Despite Loss, Sheffield Is Happy Padre : Baseball: Third baseman wants a long-term deal with the Padres. Chicago wins, 6-1.

Padre third baseman Gary Sheffield knows it sounds crazy. He has worn a Padre uniform for only two months. He hasn’t even been to the beach, much less experienced the San Diego Zoo.

No matter. Sheffield wants to remain in San Diego, and would just as soon sign a multi-year contract to ensure that.

Despite the Chicago Cubs’ 6-1 victory Monday night over the Padres at Wrigley Field, who can blame management for rejoicing at Sheffield’s request to hang around?

“I haven’t even talked to my agent (Jim Neader) about this,” Sheffield said, “but I really would love to sign a multi-year deal and stay here. I’ve already decided this is where I want to be.”

The Padres might want to sign Sheffield, 23, before he’s eligible for free agency in two years. They signed Fred McGriff and Tony Gwynn in 1991 to multi-year contracts, two years before they were eligible for free agency. Even by conservative estimates, the Padres saved a minimum of $10 million by acting early.

“I know this, if we hadn’t signed Fred when we did, we might not have been able to afford to keep him,” Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said recently.

The Padres now find themselves in a similar predicament with Sheffield.

Despite being stymied by Cubs starter Greg Maddux (5-5), Sheffield is a strong candidate for an All-Star berth. He’s hitting .323, and his 38 RBIs are the second-highest total in the National League. He drove in 23 runs in May, and is ranked among the league leaders in 10 offensive categories.

“I don’t know where we’d be without him, I really don’t,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said.

Said Merv Rettenmund, Padres batting coach: “Pitchers in this league have tried everything on him. Nothing’s worked. Believe me, this is no fluke, not with his talent.”

Forget the future. The way Sheffield is playing, the Padres might pay up this season. Although he is gets a base salary of $450,000, Sheffield can receive an additional $250,000 for playing as many as 150 games this season, $50,000 for being voted to the All-Star team, $25,000 for being selected as the Comeback Player of the Year, and $100,000 for winning the National League’s MVP award.

“It’s nice to have the incentives, but it never should have come to that,” Sheffield said. “The Brewers and I agreed on a two-year extension, but when I got hurt, they took it off the table.

“I risked my career for them, played when I hurt my shoulder, and where did it get me? I trusted them. I wanted to prove to them it wasn’t all about money.

“But when they saw me hurt, they took it off the table, and left me hanging.”

Sheffield, playing with a swollen middle finger on his right hand, was left hanging by Maddux on this night. The Padres only had four hits. Shortstop Tony Fernandez’s third-inning single was the only outfield hit.

“You know he’s a good pitcher when he throws me a 3-and-2 slider,” said losing Padre pitcher Andy Benes, “and an electric one at that. You can’t give a guy like that any breathing room.”

The Cubs, who had scored only three runs in Maddux’s five defeats and lone no-decision this season, scored five runs on six hits in the fifth inning. It was the most hits by the Cubs in an inning since Sept 2, 1991, at San Diego. It also was the most runs yielded by Benes (5-4) in an inning this season.

The Cubs, who had six hits in the inning, opened the inning with an infield single by third baseman Gary Scott. Maddux struck out for the first out.

Doug Dascenzo followed with a single to right. Jose Vizcaino hit a bloop single over second baseman Kurt Stillwell for one run. Ryne Sandberg hit an 0-and-2 fastball to center for another run. Mark Grace doubled to right for another. And Derrick May blew the game open with a ground ball that squirted into right field, scoring Sandberg and Grace for a 5-1 lead.

“It was unbelievable,” Benes said. “You can count the hard-hit balls on a couple of fingers. I made good pitches, but just couldn’t make an out with it.”

Said catcher Dan Walters: “Andy threw great pitches, they just found the hole. It was trouble from the get-go on Scott’s ball, and went downhill from there. It was like a merry-go-round out there.”

The defeat, which left the Padres (28-23) in a three-way tie for first place with the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants, also spoiled Walters’ major league debut. He was hitless in three at-bats, and threw the ball away on a pitchout. Yet, he also came back and threw out Scott on a stolen-base attempt in the sixth inning.

“I thought Dan did an outstanding job behind the plate,” said Benes, who last pitched to Walters in 1989 at double-A Wichita. “Now that he got the first one out of the way, he’s just going to get better.

“I hope I can say the same about myself.”