Padres Bow Out Early, 9-3

Saturday night’s Padre game against the Pittsburgh Pirates started an hour later than usual at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium because of the Equitable Old-Timers Game.

And once it started, the Pirates went after starter Andy Hawkins like they were trying to make up for lost time.

Hawkins’ first pitch of the game to Barry Bonds didn’t come until 8:06 p.m., but by 8:07, the Pirates led, 1-0, Bonds having hit Hawkins’s second pitch 10 rows deep into the right-center field bleachers.

By 8:12, the Pirates led, 3-0, Sid Bream having singled to right to drive in two runs. It took Hawkins until 8:18 to record his first out, but it came in the form of a Mike LaValliere sacrifice fly to deep right field.

At 8:35, the evening, which had started late for Hawkins, was over early. Manager Larry Bowa appeared from the dugout to a round of cheers from the crowd of 19,764 and Hawkins left trailing, 6-0.

The Padres, who didn’t get their first hit until 8:54 and their first run until 9:10, went on to lose to the Pirates, 9-3, seeing their record against National League East teams fall to 14-39 for the season.

Hawkins’ personal mark fell to 3-9 and he hasn’t won since June 13 at San Francisco. He had missed a couple of starts earlier this month because of a sore right shoulder, but pitched relatively well in his last outing, going five innings but getting no decision against the Cubs Monday night.

When asked if Hawkins still had a spot in the starting rotation, Bowa said, “I don’t want to talk about that right now . . . I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

Saturday night, he lasted just 1 innings.

After Bonds greeted him with his 14th home run of the season, Hawkins walked Andy Van Slyke. Johnny Ray followed with a single to right, Van Slyke moving to third with Ray taking second when right fielder Tony Gwynn’s throw sailed over third and was caught by Hawkins, who was backing up the play.

Bream, who had hit the ball hard in this series but had failed to get a hit, finally had one of his liners fall in, driving in two runs with a single to right.

And Hawkins still hadn’t settled in. He walked Jim Morrison and R.J. Reynolds to load the bases before LaValliere lofted a fly to right. Gwynn caught it on the warning track, Bream tagged and scored to make it 4-0 and Morrison tagged and moved to third.

Up next was Sammy Khalifa, who since being recalled from the minor leagues last week hadn’t gotten a hit. Khalifa didn’t get a hit this time, either, but he did lay down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Morrison and give Pittsburgh a 5-0 lead.

In the second inning, Van Slyke doubled and with two outs, Bream singled to right to drive him in to make it 6-0. Finally, there were cheers as Bowa slowly made his way to the mound to remove his pitcher.

Greg Booker came in and was somewhat effective, holding the Pirates without a run for 2 innings. However, while he was out there, he had to endure some pain. Khalifa and Brian Fisher both hit line drives literally off him, and Booker was eventually forced to leave because of bruises on his left calf and left hip.

Lance McCullers was next to the mound and even though he wasn’t hit, he was hit hard.

Van Slyke drove in one run with a sixth-inning single and Bream knocked in two more by singling with the bases loaded later that inning. That gave Bream five RBIs for the game, tying his career best.

The Padres, meanwhile, struggled offensively most of the night against Fisher (6-6). A reliever most of his career, Fisher lasted 6 innings and struck out eight, his highest ever one-game total.

In the fourth inning, Carmelo Martinez and Randy Ready both homered, marking the first time since May 7 (against St. Louis) that two Padres had homered in the same inning.

In the seventh, the Padres added a run on Stan Jefferson’s two-out, RBI triple. After Gwynn walked, Fisher left in favor of Barry Jones, who retired Martinez on a grounder to third.

Padre Notes Padre General Manager Jack McKeon met with Manager Larry Bowa for about 30 minutes in Bowa’s office before Saturday night’s game. “We talked about going to Las Vegas . . . to do some gambling,” McKeon said, smiling. It’s been exactly three weeks since McKeon’s biggest trade of the season with the Giants, the Padres getting third baseman Chris Brown and pitchers Mark Grant, Keith Comstock and Mark Davis in return for Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky and Craig Lefferts. “So far, it’s been one of those trades you like to see,” McKeon said.