Padres Lose an Argument, Their Manager and Game

SAN DIEGO —  Jack McKeon tried one of the oldest managerial tricks in the book Friday night in an effort to fire up his Padres, but they remained lifeless.

McKeon, incensed over a changed call that gave Houston’s Glenn Davis a home run on a ball originally ruled foul, was thrown out of the game in the fourth inning by third base umpire John McSherry.

But even the sight of their normally calm manager being ejected for the first time in 183 games since he took over the Padres was not enough to enliven his team.

The result was a 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros in front of 15,447 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. It was the Padres’ eighth loss in the past 10 games and fourth in a row to the Astros.

The leadoff homer by Davis in the fourth off starter Ed Whitson was not the difference--that came on Bill Doran’s two-run homer in the first--but it was the liveliest part of an otherwise dull game.

The Padres managed one run and six hits off three Houston pitchers.

The controversy started after Davis hit Whitson’s first pitch deep down the left-field line. The twisting ball landed about 10 feet in foul territory and 10 rows into the lower stands. At first, the ball was ruled foul by McSherry.

That brought Astro Manager Art Howe out of the dugout to argue. While Davis lingered just past second base, McSherry conferred with home plate umpire Jerry Crawford. After a brief consultation, the call was changed, and McSherry signaled a home run.

“I lost it in the lights,” McSherry told a pool reporter. “The next time I saw it, it was hitting the seats in foul territory. So I pointed foul, which probably was a mistake.

“We don’t change a call like that unless it is definitely seen fair. If there is any doubt at all, it stays the way it was. I didn’t see the ball. I had no choice but to ask (Crawford). Jerry was definite, so we made it (a home run).”

As Davis resumed his home run trot, McKeon stormed from the dugout straight at McSherry, and the two went jaw-to-jaw. The argument continued for three minutes before McSherry had enough and threw McKeon out of the game.

“If he didn’t see it, then why was he so emphatic it was foul,” McKeon said. “He gave him (Howe) his choice. All I wanted was my choice, and I say it was foul. Then that’s a tie, and let him hit again.”

“He was jumping and spraying,” McSherry said. “I threw him out for it. He was going to keep hopping until he got thrown out.”

McKeon continued for another minute or so, becoming so animated that his cap flew off. But when it became clear that the argument was lost, McKeon picked up his cap and headed to the locker room, leaving coaches Pat Dobson and Greg Riddoch to run the team.

If there has been one negative in his impressive start this season, it has been Whitson’s tendency to give up home runs. And it finally caught up with this time.

Whitson fell behind, 3-0, after four innings, and the two homer were to blame.

They were the 12th and 13th allowed by Whitson, the most on a team that has allowed a National League-high 61 home runs. Of the 28 runs Whitson has allowed in 14 starts, 17 have scored on homers.

The first came in the first inning. After center fielder Gerald Young opened with a double down the right-field and was sacrificed to third by Craig Reynolds, Doran drove Whitson’s 2-1 pitch over the right-field wall.

It was Doran’s sixth homer, his first off Whitson in 38 at-bats, and gave the Astros at 2-0 lead.

They went ahead, 3-0, in the fourth on Davis’ leadoff homer, his 15th of the season, his 15th against the Padres in five seasons. Eight days earlier, he had defeated the Padres, 7-6, with a two-run, one-out homer in the 10th inning in Houston.

Whitson (9-4) suffered his second loss in a row after having won a personal high seven in a row. And just as in his 1-0 loss to the Giants in San Francisco June 10, the Padres failed to score for him. Their one run came after Whitson left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh and was replaced by Mark Grant.

That is quite a change from the support Whitson had become accustomed to during his winning streak.

In a stretch of eight starts (seven victories and one no-decision) beginning April 27 in Pittsburgh, the Padres scored 50 runs, five times scoring seven or more. No Padre pitcher has enjoyed even remotely similar backing.

But the Padres have scored two runs in their past 24 innings. They had their best chance to score against Houston starter Jim Clancy in the fifth, but amazingly, consecutive doubles by Garry Templeton and Whitson failed to produce a run.

Padre Notes

Left-handed reliever Dave Leiper has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with soft tissue swelling in his left elbow, the Padres announced. The move was made retroactive to Wednesday. Left-handed pitcher Pat Clements was recalled from triple-a Las Vegas to replace Leiper, who said the elbow has been bothering him for some time but that it only recently has seriously affected his pitching. He said further tests are planned but that doctors think a fracture unlikely. “This is the best for everyone,” Leiper said. “I wasn’t doing myself any good, and I was hurting the team by trying to pitch.” Leiper has allowed at least one run in each of his past five appearances. In 7 1/3 innings since May 14, Leiper (0-1) has given up eight runs (six earned), 14 hits and seven walks. In 18 games, he has pitched 23 innings, struck out seven and allowed 32 hits, 18 walks and 17 runs (14 earned). He has a team-high 5.48 ERA and opponents are batting .333 against him. Leiper last appeared Tuesday, pitching the ninth inning of a 9-6 loss to Cincinnati. He allowed a run and two hits.

Clements, 27, was 3-1 with a 4.09 ERA and two saves in 18 games at Las Vegas. He was acquired from the New York Yankees Oct. 24 in the deal that brought Jack Clark to the Padres. Clements, a former UCLA pitcher, broke in with the Angels in 1985 and went 5-0 before he was traded to Pittsburgh late in August. He was dealt to the Yankees after the 1986 season. He has a major league career record of 8-9 with a 3.88 ERA. Clements likely will serve the same role as Leiper, that of a left-handed middle reliever. He was the last pitcher cut in spring training.

Leiper is the second Padre to be placed on the 15-day disabled list in the past three days. Utility infielder Tim Flannery is out with a torn wrist muscle. . . . Outfielder/infielder Chris James did not suit up for the second consecutive game and remains listed as day-to-day. He bruised his right leg sliding into the stands while trying to catch a foul ball Wednesday.