Padres Win With Little Ball : ‘Big’ 6th Inning Is Good Enough to Beat Cubs, 4-3

SAN DIEGO â€”  An outburst from Murderer’s Row, it wasn’t. Three singles, an intentional walk, a couple of sacrifices and a strikeout. But the sixth inning the Padres put together Sunday afternoon in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium was what they have been waiting for all season.

There were no long home runs. There were no balls hit off the fence. But pinch-hitter Tim Flannery launched a fly ball far enough into right field to allow Chris James to score from third with one out, and that was the difference as the Padres defeated the Chicago Cubs, 4-3, in front of 26,561. It was their fifth victory in six games.

“That’s the way we’ve planned it since Day 1,� Padre Manager Jack McKeon said.

But more often than not, it hasn’t happened the way it did Sunday.

Consider, for example, that Flannery’s sacrifice fly was the first by a Padre pinch-hitter all year .

Here’s how it came about:

The Padres trailed, 3-2, when Jack Clark led off with a single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Then Clark, who has been bothered by a sore hamstring, took off for second. James lined the pitch behind him into right field and Clark continued to third.

Up stepped Roberto Alomar, who also singled. Clark scored and James stopped at second.

Next, Mark Parent bunted, moving James to third and Alomar to second. Rick Sutcliffe intentionally walked Luis Salazar, which brought on Flannery to pinch-hit for Dennis Rasmussen.

And that was about as much firepower--if that’s what you want to call it--as the Padres needed.

Not much power, but perfect execution.

“We’ve always stayed back waiting for one hit or one pitch,� Clark said. “That puts a lot of pressure on a pitcher, or on a defense, or on a hitter.

“Now, we’re learning to try to put the pressure on (the other team,) to create our own situations. That whole inning was created by guys hustling and playing the game like they’re supposed to.�

Starter Dennis Rasmussen (4-6) went six innings, allowing three runs and seven hits, before giving way to Mark Grant and Mark Davis, who got his league-leading 24th save. James went three for four and hit his second home run in as many games.

But it was the little things that had people talking.

“That’s the only way this team is going to win,� Flannery said. “The big home run is great, but that’s not the way this team is going to win.�

The middle-innings routine is always the same for Flannery. He grabs an ammonia capsule for a boost. He rides an exercise bike. He drinks some coffee.

“The guys laugh,� Flannery said. “I say, ‘Hey, I got one bullet to shoot.�

That’s what happens when you make your living as a utility player and pinch-hitter. Sometimes your game consists of one at-bat. Sunday, Flannery made it count--despite the fact that he was four for 32 against Sutcliffe.

“I just try to concentrate and do my job,� he said. “I didn’t want to go up there and hit a sinker ball down and away into a double play. I just went up there looking for a ball in a certain area, and I got it.�

Flannery is now three for three with two runs batted in in his last four pinch-hitting appearances.

For the second game in a row, the Padres scored their first run on a James home run. This one, though, was a bit different.

James hammered the ball toward right field, a low line drive that just kept going. Cub right fielder Dwight Smith drifted back toward the fence, leaped, and looked as if he had pulled the ball down.

His act was so convincing that James, halfway between first and second, stopped and started to walk back toward the Padre dugout. He only got a couple of steps in before he realized it was a home run.

“The guys (in the dugout) were jazzing him, but I thought (Smith) caught the ball, too,� McKeon said.

Said Smith: “Me and the ball arrived at the same time, but it tipped my glove and went over.�

Sutcliffe then walked Alomar, and Parent followed with a fly to right which was caught--and then dropped--by Smith after a long run. Parent was on first, and Alomar on second.

Next, Alomar stole third, and Cub catcher Damon Berryhill’s throw went into left field. Alomar got up and scampered home, and Parent wound up on second. It was the first stolen base of Parent’s career.

When the inning ended, Parent was stuck at second. But it was 2-0, Padres.

Rasmussen pitched well through the first five innings, scattering three hits. But it took just two pitches in the sixth for the Cubs to tie the score.

Mitch Webster lined Rasmussen’s first pitch for a single into left field and Lloyd McClendon put the next pitch into the left-field seats.

“Webster hit a pretty good curveball off the end of his bat,� Rasmussen said. “And McClendon is having a pretty good year.�

Mark Grace, up next, doubled off the right-field wall and went to third on Domingo Ramos’ fly to left. Rasmussen then struck out Shawon Dunston on three pitches and intentionally walked Joe Girardi.

That put runners on first and third with Sutcliffe at the plate and two out. But Rasmussen started him off with two balls, and then Sutcliffe watched two strikes sail by before singling to right. That scored Grace and put the Cubs ahead, 3-2.

Still, Rasmussen was able to earn his first victory at home this season in seven attempts. His last win came June 29 in Los Angeles. Since then, he lasted just 2 1/3 innings in a 5-3 loss in Chicago July 5 and 1 1/3 innings in a 5-3 victory in Pittsburgh July 9.

“I had two bad outings in a row,� Rasmussen said. “So what? We won won one of them. Everyone seems to forget that I pitched pretty well in L.A. three starts ago. I can pitch.

“We got the win. That’s the bottom line.�

Padre Notes

There was a touch of deja vu when Tim Flannery pinch-hit in the sixth with Rick Sutcliffe on the mound. The two had met in that situation before, also on a Sunday afternoon, during the 1984 playoffs. With Carmelo Martinez on second and two out that day, Flannery hit a hard grounder that skipped under Cub first baseman Leon Durham’s glove and into baseball lore. Flannery said Sunday’s appearance brought back memories. “It was fun,� he said. “In 1984, that was probably the most crucial time a man could pinch hit--with the tying run on second.