Round 1 Is Knockout

They arrived early for their tail-gate parties, sauntered into San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, ordered their margaritas and fish tacos, and danced to the Macarena.

San Diego Padre fans have waited 12 years for a pennant race, and the paid crowd of 41,287 was ready to put on a fiesta that could be heard from Coronado Island to Camp Pendleton.

Instead, the Dodgers ruined the mood by slowly and methodically dismantling the Padres, 7-0, behind Ramon Martinez.

The Dodgers, who have won 21 of their last 27 games, took painful strides not to boast or gloat afterward, but their message was clear.

“We’re the [defending National League West] champions,” right fielder Raul Mondesi said. “They have to take it from us. Now, we made it even harder for them.”

The Dodgers (87-66) opened up a 1 1/2-game lead over the Padres (86-68) with the victory, and more important, are two games up in the loss column with nine games remaining.

The Dodgers’ magic number for clinching the division is eight.

“Every game right now is important,” Martinez (14-6) said, “but in my mind we had to get a win today. I wanted to get us started.”

The Dodgers, who maintained all along that their veteran starting rotation would be the difference in this crucial four-game series, sat back and watched Martinez pitch his finest game of the season against former teammate Fernando Valenzuela.

Martinez not only pitched a six-hit shutout but struck out 12 batters, getting at least one batter in each inning.

Martinez retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced and shut down the heart of the order. He limited the Nos. 3 to 7 hitters--Steve Finley, Ken Caminiti, Greg Vaughn, Wally Joyner and John Flaherty--to two hits in 18 at-bats [.111] and got nine of his strikeouts against them.

“Ramon Martinez beat us today,” said Caminiti, who struck out three times, “that’s all you can say.”

Who could blame the Padres for suddenly having the suspicion that they are in trouble? The Padres, who had hoped Valenzuela would provide some magic, watched him get knocked out of the game after 1 2/3 innings, leaving him with a 5.83 earned-run average in seven starts against the Dodgers.

And if it wasn’t painful enough for the Padres watching Martinez shut them down, they were embarrassed by the Famous Chicken’s impromptu visit in the eighth. The mascot came onto the field with the Dodgers ahead, 4-0, and actually delayed the game with his routine.

“That’s the worst I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Gwynn, who raised his league-leading batting average to .357 with two more hits. “We’re getting our . . . kicked, and here comes the Chicken. I mean, I’m ready to bat, and he’s planting a flag near the plate. How ridiculous is that?”

The Padres’ demise actually began quickly when Dodger center fielder Chad Curtis led off the game with a sharp grounder to Caminiti. Caminiti couldn’t pick the ball up, and Curtis was safe on the error.

Todd Hollandsworth then singled to right field. Curtis, who was running on the pitch, advanced to third. Mike Piazza, who iced the game with a two-run homer in the ninth, drove in Curtis on a sacrifice fly to left for a 1-0 lead.

That brought up Eric Karros, the hometown boy from San Diego. Karros remembers the glory days of the Padres. He was sitting in Section 36, between third base and home, when Tim Flannery hit a grounder between Chicago Cub first baseman Leon Durham’s legs, sending the Padres to the 1984 World Series. He was there for Steve Garvey’s dramatic homer in the playoff series. And he was there when everyone was on first-name basis in the stands.

“I was there those nights when people came to the games to see the Famous Chicken,” Karros said, “because there wasn’t anything to cheer about on the field.

“To see the crowd fired up is usually something you usually only see at Charger-Raider games. I hate to say it, but I even got fired up by seeing the Chicken today.”

Karros waited for a pitch he liked, then, on a 2-2 pitch, homered into the left-field seats for a 3-0 lead.

It was all Martinez needed. He escaped a first-inning jam when he struck out Vaughn on five pitches. He struck out Caminiti in the third with runners on first and third. And after yielding a leadoff single to Vaughn in the fourth, retired 18 of the final 19 batters.

The Dodgers got another run in the second on Martinez’s single to left for a 4-0 lead. Yet except for a bad-hop double by Mondesi and a double by Karros that center fielder Finley lost in the sun, the Dodgers didn’t get another hit off the Padres’ bullpen until they put the game away with a three-run ninth inning.

“It’s nice to get that first one,” Piazza said, “but that’s it. I hate to be overly conservative, but if we win two and lose two, we’ll be in the same position we were in when he got here.

“There’s no reason to celebrate. We haven’t done anything yet.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE NL WEST

Stretch Drive

Dodgers 7, San Diego 0

WEST DIVISION RACE

*--*

WEST W L Pct. GB Dodgers 87 66 .569 -- San Diego 86 68 .558 1 1/2

*--*

WILD-CARD RACE

*--*

TEAM W L Pct. GB Montreal 85 67 .559 -- San Diego 86 68 .558 -- Colorado 80 74 .519 6 Houston 78 75 .510 7 1/2

*--*

One wild-card team qualifies for the playoffs.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ahead of the Game

DODGER PITCHING MONTH-BY-MONTH:

*--*

Month IP H ER HR BB SO W-L SV ERA April 244 214 75 23 95 223 14-14 7 2.77 May 246 1/3 240 89 16 83 196 15-12 10 3.25 June 242 2/3 255 119 26 91 198 13-14 8 4.41 July 232 1/3 204 77 17 75 187 15-11 5 2.98 August 256 2/3 263 121 21 91 207 17-10 12 4.24 Sept. 162 1/3 130 50 12 63 129 13-5 7 2.77 Total 1384 1/3 1306 531 115 498 1140 87-66 49 3.45

*--*

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE AVERAGE:

*--*

Month IP H ER HR BB SO SV ERA April 234 237 110 27 92 184 5 4.23 May 235 228 107 26 85 181 7 4.10 June 246 249 114 28 84 182 6 4.17 July 238 244 114 25 86 177 6 4.31 August 257 262 125 28 96 193 8 4.38 September 155 154 71 14 62 109 4 4.12 Total 1365 1374 641 148 505 1026 36 4.23

*--*

* A WILD RACE: The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1, and moved ahead of San Diego in the wild-card race. C5