Flannery Helps Give Padres Some Fight Against Reds, 9-3

SAN DIEGO —  With Tim Flannery--one of the original John Denny antagonists--leading the way, the Padres completed their sweep of the supposedly surging Cincinnati Reds Wednesday night, 9-3.

Flannery picked a fight with Denny last year (or was it the other way around?), but Flannery had more fight in him Wednesday--singling twice off Denny, singling in a run off reliever Scott Terry; scoring once himself and looking charismatic afield.

On one simple ground ball to first baseman Pete Rose, Timmy Hustle nearly beat Charley Hustle to the base. Earlier, he had tagged and taken second on an ordinary fly ball--surprising outfielder Ed Milner. Naturally, he slid in head first with a belly flop. And in the ninth inning, the Reds loaded the bases with one out, but Bo Diaz lined one right at Flannery’s forehead. He saved his life by fielding it and starting a game-ending double play.

Flannery has reached base in 10 of his last 13 at-bats.

And this is what the Padres were searching for--a little life from their leadoff men. It helped, though, that the men following Flannery (mainly Graig Nettles, who hit two homers for five RBIs) had life in their formerly little bats. In a five-run third inning that propelled them to the victory, Nettles hit a three-run homer to left and Marvell Wynne hit an RBI double off the wall in left-center.

In all, Tony Gwynn had two hits and scored twice; Kevin McReynolds had two hits and was on base four times; Steve Garvey had two hits and two RBIs (a sacrifice fly and an infield single); Terry Kennedy had a single and a run scored; Wynne had two hits and an RBI; and, finally, Nettles hit his first homer off Denny and his second off Scott Terry--giving him 382 career home runs and a tie with Frank Howard for 24th on the all-time list.

“I played against him (Howard) a lot of years in the American League,” Nettles said. “And never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d hit as many as him. It’s quite an honor.”

Nettles may be headed for a bigger honor--the Hall of Fame.

“I don’t think about it,” he said. “I might think about it when my career’s over, but I hope that’s still quite a ways off.”

Anyway, Nettles apparently is off on one of his streaks again, so Manager Steve Boros is expecting about four more homers in the next week.

Speaking of hitters, pitcher Ed Whitson displayed his American League swing Wednesday, striking out three times--twice in the third inning alone. He did manage to put down a sacrifice bunt in the seventh.

But he says that’s fine, because he proved Wednesday he could go home again--winning his first game in this his second stint with the Padres. You might remember his last victory as a Padre--Game 3 of the 1984 playoffs against the Cubs.

Funny, but just Wednesday, Whitson became a formal member of the starting rotation. With Eric Show returning from the disabled list, Boros moved Lance McCullers back to the bullpen. Whitson is the fifth starter. At the end in New York with the Yankees, he was their 10th starter.

“That’s what I like, I like to start,” Whitson said. “This guy right here (pointing to McCullers’ locker), he can do it (start), but he likes the bullpen. He has two things going for him--the endurance to go nine and the ability to come out of the bullpen. I was never effective coming out of the bullpen. Later on in my career, when I can’t go seven, eight or nine, I’ll consider it more. But I can still go nine.”

He didn’t Wednesday. He took a 7-0 lead into the eighth, but surrendered two two-out walks and two singles and, suddenly, two runs. His right forearm was bothering him, and his lack of control was bothering Boros. So Gene Walter replaced him.

But he left to a standing ovation --that, too, his first since the 1984 playoffs.

“It’s been a long time waiting for something like that,” said Whitson, who got an ovation in New York when he was traded. “It was a pleasant feeling coming off the field. I’d liked to have stayed out there and gone nine, but as you could see, I was losing it.

“It (the ovation) reminded me of ‘84, but this one seemed a little bit louder than all the others.”

Also, Padre bats seem to crack louder in home games. Of their 90 homers this year, 61 have come at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Nettles has 14 homers in 1986, and 12 came at home.

The home cooking smoked the Reds, who came here on the Padres’ tails, but leave on the Dodgers’ tails (in fifth place).

