Hurst Struggles in Padre Defeat : Baseball: Dodgers rough up left-hander to hand Padres their fourth loss in a row, 6-3.

SAN DIEGO —  In a season that grows more bizarre by the day, a miserable outing by the starting pitcher was the last thing the Padres expected Wednesday night. Maybe if someone else was on the mound--anyone else--but not Bruce Hurst.

Hurst has been the only constant in their season of mayhem. Put him on the mound, find a place to rest your feet and watch Hurst bring home the victory.

After all, Hurst has stopped one four-game losing streak, one three-game losing streak and won three other times after Padres’ losses.

But in a 6-3 loss to the Dodgers, Hurst looked like any other Padre starter, suffering his worst performance in more than two seasons. Hurst (9-5), who was being strongly considered by Lou Piniella for selection to the All-Star team, surrendered seven hits and six earned runs in six innings.

It was the most earned runs allowed by Hurst since June 9, 1989, at San Francisco and ended his streak of 29 consecutive outings in which he has overwhelmed the competition. In those 29 outings, Hurst had posted a 15-5 record with a 2.18 ERA, pitching nine complete games and four shutouts.

“I stunk,” Hurst said. “I let us down. I pitched terrible. I’m the most predictable guy in the league to hit off of. (But) I’m not going to start making corrections after one bad start.

“I stunk.

“I stink.”

The Dodgers took care of Hurst early, leaving the responsibility of stopping a four-game losing streak to Padre starter Greg Harris, who’ll make his first start tonight since April 22. The Padres activated Harris after the game and optioned reliever John Costello to triple-A Las Vegas.

The Padres (38-41), in a complete free-fall in the National League West standings, dropped a season-high 10 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. Losers of seven of their past eight games, the Padres fell three games under .500 for the first time since May 29.

“It’s been that kind of season for us,” Riddoch said. “But we could easily be buried by now. We could be 15 games out by now very easily.

“I’m just waiting when we get everybody back healthy.”

But when the Padres’ starting rotation became intact for the first time this season, along came more concern in the name of leadoff hitter Bip Roberts.

Roberts nearly separated his shoulder in the first inning when he crashed into the center-field fence. He suffered a bruised acromio-clavicular, where the shoulder blade meets the collarbone. He is expected to be out for at least a week and probably will not return until after the All-Star break.

“I’ll be all right in a couple of days,” Roberts said. “I’m just very sore right now.”

It should have been an omen for Hurst and the Padres that this would be a miserable night when Brett Butler led off the game with a bunt single to first. The Padres couldn’t even make a play, and it was the first of four times Butler reached base in the game, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

“He’s the biggest pest in baseball,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said.

Hurst was able to strike out second baseman Juan Samuel, who pulled off the unusual three-three combination: three errors and a three-run homer. Darryl Strawberry, making his return from the disabled list, then singled to right, bringing up Eddie Murray.

Murray hit a drive toward the center-field fence, and Roberts, who was starting in center for the first time since June 25, drifted back, keeping an eye on the ball.

Roberts then leaped, caught the ball and slammed into the fence. Although the fence is padded, his right shoulder appeared to hit against the part of the fence supported by two steel poles.

He dropped to the ground, grimacing in pain, while Butler tagged up and scored all the way from second base. Strawberry, curiously, never tagged up and remained at first as left fielder Jerald Clark threw the back into the infield.

Riddoch, who still had a headache from Tuesday night’s accidental beaning from Benito Santiago’s errant helmet throw, went out to center along with the trainers. After several minutes, Roberts got up and was escorted from the field.

The injury originally was reported as a slight separation of the right shoulder. A later diagnosis by Dr. Jim Nivens at Sharp Hospital revealed that it was only a bad contusion, which won’t require a stint on the disabled list.

Unfortunately for the Padres, it was only the beginning of the trouble, particularly for Hurst.

Hurst followed by walking Kal Daniels. He then gave up a run-scoring single to Gary Carter before getting out of the inning with a 2-0 deficit.

In the second inning, Hurst walked Dodger pitcher Bobby Ojeda on four pitches. He followed by walked Butler on five pitches. And two pitches later, he was stalking the mound after giving up a three-run homer to Samuel.

Hurst finally settled down and didn’t allow another baserunners to reach second, until Carter hit a solo homer deep into the left-field seats in the fifth inning.

The Padres kept the game interesting for the crowd of 35,941 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, who still had seven innings remaining before the fireworks show.

They relied on the home-run ball, tying their season-high with three homers. Santiago, Darrin Jackson and Clark each hit solo homers, bringing the Padres back to within three runs.