Gwynn Finds a Hole and Fills a Void

It was the 2,560th hit of his career. He would call it the biggest he has ever had in a regular-season game.

Regular season? It has been 12 years since he has played anything but a regular-season game.

Hit No. 2,560 changed that.

Tony Gwynn sliced it through the hole on the left side of the infield, the hole that should have Gwynn’s name on it, and the San Diego Padre right fielder is headed to the postseason for the first time since 1984.

“You can’t ask for more than that,” Padre Manager Bruce Bochy said. “Tony has been through so many lean years here. It was only fitting he got the big hit.”

Gwynn’s two-run single off left-hander Mark Guthrie broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning Saturday and gave the Padres a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers that clinched a wild-card playoff berth for San Diego.

It also enabled the Padres to tie the Dodgers for the National League West lead after 161 games, setting up a strange conclusion in No. 162.

With both teams now guaranteed playoff spots, the six-month quest for a division title has been rendered almost meaningless.

The Dodgers will start Ramon Martinez today, but he will pitch only a few innings because he will also start the playoff opener--either Tuesday vs. St. Louis if the Dodgers win the division title or Wednesday against Atlanta if the Dodgers are the wild card.

The Padres will save their best, Joey Hamilton, for the playoff opener and go for the division title with Bob Tewksbury, who was removed from the rotation recently after going winless in his last five starts and winning one of his last 11.

Integrity?

“I understand,” Gwynn said of the Padres’ pitching decision. “Both teams are in. You want to win the division, but you want to win the whole thing too. I mean, for us, we’re right where we want to be. We’re in, and we still have a chance to win the division. It’s a great feeling, but I can’t let it all out. I have to stay focused.”

The end of the Padres’ playoff drought wasn’t accompanied by champagne. Maybe today.

There was a sense of satisfaction in the clubhouse of a team that lost 101 games in 1993, but perspective dominated, as illustrated by the choice of Tewksbury over Hamilton.

“Before the wild card, Martinez and Hamilton would be going at it tomorrow, but by no means are we conceding anything,” Bochy said. “We’re going with a guy who has been in our rotation almost all year.

“There’s a lot of pride involved. Both teams will be going hard tomorrow. This is what we’ve been going after all year, but you do what you can to get to the World Series.

“If you have the luxury, you save your No. 1 guy. We might have to use him twice [in the five-game opening round].”

Hamilton (15-9) has been plagued by an inflamed shoulder. He would have been pitching on three days’ rest today. It’s doubtful he could have come back for a Tuesday or Wednesday playoff opener.

“Tomorrow is a big game, but it’s not as big as the playoffs,” Hamilton said.

“I’d like to be out there with the division on the line, but I’d rather start twice against St. Louis if I have to.”

In other words, he’d prefer the Cardinals over the Braves?

“Atlanta is good but not invincible,” he said. “I don’t care who we play or where we play. We’re in, and that’s all that matters.”

Said Tewksbury (10-10): “It’s a great thrill to have the opportunity [to pitch for the division title]. I obviously didn’t pitch well in my recent starts--and the friendly people out by the Dodger Stadium bullpen have been reminding me of that--but Boch knows I’ve pitched well for the majority of the season. He’s showing his confidence by sending me out to win the division so that he can rest his hardest thrower for the playoffs.”

All of this evolved because Gwynn delivered after the Dodgers brought in Guthrie to replace Darren Dreifort with the bases loaded.

“Right-hander, left-hander, both arms--it doesn’t matter,” Tewksbury said. “We had the right guy up there.”

Gwynn said he was simply trying to take a good swing at a good pitch. He noticed that third baseman Tim Wallach was trying to take what Gwynn calls the 5.5 hole (halfway between third and short) away from him.

“They were pitching me away and playing me away,” he said, “but the key was that I hit it sharp enough to get it through.”

Gwynn said he wanted to yell, but refrained.

“That one felt as good as any I’ve ever had and might be as big as I’ve had in a regular-season game. The situation. The pressure. Dodger Stadium, where I grew up seeing so many games.

“Until that hit I haven’t been doing much. Cammy [Ken Caminiti] and Fin [Steve Finley] have been carrying us. It felt good to take some of the load off their back, but I’m happy for everybody. I mean, there was a lot of frustration when we lost those two games at home to Colorado, but we came back here to play two of our best games. We were behind in both, but it’s been that way all year. Just when people think they’ve got us, we bounce back.”

Gwynn, hitting .356, will wrap up his seventh batting title today, but he has been focused on the playoffs. He said the 12-year wait seemed like 24. Relatives and friends encouraged him at times to leave, to ask to be traded, but he stuck it out. No celebration. He and brother Chris planned to spend a quiet evening at their mother’s house in Long Beach.

“I can go to Mom’s knowing I don’t have to watch the scoreboard or the late news anymore,” he said. “It’s nice to know we’re in.”

And still alive for the division, if it matters.