Aguayo’s Homers Beat Padres, 6-4 : Phillie Shortstop Hits Pair, but Bowa Puts Blame on Cora

SAN DIEGO —  “He ripped me, didn’t he?” asked rookie Joey Cora, who, by now, knows the nuances of his manager, Larry Bowa.

And Bowa ripped him all right, because as far as Bowa’s concerned, Cora goofed up in Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies won it, 6-4, on shortstop Luis Aguayo’s two home runs, but Bowa remembers the fifth inning, when the Padres had John Kruk on first base and Cora on third with no outs.

And they didn’t score.

Cora--who may or may not be sent to Triple-A today (“I’ve got to sleep on it,” Bowa said)--also had an Indy-like collision in right field with Shane Mack, who Cora says is built like a Mack truck.

“He should be a football player,” Cora said of Mack.

Bowa questions whether Cora can play baseball.

“I think we’ll have to start treating him like he’s never played before,” Bowa said Monday. “Every time he’s on third base, we’ll have the coach (Harry Dunlop) go out and tell him what to do.”

In that fifth inning, first baseman Carmelo Martinez came to bat with those runners on first and third, and Dunlop flashed the hit-and-run sign. He told Cora to stay put, not to run home if there was a throw to second base by the catcher.

Cora obeyed, as Martinez popped up to shallow left field.

Then catcher Benito Santiago stepped up, and Cora figured he didn’t have to stay put any longer. Kruk was given the steal sign (Cora was not) and took off toward second.

It was a terrible throw by Phillie catcher Lance Parrish--very high--so Kruk, according to Bowa, would have been safe by a mile or two.

But wait. Just as Parrish threw to second, Cora took off for home.

Second baseman Juan Samuel said thank you very much and easily threw Cora out. Santiago then flied out to end the inning.

The Padres managed to tie the score at 4-4 in the sixth on shortstop Garry Templeton’s grounder, but they never got a runner to second base after that.

Aguayo hit his second homer of the game (the game-winner) in the seventh off Dave Dravecky (1-6). Dravecky had gone only two innings in his last start Saturday night, so he asked Bowa to use him in relief if the manager needed him.

Bowa used him all right--with the score tied--and the first batter he faced was Aguayo.

Aguayo’s eight homers are the most by a Phillie shortstop since Granny Hamner hit 17 back in 1952. Aguayo’s 12 RBIs this season have all come on home runs.

The shortstop says the baseball isn’t juiced up this year, but that’s not what the Padres say. One of Aguayo’s homers Monday night came off starter Ed Whitson, who thinks the balls are definitely livelier. Whitson also gave up a three-run homer to Von Hayes in the first inning, but he says he’s not pitching badly.

Dravecky was rather hard on himself Monday, though Bowa says Dravecky is throwing harder than ever.

“The bottom line is keeping the ball down,” Dravecky said. “You can’t make mistakes up here, and I keep making mistakes. No excuses. You’ve got the ball in your hand, and either you do it or you don’t. And with a 1-5 record (actually 1-6), it’s pretty obvious what I’ve been doing.”

Dravecky, by the way, will be back in the rotation Friday night.

Cora might not be around Friday night. Sunday, he made a critical throwing error that helped lead to a Padre loss.

Monday was no better.

“I tried to be aggressive,” he said. “I thought when Carmelo flew out, I could go if I wanted.”

According to some of the Padre coaches, Cora should have just known to stay put on Kruk’s steal. If Parrish was known to have a bad arm, that’s one thing. But that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t know why he (Cora) went,” Bowa said. “It took us out of an inning. . . . You keep waiting for him to use his head, because you think he’s a smart player. But it’s the same mistakes day in, day out, day in, day out. It cost us a game. You’d think that would sink in. Let’s use our head a little bit.

“I don’t know what he was thinking. I asked him what he was thinking, and he just looked at me.”

But Bowa and Cora aren’t seeing eye-to-eye.

“Did I make a mistake? If he says so, I guess I did,” Cora said. “He’s looking at the game from a different angle than I am.”

Padre Notes

Right fielder Tony Gwynn missed his first game of the season Monday night because of sprained ligaments in his right thumb. His status is day-to-day. . . . Kevin Mitchell originally was in the lineup, but his left little toe was still sore and he couldn’t play. Luis Salazar took his place at third base.