Braves’ Win Over Padres Snaps Streak : Big Sixth Against Whitson Helps Atlanta Triumph, 5-2

SAN DIEGO —  Ed Whitson has been playing the game long enough to keep adversity in perspective. Otherwise, he might have been in a foul mood after the Padres’ 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves Sunday.

Whitson had good reason to be upset after one of his best efforts of the season abruptly dissolved in front of 16,724 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

With the score 1-1 and two out in the sixth inning, Whitson had a one-hitter, and he would have had a shutout had it not been for a rare error by right fielder Tony Gwynn. But three pitches later, the Braves had a 4-1 lead, and by the end of the inning, Whitson was through.

“I can’t complain,” Whitson said. “All I can do is concentrate harder on my job.”

The defeat, which ended the Braves’ six-game losing streak, took a bit of the luster off the Padres’ most successful home stand of the season; they finished 8-4. Still, the Padres wanted a victory to start them on a trip that will begin tonight in Los Angeles and won’t end until after the All-Star break July 16.

Whitson retired Dion James and Rafael Ramirez on popups in the sixth before Dale Murphy hit a double. This left Manager Larry Bowa with a difficult decision. Should he instruct Whitson to walk Ken Griffey, a .323 hitter, and pitch instead to Graig Nettles, 42, who was batting .179?

Bowa told Whitson to pitch around Griffey, who then hit the first pitch for a run-scoring single. And one pitch later, Nettles hit a two-run homer.

Afterward, Whitson discussed the turn of events that had lowered his record to 8-7.

“The ball Griffey hit killed me,” he said. “I thought it was foul, but when I got up here in the clubhouse, they said (first baseman) John Kruk had touched it in fair territory. I gave him a good slider, but I didn’t get it quite as far away from him as I wanted to.

“I tried to get Nettles to hit the ball on the ground, but he’s a dead fastball hitter, and he jacked it out. I threw him a sinker away, and it didn’t sink like I wanted it to. He did his job and I didn’t do mine. He’s hit about 320 of them (actually, 388), so I’ve got a lot of company in that league. He’s a remarkable guy. He just keeps going.”

Regarding Griffey, Whitson said:

“I knew what I wanted to do. I would have walked Griffey or pitched around him, just like Larry wanted me to do. He told me if I went 3-0, to go ahead and put him on. Griffey didn’t give me a chance to go 3-0, but Larry was 100% right. The trouble is, when somebody comes out and tells me to pitch around a guy, I squeeze the ball a little too tight. I lose some of my concentration. I try to be too fine, and something happens. Larry was right, though. I just made a mistake.”

Bowa said he had gone to the mound to tell Whitson to be careful with Griffey.

“I just told him to make Griffey hit what he wanted him to hit,” Bowa said. “Nettles was up next, and he hasn’t been playing a lot.”

Manager Chuck Tanner of the Braves said he could understand Whitson’s problem.

“I’ve gotten so I’ve quit going out there in those situations,” Tanner said. “Instead, I pass a sign to the catcher. If you tell your pitcher the guy is a low-ball hitter, for some reason he’ll pitch the guy low. It’s the power of suggestion, I guess.”

Said Nettles: “Griffey is hitting way over .300 and I’m hitting about .180. Simple math tells you to pitch to the guy hitting .180.

“I’m a first-ball hitter, and when the first thing came close to the plate, I was swinging.”

After Whitson left, Craig Lefferts allowed a home run to Gerald Perry, running the Padres’ National League-leading total of home runs surrendered to 91. The Padres, meanwhile, could do little with Charlie Puleo, who helped the Braves end their longest losing streak of the season.

Padre Notes

Despite Sunday’s defeat, Padre Manager Larry Bowa was in an upbeat mood as he looked ahead to a trip that will take the Padres to Los Angeles, Montreal, Chicago and Pittsburgh before the All-Star break. “Our pitching has been very good,” he said. “I don’t know whether we’re over the hump, but we will be if our pitching holds up. The whole key is our starting rotation. Any time you get good starting pitching, you’ve got a chance.” . . . Second baseman Glenn Hubbard of the Braves, who looks small enough to make the weight as a jockey, made the play of the day when he stole a hit from Tony Gwynn in the first inning. Hubbard dived headlong for Gwynn’s grounder and threw him out while sprawled on the ground. . . . First baseman John Kruk made the Padres’ best play, a diving stop of Ken Griffey’s smash in the eighth, but came up empty when pitcher Craig Lefferts dropped his throw.