So Far, Second Half Looks Like the First for Padres : A Pair of Familiar Enemies--Errors and Lack of Clutch Hitting--Show Up During 7-3 Loss to Chicago

Those faces in the Padre clubhouse late Thursday afternoon looked awfully familiar.

Awful-ly familiar.

Sad eyes. Tight lips. Grown men looking sheepish.

The first day after the All-Star break didn’t begin that way. The Padres were loose when Manager Jack McKeon finished his five-minute pre-game meeting, in which he stressed a new beginning.

But the Padres left their smiles on the field during a 7-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs in front of 22,525 spectators.

The Padres spent three days during the break telling themselves that things would start falling their way in the second half of the season.

And in one afternoon, two of the things that haunted them throughout the first half reappeared: Errors and a lack of clutch hitting.

The Padres made three errors. And they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh while trailing, 7-3, only to watch Tony Gwynn foul out to third and Carmelo Martinez strike out.

Not exactly what you want in a new beginning.

“Hell, no,” Gwynn said. “But what are you going to do? The Cubs have been pounding us ever since 1984.”

This year, the Cubs have won eight of nine games against the Padres. They are 3-0 in San Diego.

“They’ve got our number,” Gwynn said. “They’ve beaten us real good.”

Or real bad, depending on your perspective. And Thursday could have been worse.

The Cubs got to Padre starter Bruce Hurst (7-7) immediately, loading the bases with one out in the first. But thanks to Marvell Wynne’s acrobatics in center field, they only got one run.

Rookie Jerome Walton hit a lead-off single, but Hurst picked him off. Then Ryne Sandberg doubled, and Mark Grace and Andre Dawson walked.

Up stepped Lloyd McClendon, who sent Wynne crashing into the center field fence to get the second out. Sandberg scored.

Next came Vance Law, who sliced a pitch into shallow center. Wynne galloped in and made a sliding catch to end the inning.

But the Cubs collected two singles, a sacrifice and another walk in the second to get another run. They got one more in the fourth and two in the fifth before Hurst retired for the day.

Hurst came in with a 1.43 earned run average over the past 44 innings but allowed five runs (four earned) and seven hits Thursday. He also matched a season high by walking five.

“I really pitched poorly today,” Hurst said. “I had control problems, and it seemed like when I made a good pitch, they got a piece of it.

“I don’t know why, I just pitched poorly. No excuses. I hate it when that happens.”

Fred Toliver, Greg Harris and Pat Clements followed Hurst. Toliver threw an inning and allowed four hits and two runs. Neither Harris (two innings) nor Clements (one) were charged with a hit or run.

By then, it didn’t matter. The Cubs scored in all but the third, eighth and ninth innings.

During that time, Padre left fielder Chris James kicked a ball for an error, catcher Benito Santiago was charged with a passed ball and an error and second baseman Roberto Alomar made an error.

James’ error allowed Walton to take second on a single that drove in Shawon Dunston, and Santiago’s passed ball let Walton get to third.

In the fourth, Law walked, stole second and went to third when Santiago’s throw sailed into center field. He scored on Joe Girardi’s fly to left.

Alomar’s error came in the sixth, when Santiago attempted to pick Cub pitcher Greg Maddux off at second. Alomar tried to decoy Maddux and waited to grab for the ball until the last minute. Problem was, he waited a second too long, and that ball also went to center. Maddux went to third and scored on Walton’s double.

In between errors, the Cubs scored two in the fifth, the second run coming when Alomar’s throw on a double-play ball with one out pulled Jack Clark off first. McClendon slid hard into second, and Alomar hurried his throw. He wasn’t charged with an error.

Through the first five innings, the meek-hitting Padres batted just five balls out of the infield. They blew their best chance in the seventh when Steve Wilson retired Gwynn and Martinez with the bases loaded.

“We’ve got to get some clutch hits in a game like this,” Gwynn said. “I got an inside strike and tried to fight it off and just missed it.”

Martinez took a called third strike.

“It was on the outside corner, but I thought it was low,” Martinez said. “I thought it was a tough pitch, but the point is, I should be more aggressive.”

The Cubs certainly weren’t flawless on an afternoon of sloppy baseball. Two of the Padres’ three runs were unearned, coming after errors by Law and Mark Grace. And perhaps nobody’s day was as weird as Walton’s.

A leading candidate for National League rookie of the year, Walton was four for four but scored just one run. Three times, he was thrown out on the bases--once on a pickoff, once attempting to steal home and once attempting to stretch a double into a triple.

But it was mostly another frustrating afternoon for the Padres, who were able to get just five hits, all off Cub starter Greg Maddux (9-7) in 6 1/3 innings.

“What we need to do here is get on a roll,” Hurst said. “We’ve got to win one before we can win two. I know that sounds mundane, but that’s the way we’ve got to look at it.”

Padre Notes

The Cubs and Padres have shuffled their pitching rotations for the rest of this series. Mike Bielecki (8-4) will go against the Padres’ Ed Whitson (11-6) tonight, Paul Kilgus (5-8) will face Walt Terrell (4-12) Saturday and Rick Sutcliffe (10-6) will go against Dennis Rasmussen (3-6) Sunday. . . . Jack Clark left Thursday’s game in the sixth because of a sore hamstring. He said he expects to play tonight. . . . The Cubs’ Jerome Walton was taken out in the eighth with an ankle sprain and is listed as day-to-day. . . . Padre pitcher Eric Show, who hasn’t started since June 25 because of a sore back, will be evaluated today by doctors. . . . The Padres will recognize former Negro League pitcher Chet Brewer before tonight’s game. Brewer, who pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1925-1952, will present a trophy to Mission Bay Twins Manager Robert Gonzalez, whose team won the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Baseball Tournament.

WALKING, NOT TALKING

Benito Santiago had an uncharacteristic day at the plate--three walks--but had nothing to say about it. Story, Page 7A.