Padres’ Opener Is Familiar : Shades of ‘87: Ahead in the 8th, San Diego Finds Way to Lose, 6-3

HOUSTON —  Opening night, the bottom of the eighth inning, the Padres lead the Houston Astros and Mike Scott, 3-1.

“A memory to cherish.” Those were pitcher Ed Whitson’s exact words.

Then comes Terry Puhl. And a sharp bouncer back to Whitson. And a ball that bounces off the pretty new Astrodome turf and smacks into Whitson’s right pitching hand. “Ouch.” Those were not Whitson’s exact words, but you get the feeling. Whitson lost the feeling, in two of his pitching fingers.

On comes the Padres’ designated stopper, Lance McCullers. Four batters later, the Padres trail, 4-3. A half-inning later, the Padres lose their fourth straight opening game, 6-3, in front of a pleasantly surprised 41,524 at the Astrodome.

Welcome to 1988. The Padres’ first game this year was a memory, all right. A memory of last year.

“We lose a few more like this,” said Tony Gwynn, shaking his head, “and we’ll start having flashbacks.”

Entering the game with Puhl on first and none out, McCullers got ahead, 1-and-2, on Rafael Ramirez, and then laid a pitch up, and Ramirez smacked it into the right-field corner for a double. Puhl stopped at third, but not for long.

The next batter, pinch-hitter Kevin Bass, stepping lightly on a sore hamstring that kept him from starting, lined a 1-and-0 pitch into center field, scoring both runners. A Gerald Young sacrifice bunt later--it was McCullers’ only recorded out--Billy Hatcher bounced a broken-bat shot over third base for another double and another run.

Flashbacks, indeed. Where have you heard this Tuesday night line before: “Anytime you’ve got Mike Scott beaten, 3-1, in the eighth inning (sigh, shake of head) you’ve got to win those games.”

If you guess Larry Bowa and about 87 times in 1987, you’re right.

Flashbacks, indeed. Right down to the opening day.

In last year’s April 6 opener in San Francisco, McCullers blew a 3-0 eighth-inning lead en route to a 4-3 12-inning loss.

“I can’t believe it,” McCullers said. “Same situation, same pitches, two years in a row.”

“A carbon copy,” Gwynn said. “We get a lead and boom, it comes crashing in on us.”

The bright side for the Padres is, opening nights are like abstract paintings. You can look at them any way you want.

On Tuesday, there was excellent starting pitching--Whitson allowed just five hits in seven innings, only two of the hits legitimate.

And there was clutch hitting by two players who had promised to provide it--a 400-foot homer by Chris Brown and a two-out two-run double by Keith Moreland.

And there is still one difference from last year, a difference the veteran Padres stressed to their teammates in a surprisingly calm postgame clubhouse.

After last year’s crushing opening defeat, they lost their next four games, and six of their next seven on the way to one of the worst starts in major league history.

This year, well, they haven’t played their next four or seven or however-many games yet. They’ve played only one.

“I’m telling our young kids, we cannot live and die with one game, and we cannot let this affect tomorrow’s game,” said Moreland of this evening’s contest. “We took it right to the elite pitcher in baseball tonight, we played well, we have to build on that and get on with it.

“We have to think only of winning our other game here and going into San Francisco 1-1. This is one of 162.”

Said Gwynn: “We cannot fall into the same rut as last year. We are telling people around here, we will not let that happen.”

As for ruts, at least one Padre is in danger of finding himself in one, and that is McCullers, who has seemingly struggled since Goose Gossage was traded to the Cubs last February, making him the bullpen boss.

McCullers, a two-year veteran who had a 4.72 ERA this spring, may have rushed in Tuesday when Whitson went down with what was, fortunately for him, nothing more than a bad bruise. With Whitson throwing only 75 pitches, and headed for a complete game, he may not have had proper time to prepare.

“But that is just the situation we want him in,” pitching coach Pat Dobson said. “Hurt or not, if a runner gets on base, Whitson was coming out. That’s just what we have Lance for.”

