Padres Strike First and Make It Last in 5-3 Win Over Astros

HOUSTON — Against all odds, the Padres scored a first-inning run Sunday. Actually, they scored three. With two men on and two outs, Steve Garvey swung at a low fastball and--lo and behold--it bounced off the wall for a two-run double. Next, Garry Templeton hit a ball deep to left, and Jose Cruz leaped for it, caught it, then dropped it as he ran into the wall. And Garvey scored.

The Padre bench went wild, which is wildly uncharacteristic. Their last first-inning lead? “I can’t remember the last time,” Kevin McReynolds said.

Well, the last first-inning lead was July 28--10 long games ago--but it was only a 1-0 lead. This was 3-0.

“Three-nuthin’, man!” Tony Gwynn shouted.

They held on and won, 5-3, though Craig Lefferts and Goose Gossage had everyone nervous in the ninth inning. The first-place Astros had trailed, 5-1, but Kevin Bass led off the ninth with a long home run off Lefferts. Gossage stood up in the bullpen.

Next, the 39-year-old Cruz singled to center. Gossage warmed up.

And Manager Steve Boros brought him into the game. His last appearance--Wednesday night--had made him look old, the night when he blew a 2-1 ninth-inning lead on two pitches. Was this on his mind? He wouldn’t say, but his first three pitches Sunday never came close to home plate.

Somehow, though, he got Astro catcher Alan Ashby on a fly out to left. But he was throwing only fastballs, exactly what his bosses didn’t want him to do. Gossage tends to rely on his fastball, even though his fastball isn’t unhittable anymore. Hitters know it’s coming and know they can hit it.

He threw another fastball to pinch-hitter Craig Reynolds, the next batter, and Reynolds socked it for a single. Cruz stopped at second. The tying run came to the plate--pinch-hitter Denny Walling.

Goose got smart. He suddenly began mixing the slider with the fastball, and Walling flied to center. Davey Lopes singled in Cruz (another fastball), but pinch-hitter Terry Puhl grounded to third baseman Jerry Royster--ending the afternoon and the Padres’ five-game losing streak.

“He (Gossage) had a real good slider today,” Boros said. “And once he mixed in some sliders with his fastball, he did better. . . . I think he realizes that (he needs to mix it up). The other day (when Atlanta beat him), he threw two pitches (both fastballs) and we were out of the game. That’s why I wanted him in early today, to give him some leeway to make adjustments.”

Boros, who has recently spent his postgame press conferences rubbing his eyes and looking depressed, was happier Sunday, but he did admit: “We got a lot of breaks.”

A lot.

The first break--Cruz’s dropping that ball in left in the first inning. He made a long run back for it and had it in the webbing of his glove. If not for the wall, he would have held onto the ball.

The second break--In the bottom of the first, Astro center fielder Billy Hatcher tripled. He scored when Terry Kennedy couldn’t catch one of Dave Dravecky’s sinking fastballs. Then Phil Garner singled. Would the lead last? But--with one out--Glenn Davis grounded to third, and Royster and second baseman Bip Roberts completed an around-the-horn double play.

The third break--In the third, the Padres blew an easy, inning-ending force play when Templeton dropped a toss from Roberts. Runners were at first and second with two outs. Garner ripped one to first, and Garvey quickly reacted to his left and snared it.

“It was tailing and sinking,” Garvey said. “I really had to stay with it.”

The fourth break--In the fifth, the Astros had men on second and third with one out. It was still 3-1. Garner lined a grounder right at Royster, who snagged it, held the runners and threw. Next, Davis--who has 24 homers--ripped a 1-2 pitch about 400 feet, the ball going into the fourth deck of the six-deck Astrodome.

But it was foul.

Then, Dravecky struck him out looking at a slider.

“I decided it was time to stop going inside after he hit that foul ball,” Dravecky said.

The fifth break--In the sixth, McReynolds--who has been inconsistent--hit his 15th homer to make it 4-1.

McReynolds would like to hit 25 this year.

“I think if I get anywhere from 25 upwards, that’ll be a real good year for me,” McReynolds said. “If I had to settle for anything less, I’d say I didn’t have as good a year as I wanted.”

The final break--In the seventh, Templeton singled. Kennedy sacrificed and ended up on first when the pitcher’s throw to second didn’t get Templeton. Roberts came up with orders to sacrifice, too, but he bunted foul twice. Ashby couldn’t handle Bob Knepper’s next pitch, and the runners advanced to second and third. After Roberts grounded out, Bruce Bochy’s pinch-hit bloop double scored the fifth Padre run.

See what a good first inning can do? Usually when a team gets behind on the scoreboard the hitters have to take the first pitch. They need to be more selective. Gwynn said he had wanted to swing at the first pitch so many times.

“But I felt guilty doing that,” he said.

Finally, Sunday, they were free to swing away. Garvey was about to walk to the plate in the eighth inning and Boros even reminded him: “Steve, you don’t even have to take a strike.”

Afterward, Boros said: “Wow. A first-inning lead. That was a new experience for us.”

Padre Notes

Tony Gwynn has gone 94 straight plate appearances without striking out. “Yeah, and it’s been 90 appearances since I’ve got a hit,” he said. Actually, he’s just 1 for his last 11. “Well, I’m a perfectionist,” he said. “I like to hit the ball hard every time up. I know I’m better than this. If I hit the ball hard and go 1 for 11, I could deal with that. I haven’t hit the ball hard this whole series.”