Stranded Padres Face the Music : Failure to Hit in Clutch Continues to Stall Offense

The following game situations should be familiar to anyone who has followed the frustrations of the Padres this season. But for demonstrative purposes, a few of the most telling examples will be repeated.

All are from the past three weeks, a stretch in which the Padres have gone from third place in the National League West, 1 1/2 games out of first, to fifth place, 11 games out.

--Situation No. 1: Bases loaded, one out in the first inning, June 6 in Houston. Carmelo Martinez strikes out. Benito Santiago strikes out. End of inning. No runs, three left. The Padres go on to strand 12 runners and lose, 8-7, in 10 innings.

--Situation No. 2: Runners on first and third, one out in the first inning, June 10 in San Francisco. Jack Clark strikes out. Marvell Wynne grounds out to first. No runs, two left. The Padres finish with nine left on base and lose, 1-0, despite a combined two-hitter from Ed Whitson and Greg Harris.

--Situation No. 3: Runners on second and third, none out in the fifth inning June 16 against Houston. Shawn Abner fouls out to third. Alomar hits a liner to center that the Astros turn into double play. No runs, one left. The Padres leave eight on base and lose, 3-1.

Seen enough? Manager Jack McKeon surely has.

“We have got to start getting guys to drive in runs,” McKeon said. “I am tired of hearing guys talk about; let’s start doing it. A sacrifice, a grounder to the right side, anything, just get that runner home.”

That is the object of the game, of course, and the Padres are missing the point badly. They have the unflattering distinction of leading the National League in strikeouts (481), are next to worst in runners left on base (519) and are tied for that distinction with Atlanta in runs scored (243).

Add to those statistics the fact that the Padres have hit into 56 double plays, second only to a Cardinal team that takes far more chances on the basepaths, and it becomes clear why the Padres find themselves farther out of first place than they have been all season.

The Padres simply have not made the best of their opportunities with runners in scoring position. Their position players are hitting .238 with runners on second and/or third base. That compares with a .253 average for these same players in all of their at-bats.

Make the same comparison with division-winning teams at the end of the season and you’ll almost always find those numbers reversed. Good baseball teams win because they hit better when the hits really count.

The failure to hit in the clutch is a malady that has affected almost the entire Padre team.

The biggest exception, as always seems to be the case when it comes to Padre hitting, is Tony Gwynn.

Gwynn is batting .373 with runners in scoring position. He has come to bat in 59 such situations and has 22 hits and 21 RBIs. Take away Gwynn’s production and the Padres are hitting .219 with runners in scoring position.

Only one player besides Gwynn is batting above .286 in such situations: Wynne is at .367 (11 for 30) with nine RBIs.

Most of the other Padre averages in such situations are anemic. Some are almost unbelievable.

Luis Salazar has come to bat 39 times with runners in scoring position and has collected exactly one RBI. He is batting .128 (five for 39) in these situations.

Despite his lack of production, Salazar has remained in the lineup at third. Part of that is because of injuries to Tim Flannery and Chris James and part is because McKeon likes Salazar’s defensive abilities. Salazar has made six errors in 64 games, but three of those came in one game (a 5-2 loss to Houston June 18) and another when he was playing shortstop.

Clark, who leads the team with 37 RBIs, nevertheless is hitting .213 (13 for 61) with runners in scoring position.

This is not say all has been bad with the Padres’ hitters. They have had their dramatic moments. Take Clark’s RBI single in the 12th inning that gave the Padres a 1-0 victory over Cincinnati June 15, or his two-run homer in the eighth two nights later to beat Houston, 2-1.

But for the most part, too many innings have ended like those cited above to satisfy McKeon.

Consider last week, when Gwynn set a club record by reaching base nine consecutive times (seven hits, two walks). The only problem was, he scored only twice.

“It’s gotten to the point where if we have a runner on third, I’m thinking let’s squeeze him (in) ,” McKeon said. “But then I give them one more pitch, figuring sometime they’ve got to get a hit. And what happens? They pop up. They strike out.”

But McKeon’s patience is running out. On several occasions over the past few weeks, he has made his displeasure known.

He has spoken of the team’s need for at least one more hitter, a need McKeon said he has been trying to fill since the off-season. It hasn’t been easy.

“Look at the (other) team batting averages,” McKeon said. “Everyone is looking for a hitter.”

McKeon had hoped his acquisition of James from Philadelphia would help. But James has made just a single pinch hit appearance since June 14, when he bruised his right leg and, while in the lineup, he was struggling to break out of the worst slump of his career.

McKeon has emphasized that he is not looking for home runs and free swingers. He will be thankful for runs anyway he can get them.

“Bases loaded, two out in the ninth, let the pitcher hit you,” McKeon said. “I don’t care how the guy comes in, just get him home.”

NOT CAPITALIZING ON OPPORTUNITIES Padre hitters’ performances when they bat with runners in scoring position. All columns are based on at-bats with runners on second, third or both, except OBA (overall batting average in all situations) and include games through Friday night:

Name AB H RBI Avg. OBA Tony Gwynn 59 22 21 .373 .354 Marvell Wynne 30 11 9 .367 .263 Chris James 14 4 4 .286 .176 Shawn Abner 7 2 2 .286 .182 Benito Santiago 75 21 20 .280 .239 Tim Flannery 21 5 4 .238 .263 Carmelo Martinez 50 11 15 .220 .220 Jack Clark 61 13 23 .213 .217 Garry Templeton 39 8 9 .205 .265 Rob Nelson 16 3 2 .188 .211 Roberto Alomar 50 9 14 .180 .260 Luis Salazar 39 5 1 .128 .242 Bip Roberts 10 1 2 .100 .273 Mark Parent 13 1 3 .077 .181 Gary Green 4 0 0 .000 .259 Totals 488 116 129 .238 .253*

* Overall team batting average does not include pitchers or players no longer with the team.