average in the first inning compared to only a .183 batting average the rest of the game, he continued his traditional slow start.

He opened the game by walking Steve Finley. Two batters later, he gave up a two-run homer by Caminiti into the right-field seats.

Valdes then settled down, yielding only two hits over the next three innings, but he made a colossal mistake in the fifth inning. He faced Caminiti with two men on base, and once again, watched the ball soar into the right-field stands.

“Caminiti was a nightmare,” Valdes said.

“But I learned a lesson tonight. I learned that when I want to make a pitch, throw it. I wanted to throw a change-up in that situation. The catcher [Piazza] called for a fastball.

“I didn’t want to throw it, but I said, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.’ I throw the fastball. Boom. Out of here.”

Said Piazza: “Those things happen. You can second-guess yourself all you want. But it’s his game.

“Hopefully, what happened these last two nights will wake us up a little bit.”