And is it still what they have the 24-year-old McCullers for?

“You bet,” Dobson said. ‘If we have the same situation tomorrow afternoon, we’re going to run him out there the same way. We’re going to keep running him out there until he shows us he can or can’t do it.

“It’s not fair to take it away from him on the basis of one spring training and one regular-season game. Maybe not even 10 games. If he’s going to be our stopper, we’re going to have to keep giving him the ball and see what happens.”

McCullers, talking thoughtfully with reporters, was nonetheless confused.

“I’ve got to start doing the job. Why this stuff happens, it’s hard to say,” he said. “They hit some good pitches. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any stuff. It’s just hard to say.”

Lost in the dark McCullers cloud was reliever Mark Davis, who replaced him, wild-pitched in another run and gave up an RBI single an a walk before finishing off the Astros.

“Our bullpen has got to start picking the starters up,” Dobson said. “If our starters do what Whitson did, we should win a lot of games.”

Whitson pitched brilliantly, allowing just five hits in seven innings. Two of those hits came on balls that were dropped, one by Garry Templeton, one by Whitson. Another was a broken-bat single. At one point he retired 9 straight, and 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.

“Everything was working. It’s the best I’ve been all spring,” Whitson said. “Everything I wanted to do, I did.”

The same with Moreland in his eighth-inning at-bat against Scott. Acquired from the Cubs for his ability to get the big hit, Moreland stepped to the plate after a Templeton single, a Whitson bunt, and a Gwynn walk put the runs on the bases. Moreland fought off a 1-and-0 pitch to knock the ball into center field and underneath the glove of a diving Gerald Young to drive in both runs and give the Padres a lead. Temporarily.

“I don’t care about the hit,” Moreland said. “There are no hits, no homers, no runs scored, if you lose. Nothing else matters.”

Such went opening night 1988, no matter what it reminded anyone of.

Padre Notes

Opening night oddities: Padre owner Joan Kroc was actually on the field before the game. Padre President Chub Feeney was actually in the dugout, individually shaking every player’s and coach’s hand, wishing everybody luck. One problem: When he shook coach Greg Riddoch’s hand, he said, “Good luck, Rick.” . . . Chris Brown’s third-inning homer came three pitches after Mike Scott had knocked him down with a pitch at his head. “Didn’t have anything to do with it,” Brown said. “Scott is not the kind of guy who throws at you. I want to hit homers anyway.” The Padres did not hit a homer off Scott in his 39 innings against them last year. . . . Glenn Davis’ fourth-inning homer off Ed Whitson to tie the score at 1-1 was the first Astro homer against Whitson in 101 career innings. . . . If you insist on counting, Benito Santiago’s fifth-inning infield single gives him hits in 36 of his last 37 games over two seasons, and two straight. . . . Although this was an open er, there was no team meeting before the game.

Padres at a Glance

THIRD INNING

Padres--Brown homered to center, his first. Templeton struck out. Whitson grounded out. Jefferson struck out. One run, one hit.

FOURTH INNING

Astros--Hatcher singled to short. Doran hit into a double play. Davis homered to left, his first. Waller popped to second. One run, two hits.

EIGHTH INNING

Padres--Templeton singled to left. Whitson sacrificed Templeton to second. Jefferson grounded to short, Templeton taking third. Gwynn walked. Moreland doubled to center, Templeton and Gwynn scoring. Abner pinch-ran for Moreland. Kruk grounded to first. Two runs, two hits, one left.

Astros--Puhl singled past pitcher. McCullers replaced Whitson. Ramirez doubled to right, Puhl stopping at third. Bass, pinch-hitting for Scott, singled to center, Puhl and Ramirez scoring. Young sacrificed Bass to second. Hatcher doubled to left, Bass scoring. Davis replaced McCullers. Doran flied to right. Hatcher stole third. Glenn Davis was walked intentionally. Walling singled to right, Hatcher scoring, Davis taking third. Davis scored on wild pitch. Ashby walked. Puhl grounded to first. Five runs, five hits, two left.