Leyritz Again Stars in a Dramatic Role

Jim Leyritz hasn’t lost his flair for the dramatic home run.

After connecting four times in the playoffs last year, Leyritz got his and San Diego’s first homer of the season, a pinch-hit shot leading off the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Padres a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.

The win was tempered when the Padres learned that third baseman George Arias will go on the 15-day disabled list after spraining his right thumb sliding into second base trying to break up a double play in the second inning. X-rays were negative and Arias will be examined again today.

Leyritz is best known for his two big postseason homers with the New York Yankees, the three-run shot in Game 4 that changed the course of the 1996 World Series against Atlanta and the 15th-inning homer to win Game 2 of the 1995 divisional series against Seattle.

This one was special for another reason.

Leyritz said he went to the clubhouse in the fourth inning and was looking at the media guide, then returned to the dugout and told Damian Jackson he’d never gone deep as a pinch-hitter.

“Sure enough, I went up there and did it and he looked at me and said, ‘No way, you didn’t do that.’ I said, ‘I didn’t plan on it.’ I got a good pitch to hit.”

Leyritz, pinch-hitting for John Vander Wal, drove a 1-and-1 changeup from Bobby Jones (0-1) into the left-field seats.

“I was pretty sure he’d pinch-hit, but the one thing I wanted to do was get Vander Wal out of the game,” Rockies’ Manager Jim Leyland said. “He killed us all spring. I wasn’t concerned with [Leyritz].”

Leyritz had been one for six lifetime against Jones.

The shot gave Roberto Rivera his first big league win. Rivera relieved Donne Wall with two out and Vinny Castilla on second base in the top of the ninth and got Todd Helton to ground out to first.

Colorado went up 1-0 in the second on Mike Lansing’s run-scoring single, and San Diego tied it in the fourth on Dave Magadan’s one-out single.

Tony Gwynn had two hits for San Diego and pushed his total to 2,933, passing Willie Keeler for 25th on the all-time list.