Padres’ Defeat in St. Louis Is a Team Effort

ST. LOUIS â€”  Rookie John Kruk carried the Padres for an entire trip (a lot of good it did: they won just two games), but even Kruk was out of luck Sunday.

He came up to bat four times with runners in scoring position, and Cardinal pitcher John Tudor struck him out three times. Suddenly, Kruk was human, too, just like his teammates, who finished this disastrous road trip with a 3-2 loss--their eighth defeat in nine games.

Kruk was far from being the goat, though. There were a quite few guys who helped lose Sunday’s game.

Kevin McReynolds messed up a first inning hit-and-run play and cost them a run; third base umpire Gerry Crawford messed up a call in the outfield and cost them a run; pitcher Lance McCullers--who had doubled and taken third on a sacrifice bunt in the third--messed up by not attempting to score on a ground out; Steve Garvey missed a grand slam in the fifth, the ball being foul by about six feet. Garvey then hit a fly ball to right, and Jerry Royster--who had a messed up his knee and couldn’t run his fastest--tagged up and was thrown out at the plate by Curt Ford. Finally, Craig Lefferts messed up in relief.

And then there was Kruk.

Of Tudor--who once retired 38 consecutive left-handed hitters this year--Kruk said: “He ain’t bad.�

Are the Padres this bad? The first-place Astros won Sunday, pulling 7 1/2 games in front of the Padres. The Reds--who come to San Diego for a three-game series starting tonight--also won are now in third place, one game ahead of the Padres, who haven’t shown any consistent offense this season.

Tony Gwynn is sick and tired of it--literally. He arrived at the ballpark Sunday feeling lousy. His stomach ached. He wasn’t sure if he could play. He was throwing up before the game.

He went out there anyway. In the seventh inning, he blooped a ball to center and didn’t run at full speed. He hurt. But the ball fell in, and he slid in for a double anyway. He said he almost threw up right then.

“If I was gonna throw up,� he said. “I was gonna make sure I did it in the dirt.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been gone (from home) for two weeks with that All-Star game. Today is the culmination of how this road trip’s been . . . I want to go home, see the children, relax and go to sleep.�

Kruk, too, was sick to his stomach Saturday night. This team really is sick.

They really should have scored more Sunday. Royster drew a walk to start the game, and he took third on Gwynn’s single. Kruk struck out (No. 1). And then McReynolds came up. Manager Steve Boros called for a hit-and-run play, but McReynolds failed to swing and Gwynn was out in a rundown between first and second.

McReynolds clearly screwed up. He said he didn’t see Gwynn running to second, so he figured if the pitch was out of the strike zone, he’d take it. The pitch was high, so he didn’t swing. But he was wrong--Gwynn was running.

With two outs, McReynolds lined one hard to left. Vince Coleman charged it and made a shoe-string catch. Or did he? Replays showed that he trapped it, but third base ump Crawford said it was a catch. If it had been a hit, Royster would have scored from third. And if McReynolds hadn’t blown the hit-and-run, there would have been only one out and Royster could have tagged and scored.

McCullers’ base-running error was more of a judgment call. He had led off the third with a double--his first major league hit--and Royster sacrificed him to third. Gwynn came up and grounded one to shortstop Ozzie Smith. But the infield was playing back, and Gwynn thinks McCullers should have scored. Instead, he stayed put, and Kruk ended the inning with a strikeout (No. 2).

“That was the key play in my mind,� Gwynn said. “If he (McCullers) goes on contact, he scores. At the time, it didn’t seem like it was that important, but . . . they weren’t playing in. I just thought maybe he would score. I guess there’s no use crying over spilt milk now.�

San Diego scored both its runs in the fourth--on McReynolds’ double, Garvey’s infield single, Bruce Bochy’s RBI single and Graig Nettles’ sacrifice fly. But that was it. In the fifth, Royster led off with a single, and Gwynn followed with an infield single as Royster stopped at second.

Kruk then did his one good deed of the day--sacrificing the runners to second and third. McReynolds was walked intentionally to load the bases for Garvey.

He just missed a grand slam, with the ball curving just foul of the left-field pole.

“What a crime,� Garvey said.

He then lifted one to right, and that’s when Royster tagged up and was tagged out, ending the inning. Royster hurt his right knee in Pittsburgh last week leaping for a high bouncer, and the knee has swollen to two times its normal size.

“I could run good going forward,� Royster said. “I’m a little faster when I’m healthy, but I still was running pretty good.�

Kruk struck out (No. 3) with two outs and Gwynn on second in the top of the seventh, but the Padres still led, 2-0.

In the bottom of the inning, McCullers (5-5) began by walking pinch-hitter Jose Oquendo. Coleman blooped a single, and Ozzie Smith’s single drove in Oquendo to make it 2-1.

That was it for McCullers. He was replaced by Lefferts, who pitches almost every day. Lefferts hit the first batter he faced--Tommy Herr--in the leg, and Andy Van Slyke followed with a bases-loaded single. The ball was grounded to the right side, and while first baseman Garvey couldn’t make a move for it, second baseman Bip Roberts dove for it and missed.

The Padres trailed by a run.

Then Todd Worrell (20 saves) did it again, retiring the Padres 1-2-3 in the ninth.

McReynolds explained: “It seems like we’re just waiting for things to happen.�

Nothing is happening.