Benes, Davis Shut Out Dodgers

SAN DIEGO —  The Dodgers, visiting their southern neighbors Friday for the first time since late July, had their first chance to see what this Padre pennant fuss was all about.

Some of them may still have their hands over their eyes.

In a 1-0 loss, the Dodgers discovered at least three of the ways that the Padres are doing it:

--With a 22-year-old pitcher who just last season was throwing in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

--With a former starter who quietly set the Padre record Friday by picking up his major-league leading 38th save.

--With game-winning doubles off the knees of shortstops.

With two out in the seventh inning of a scoreless game, Dodger starter Orel Hershiser walked Bip Roberts, who then stole second on a pitch that bounced under catcher Mike Scioscia’s glove. Roberto Alomar was intentionally walked, bringing up Darrin Jackson, who entered the game in the fourth inning in place of sore-heeled Tony Gwynn.

What happened next, even Gwynn couldn’t have pulled off.

Jackson lofted a ball in front of shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who moved back a step in anticipation of the bounce. But the bounce went crazy, shooting off the infield dirt and ricocheting off Griffin’s shin and into shallow left field. Roberts scored while Jackson was pulling into second base with his sixth, and oddest, double of the season.

“I got lucky, what can you say,” said Jackson, who had struck out in his previous two at-bats against Hershiser. “As soon as I hit it I said darn, it’s right at him. But it was a knuckleball. And it landed in a perfect spot.”

Said Griffin: “I think I should have caught the ball. At least I should have blocked the ball.”

The San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium crowd of 28,771 didn’t know whether to cheer or laugh, so they did both. They kept it up for the remaining two innings as rookie Andy Benes allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings for his fourth consecutive victory and Mark Davis threw the final 1 2/3 innings for his club-record 38th save.

“I try not to reflect on that season and any numbers until the end of the year, but this is definitely a highlight for me and my career,” said Davis, who passed Rollie Fingers (37 saves in 1978).

Benes, last year’s national No. 1 draft pick from University of Evansville, was celebrating the passing of a different landmark.

“I felt like I grew up tonight,” Benes said. “It made me feel like I’m finally over the hump.”

When the fans gave him a standing ovation upon his eighth-inning exit, to which he responded by tipping his cap, he truly felt like an adult.

“I can’t tell you how great that was,” he said.

The Padres’ 15th victory in their last 18 games was enough to keep them in a second-place tie with Houston in the National League West, with both teams moving to within six games of the leading San Francisco Giants.

For the Dodgers, it was enough to help Hershiser reached a career milestone of frustration. He lost his third consecutive game, with four losses in his past five starts, and that’s not the worst of it. The Dodgers have not scored a run for him in the past 30 innings. During this 1-4 stretch, he has an ERA of 1.80.

“I think I’m pitching better than last year,” said the 1988 Cy Young Award winner, who is 14-12 with a 2.31 ERA. “It would be more frustrating if we were in a pennant race.”

Hershiser, who allowed just one run on seven hits in seven innings, could only look with wonder at the Padres 6-foot-6, right-handed Benes, who had everything seemingly come so easily.

The Dodgers’ offense, getting their first look at Benes, learned what the Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos had already seen first-hand. Benes can throw well, and hard. He entered with just five previous major league starts, but victories in his last three, over Montreal and Philadelphia (twice). During those starts, he had struck out 18 in 19 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers saw his strikeout pitch immediately. The first batter of the game, Griffin, struck out swinging in about two minutes. The fourth Dodger batter, Mike Marshall, struck out to end the first inning.

The second inning featured more heat, as Jeff Hamilton led off with a strikeout. Benes struck out at least one batter in each inning until the sixth, which featured his most important pitch, which wasn’t a strike.

With one out, he walked Willie Randolph, and then watched as Eddie Murray drove a fastball into the left field corner for a double, moving Randolph to third.

Up stepped Marshall who, if he thought the kid was cracking, soon thought otherwise. Benes’ first pitch hummed underneath Marshall’s chin, dropping him to his rear while the roaring crowd jumped to its feet. Four pitches later, Marshall weakly fouled to the first baseman. Jeff Hamilton hit a weak grounder up the middle that shortstop Garry Templeton picked off in front of second base and threw to first to end the inning and the final real Dodger threat.

“Every other start, I’ve had an inning where I’ve given up more than one run--this was the big inning for me,” Benes said.

Lenny Harris, pinch-hitting for Hershiser to start the eighth inning, walked and reached second on Griffin’s bunt. In came Davis, who struck out both Randolph and Murray. He retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth for the club record. He has had six saves in the Padres last seven games. He has blown just four save opportunities.

Padre Notes

Tony Gwynn left the game in the fourth inning with a sore left Achilles tendon, a problem that has bothered him for the past month. Gwynn had been retired twice on grounders by Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser. . . . Roberto Alomar’s first inning single increased his hitting streak to 13 games, matching his career high. . . . Eric Show rode a bike for the first time Friday since his Aug. 2 back surgery. He said he didn’t plan on attempting to run for another month and would being throwing Nov. 1. Normally, Show would not throw until after Jan. 1. . . . The Padres were still marveling Friday over their newest pitcher, Calvin Schiraldi, who allowed one run in six innings in a 3-2 win over Houston Wednesday. “The other night, the gun caught him at a low of 88 (m.p.h.) and a high of 93 (m.p.h.),” pitching coach Pat Dobson said. “Getting him gives our staff the balance it lacked since we lost Show. Now we can keep (Greg) Harris in one spot (as the setup man) instead of constantly moving him back and forth. Doing what we were doing hurt the whole staff.” . . . For all of his antics, reliever Mark Grant admitted that before his two-month hot streak, he lacked confidence. “I was always aware of my ability, but I wasn’t necessarily confident in certain situations,” said Grant, who entered Friday with seven victories in nine relief decisions and just 10 of 28 inherited runners having scored. “It happened right before the All-Star break, when I went 4 2/3 innings against the Giants. From that point on, it started to snowball.” In that June 25 game, Grant allowed two run on four hits but was credited with the win in a 10-7 Padre victory . . . Padre catcher Mark Parent walked up to Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia before Friday’s game and said, “I have a thank-you card for you, but I forgot to send it.” Scioscia wondered why Parent would be sending a card. “For that big contract you just signed,” Parent said of Scioscia’s three-year, $5.55 million deal. “You’ve made life better for catchers everywhere.”

TO THE RESCUEAll-time Padre season save leaders:

1989 Mark Davis 38

1978 Rollie Fingers 37

1977 Rollie Fingers 35

1988 Mark Davis 28

1985 Rich Gossage 26

1984 Rich Gossage 25