Chuckles Are Few as Padres Hold On, 6-4

SAN DIEGO —  There was something not so funny about the Padres’ first home “laugher” of the season Sunday afternoon.

Nobody on the team’s bench was laughing in the top of the eighth inning.

When the inning began, the Padres led San Francisco, 6-0. By the time it ended, the score was 6-4.

Bring on the Goose.

Goose Gossage finally got the Padres out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the eighth. Then he pitched a perfect ninth, saving the Padres’ 6-4 win in front of 25,799 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

If the game sounded too close to be a laugher, consider the evidence.

All eight of San Diego’s previous home games were one-run decisions. Five of the games went into extra innings.

No wonder Manager Steve Boros seemed a little relieved after Sunday’s game.

“That’s progress,” Boros said. “We won by two runs, and we did it in nine innings. I can’t find fault with winning by two runs the way things have been going.”

The way things were going Sunday, it appeared Tony Gwynn would be the hero. He hit two home runs in a game for the first time in his major-league career, driving in three runs.

Gwynn wasn’t the only hero. Gossage also had been a life saver by recording his third save.

After Saturday night, the Padres needed some kind of relief. They had been beaten in 10 innings, 3-2, on a homer by rookie Will Clark.

Everybody had their act together Sunday until the Padres began falling apart in the eighth.

“I was thinking back to last year when we led St. Louis in the seventh inning, 6-1, and lost, 9-6,” Gwynn said. “I was just hoping we could get out of here with a win. When you think of losing with a 6-0 lead, those are the types of games that break people’s backs.”

Through the first seven innings, Padre starter Dave Dravecky had been breaking a lot of people’s bats. In fact, seven Giant hitters broke their bats as Dravecky made a habit of jamming them with inside pitches.

Dravecky escaped his only early jam in the first, retiring Chili Davis on a grounder with runners on first and third.

For the next six innings, Dravecky was in control.

He walked Bob Brenly in the second, but Brenly was thrown out stealing. Then, Dravecky retired 15 straight batters before Jeffrey Leonard singled off Dravecky’s glove in the seventh.

When Dravecky saw six Padre runs on the scoreboard, he should have done a double take. Dravecky (2-1) had been supported by a total of just five runs in his first four starts.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Dravecky, the type who wouldn’t criticize teammates if they never scored for him. “Naturally, it’s nice to have a cushion. But you can get lazy.”

With one out in the eighth, Dravecky said he did get lazy, allowing a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Candy Maldonado.

Then, Dravecky said he got tired with back-to-back walks to Dan Gladden and Clark. Then, Dravecky was removed after Chris Brown’s grounder was booted by third baseman Graig Nettles, allowing Gladden to score.

Tim Stoddard, not Gossage, was summoned. Stoddard walked Leonard, loading the bases.

In came Gossage.

Why not have Gossage pitch to Leonard?

“Everything happened so quick that Goose wasn’t ready,” Boros said. “Even if Tim (Stoddard) had struck out Leonard, my guess is that Goose probably would have been in the game (after Leonard hit).”

When Gossage came in, he threw an apparent inning-ending double play ball to Davis. But shortstop Garry Templeton dropped the ball before making his pivot throw, and the Giants had pulled to within 6-4.

Then, with runners on first and third, Gossage struck out Brenly on three pitches.

“The first pitch was like a quick pitch, and the second pitch was a fastball I fouled off,” Brenly said. “Then, he threw me a slider that seemed like it broke six feet. There was no trick to it. He threw me two fastballs, a slider and I was out. It was just like Little League, except he threw 60 miles an hour faster.”

Said Gossage: “Hey, it isn’t any different than Little League. When I watch my kids play, it gives me an example. It lets you know the game hasn’t changed since you were 7 or 8 years old. I tell my kids to have fun. That’s all I want to do when I play.”

John Kruk, hitting leadoff for the first time this season, had plenty of fun early on.

He led off the Padre first with a double and scored. He led off the third by reaching base on an error and scored on Gwynn’s first homer of the game.

Tim Flannery, a frequent leadoff batter, had a little fun of his own as the No. 8 hitter. Flannery doubled home Nettles in the fourth with a liner that hit the left-field foul line.

Dane Iorg, who started at first base in place of Steve Garvey, singled home a run in the sixth. Gwynn hit his second homer of the day in the seventh.

The Padres had a 6-0 lead, but it certainly wasn’t insurmountable.

“It’s like reading about an accident or a plane going down,” Gossage said. “You say, ‘Not me.’ As soon as you think it won’t happen to you, it happens. You just can’t take anything for granted.”

Considering how things had been going, the Padres couldn’t be blamed if they took a lead of more than one run for granted.

Padre Notes

Steve Garvey, who continually makes known his desire to play every day, got to play in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement for Dane Iorg. “I’m conscious of that (Garvey’s desire),” Manager Steve Boros said. “I’ll continue to get him in. He’s our best defensive first baseman. Even when the score is 6-0, I want my best defensive club out there. You saw how it got to 6-4 real quickly today.” Garvey did not start a game 11 days ago at San Francisco. However, he also was a late-inning replacement that day. . . . Kevin McReynolds may not play when the Padres open a two-game series tonight against the Chicago Cubs. McReynolds struck out three times and popped to second in four at bats Sunday. “I think we may rest Kevin the next game or two,” Boros said. “His hitting mechanics are slipping away. We need to get him out and give him a little instruction.” . . . It seemed surprising that John Kruk, not exactly the fastest runner on the team, batted leadoff Sunday. Boros noted Kruk hit the ball well in three previous at-bats against Mike Krukow, San Francisco’s starting pitcher Sunday. “I wanted to shake up the lineup,” Boros said. “I thought I would put him (Kruk) at the top because he is an aggressive hitter. I thought about leading off with Tony Gwynn. If I did that, I knew it would be a media event . . . although it is something I may do down the road.” Boros said “chances are” that Kruk will lead off again tonight. “We know someone will be productive at leadoff for us,” Boros said. “We know he’s on the club; we’re just not sure who he is right now.” . . . Tim Flannery had part of the fingernail on his left index finger torn off when he tagged out a sliding Bob Brenly in the second inning. Afterward, Flannery’s taped finger was a bloody mess. But Flannery looked at the positive side. He said he had been gripping the bat too tight, but he couldn’t grip it so tightly Sunday. He had a single, double and RBI in three at bats. . . . Add Giant Name Changes: Outfielder Jeff Leonard said earlier he wanted to be called Jeffrey because that’s what his mother calls him. Now, rookie second baseman Rob Thompson wants to be called Robby because that’s what he was called before he made the major leagues.