“We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us, but this is really encouraging,” Boros said.

Flannery’s play was encouraging. He hits Denny well (10 for 23 lifetime), considering Denny once tried to hit Flannery with his fist.

“Well, I’ve concentrated better ever since that one time,” Flannery said.

Padre Notes Arbitrator Tom Roberts on Wednesday voided all the drug testing clauses negotiated into players’ contracts last winter. Padre President Ballard Smith was not so much upset at Roberts’ reasoning, but rather at the implications. “I guess the thing I’m most disappointed about is the fact that the message going out to young people is that drug testing is somehow bad. That really bothers me. It just sends the wrong message out. . . . We have a responsibility to young people. I have no idea what their (the players’ union) reasoning is, but I do know that behind the scenes the last several months that we--management--made every possible effort to find some way to get the union to agree to a testing program. The union’s just not going to agree to any testing program, under any circumstances. I believe that from the bottom of my heart. I don’t think the union cares what the public thinks, what the media thinks and, to some extent, I don’t think they care what the ballplayers think. They’ve just decided that just because this is something management wants, they don’t want it.”

Pitcher Eric Show, inactive since July 8 with elbow tendinitis, is to be activated today and will start Saturday’s game against Houston. He had a 7-4 record before going on the disabled list and was winning while throwing at three-quarter pace--which let Show know that there’s more to victory than just velocity. “When I threw today, it felt a lot better than the way it felt the last day before I went on the DL. But it isn’t 100%. But it doesn’t have to be 100% for me to win. . . . I don’t want this to come out egotistically--and I don’t think I’m Nolan Ryan--but if I don’t have my best stuff, I don’t think it’s too arrogant to say it’s probably better than the average. So I’m not throwing 92 (m.p.h.) but I’m throwing 88 or 89 or 90 or whatever. That’s still good enough if you’ve got some movement on the ball and can move it in and out and you know your mechanics and the hitters.”. . . With Show back, reliever Bob Stoddard was sent back to Las Vegas. And Lance McCullers, who started five games, will go back to the bullpen as one of Goose Gossage’s setup men.

PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard THIRD INNING

Padres--With one out, Flannery singled to left. Gwynn doubled to left-center, Flannery taking third. McReynolds walked, loading the bases. Garvey flied to left, Flannery scoring. Nettles homered to left, his 13th. Kennedy walked. Wynne doubled to left, Kennedy scoring. Templeton was walked intentionally. Whitson struck out. Five runs, four hits, two left.

SIXTH INNING

Padres--With one out, Gwynn singled to right. McReynolds singled to left, Gwynn taking third. Garvey singled off Denny’s glove, Gwynn scoring and McReynolds taking second. Murphy replaced Denny. Nettles grounded to short, but was safe at first and Garvey was safe at second when second baseman Oester dropped throw at second, loading the bases. Kennedy struck out. Wynne grounded to third. One run, three hits, one error, three left.

SEVENTH INNING

Padres--Terry took the mound. Templeton reached first on Oester’s fielding error. Whitson sacrificed Templeton to second. Flannery singled to center, Templeton scoring. Gwynn flied to center. McReynolds grounded to short. One run (unearned), one hit, one error, one left.

EIGHTH INNING

Reds--With two out, Parker walked. Diaz beat out a grounder to second for a single, Parker taking second. Bell walked, loading the bases. Stillwell singled to center, Parker and Diaz scoring with Bell taking second. Walter replaced Whitson. Oester grounded to second. Two runs, two hits, two left.

Padres--Garvey beat out a grounder to short for a single. Nettles homered to right, his 14th. Kennedy flied to left. Wynne singled to left. Templeton flied to left. Walter struck out. Two runs, three hits, one left.

NINTH INNING

Reds--Esasky, batting for Terry, walked. Milner singled to right, Esasky taking third. Rose struck out. Daniels was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Parker walked, Esasky scoring. Diaz grounded into a double play. One run, one hit.