Griffey Grand Slam Gives Padres Sole Possession of Last

ATLANTA — The Padres gained sole possession of last place Thursday night with another dramatic loss.

As is their style, they stayed close until it mattered. The score was tied in the eighth inning when Ken Griffey hit a grand slam to center field off Craig Lefferts, lifting the Braves to a 7-3 victory.

Explained Lefferts: “He hit it where I wanted him to, but a little too far.”

He hit it right where Chris Chambliss hit a Goose Gossage fastball the night before--deep to center. The Padres are going nowhere fast--except to Cincinnati, where they open a five-game series with a doubleheader tonight. Their record is 53-61, and they haven’t been this far under .500 since 1981--pre-Dick Williams days. Current Manager Steve Boros can’t think of any immediate changes, other than maybe putting Lance McCullers back in the bullpen. That might happen as soon as Saturday, depending how Eric Show pitches tonight.

Certainly, McCullers could have been used Thursday. The game had been tied, 3-3, when lefty reliever Gene Walter got two consecutive outs in the bottom of the eighth. But pinch-hitter Billy Sample--batting for Omar Moreno, who had been 7 for his last 8, including a homer Thursday off Andy Hawkins--lined a double to left. Ken Oberkfell, who was 1 for his last 26 against left-handers, drew a walk.

“That’s a crime,” infielder Jerry Royster would say later. “You can’t walk Oberkfell right there.”

In came another left-hander, Lefferts, to face Dale Murphy, a right-handed hitter. McCullers, a right-hander, would have done nicely here. But McCullers is a starter now, leaving the bullpen full of lefties, plus Gossage. Since McCullers was made a starter on July 1, the Padres are 14-24.

Anyway, Lefferts pitched carefully to Murphy with the left-handed hitting Griffey on deck. And Murphy walked.

“I didn’t want to walk him, but I didn’t want to hang a pitch either,” Lefferts said. “When you look at the two hitters, Murphy’s the one guy I can’t let beat me. And you don’t expect Griffey to hit a home run off me. I’ve only given up two homers to left-handers in my career, so walking Murphy wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t really trying to pitch around him. I was trying to get him out, but I was going at him with my best stuff and keeping it low and on the corners. I walked him, so I put that behind me and said, ‘OK, let’s get Griffey.’ ”

He didn’t.

Griffey hit a 1-and-0 slider way out there.

“We miss McCullers,” Boros said. “We don’t have a right-handed reliever other than Goose. That leaves you a little vulnerable.”

Losing on a grand slam is pretty sad, but this team has been sadder than this. As Boros put it: “No, last night (Chambliss’ homer off Gossage) was the low point, not this game. To lose a three-run lead like we did Wednesday--that hurt. This one tonight was in jeopardy all along.”

He pointed to one important play. In the seventh (the Padres had just tied it, 3-3, on Garry Templeton’s pinch-hit single), Tony Gwynn came up with the bases loaded and one out. Gwynn leads the team in one not-too-flattering statistic--ground-ball double plays. But that’s not what he wanted to do in this situation.

But he did. Or did he?

Gwynn grounded to the second baseman Glenn Hubbard, who threw to shortstop Rafael Ramirez, who threw to first baseman Chambliss.

Replays showed Gwynn was safe at first.

If Gwynn would have been called safe, a run would have scored, putting the Padres ahead.

But first-base umpire Tom Hallion said he was out.

“I bust my (rear end) down the line, beat it out and get called out,” Gwynn said. “What can I say? You run as hard as you can, beat the play, and believe me, I would’ve argued . . . but what good was it gonna do? I just said forget it. Let Steve (Boros) come out there. I was safe. . . . You’re talking to a man who leads the team in ground-out double plays (15), so if I’m safe, I’m safe.” He began laughing. “If I was out, I’d say I was out, but I beat that out.”

Said Boros: “That play changes the game a lot. I go at it a lot differently with a one-run lead.”

In other words, Walter wouldn’t have started the bottom of the seventh with a one-run lead.

In other developments, rookie John Kruk is about to be a television personality. Craig Sager of Cable News Network did a full-length feature on Kruk and it will air this weekend. Sager was unsure if Kruk was a legitimate story, but the kid hit a two-run homer in the third inning Thursday (erasing a 2-0 Atlanta lead). Sager stood up in the press box and clapped.

Kruk--who has been wearing a T-shirt under his uniform that says “I’m a (bleeping) maniac”--is batting .331 in 142 at-bats this year.

Some Padre front-office types say Kruk reminds them of a young Wade Boggs, the way he always gets his bat on the ball.

Boros’ opinion: “Wade Boggs? That’s awfully good company. I know he could be good, but that is awfully tough company. I mean, Wade Boggs. But Johnny is a very good, natural hitter. I think he’ll be a .300 hitter and eventually give you about 15 to 20 home runs. . . . I’m always getting on him about his eating habits, those pizzas. . . . He’s got to stay away from them.”

Still, Kruk stole his first base since April 28 Thursday night. And in the sixth inning, he was on third with one out when Graig Nettles lifted a fly ball to center. Murphy circled under it, caught it and Kruk tagged up and tried to score.

He was out at the plate.

“That guy’s unbelievable!” Kruk said of Murphy.

And poor Boros is unbelievably depressed. After Gossage gave up the homer Wednesday, he had to try to celebrate his wife’s birthday but didn’t do a good job. He didn’t wear his party hat, he said.

And now this. “I’ll try to sleep on the plane,” he said. “I’ll try.”

Padre Notes If Eric Show throws poorly tonight, expect Dave LaPoint to be inserted into the rotation, with Lance McCullers going back to the bullpen.