Homers by Gwynn, McReynolds Give Padres 4-3 Victory

SAN DIEGO —  Tony Gwynn went from zero to hero; Kevin McReynolds went from suspect to near perfect; and John Tudor went from being quiet to reading his teammates the riot act--all this during and after Thursday’s 4-3 Padre victory over St. Louis at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Tudor, one of the best pitchers in baseball a season ago, gave it his best shot for seven innings Thursday until Gwynn and McReynolds unloaded back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning. The Cardinals led, 3-2, entering the eighth when Gwynn--who was picked off first base earlier and thought he was going to be “the goat”--led off with his ninth home run, to left-center. And, in a rare moment of self-glorification (he doesn’t think starting in the All-Star game is that big a deal), he made a little fist to celebrate his feat.

Then, McReynolds--who was about to be benched by Manager Steve Boros for his recent ineptitude--hit a home run to left-center to break the tie.

Solid relief appearances by newcomer Dave LaPoint and Craig Lefferts (the final two innings for the victory) meant Tudor and his teammates were losers.

Again.

It’s out of character for him to be a character, but afterward Tudor criticized himself and his last-place team (weren’t they just in the World Series?) for perhaps not caring enough.

“It’s not for me to go to somebody and say, ‘I don’t think you’re trying,’ ” he said. “I don’t think my perspective is necessarily the truth. We may just be that bad, but I don’t think so. I’ve just got to worry about doing my job and not worry about doing someone else’s, I guess. (But) losing becomes contagious, becomes a way of life. We say, ‘It’s just another day; we lost again.’ We all have the attitude, ‘We lost again today, so what’s new?’ Until we get the attitude, ‘We lost, so let’s go out and kick somebody’ . . .

“It’s a terrible attitude (on the Cardinals). I don’t know what else to say. We’re all a part of it; we’ve all done it. None of us are exempt. I think it’s about time somebody sat back and analyzed themselves and said, ‘That’s enough of this (bleep).’ I’m either gonna do it myself, or I’ll sure as hell try. It’s about time we decided not to worry about Joe Schmo and what he’s doing or what he’s hitting. . . . We’ve got to become individualists with pride in ourselves before we can become a team again. We say every day we’ve never seen anything like this before, and then the next day we do. Every day we say we can’t get worse and we do.”

Tudor didn’t help his teammates too much with the two home runs he allowed.

“When a team is struggling to score a run and you take a one-run lead into the eighth, you ought to be able to hang on,” he said. “I haven’t done it the last couple of times. I’m human. I’ll give some up, but it’s so compounded by the way everything else is going.”

Things were going badly for McReynolds, who was 3 for 19 before Thursday. Boros threatened to sit him down. The home run ended such talk, but he still was a little bitter. When reporters crowded near his locker, McReynolds said: “You haven’t been around here to talk to me for a month, and now you want me?”

McReynolds is having a solid season, even though it was his first home run since June 14. The Cardinals, for instance, have said they’d like to trade for him. Jack McKeon says no, thank you.

“Well, I’m satisfied, but not real pleased,” said McReynolds about his first half of the season. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to drive in runs. I’ve probably wasted 30 at-bats, where I went up to the plate without a clue of what I was gonna do.”

Gwynn was clueless in the fifth when Tudor picked him off. The Padres had blown a first-and-third opportunity with nobody out in the fourth, and they had runners at first and third with two out in the fifth.

Gwynn was on first.

He was going to try to steal, but Tudor threw over to first. Gwynn tried juking the first baseman, Alan Knicely, but he was tagged out.

“Tudor threw his best move at me, and I bit like a fish does in water,” Gwynn said. “But my home run got me off the hook.”

Gwynn leaves Sunday night for Houston and the All-Star game. Thursday, he learned he was voted to start for the second straight year.

“It’s a great honor to go to the All-Star game and to be voted in as a starter,” he said. “But it’s more of an honor to be voted in by your fellow players. Some guy called me and told me about a poll all the players had and I was voted as an all-star. . . . Anyway, I’m hopeful I can represent the Padres well.”

Meanwhile, Tudor wishes the Cardinals were more representative.

Padre Notes

Bruce Bochy hit his sixth home run Thursday and is averaging one very 10 at-bats. Fans are chanting “Bruuuuuce” each time he hits one, the same chant Bruce Springsteen gets. Bochy, asked if he likes Springsteen’s music, said: “I like everything he does. I guess everyone likes (the album) ‘Born in the USA,’ but I wasn’t born in the USA. I was born in France.” . . . Kevin McReynolds says when he really hits a ball just right it doesn’t feel like he hit it all. Of Thursday’s homer, he said: “That ball didn’t have the feel of no feel.” . . . Steve Garvey, who is 8 for 61, might be benched for a game this weekend. “I’m toying with the idea of resting him in the next day or two,” Manager Steve Boros said. “But only for one day. Then I’ll see how he responds to the rest he’ll get during the All-Star break.” . . . Jerry Royster slipped trying to field a slow ground ball with the bases loaded Thursday and the Cardinals scored a run. Boros said a change in the watering times at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium has made the field more slippery. Said Royster: “No field is better than ours. And it’s not that slippery, but there are certain things you can’t do. You can’t cut sometimes with the spikes we wear. If you make a false move, you pay for it.” . . . PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard SECOND INNING

Cardinals--Knicely singled to left and stole second. Landrum and Heath struck out. Pendleton singled to center, Knicely scoring. Oquendo singled to right, Pendleton stopping at second. Tudor struck out. One run, three hits, two left.

Padres--With two outs, Bochy homered to left, his sixth. Wynne struck out. One run, one hit.

THIRD INNING

Cardinals--Coleman walked and stole second. McGee walked. Herr sacrificed, Coleman advancing to third and McGee to second. Knicely walked, loading the bases. Landrum beat out an infield single down third, Coleman scoring and keeping the bases loaded. Heath flied to center, McGee tagging and scoring with Knicely tagging and advancing to third. Pendleton popped to second. Two runs, one hit, two left.

FIFTH INNING

Padres--With one out, Roberts singled to center. Martinez, batting for Dravecky, forced Roberts. Royster singled to left, Martinez stopping at second. Gwynn singled to center, Martinez scoring and Royster taking third. Gwynn was picked off first. One run, three hits.

EIGHTH INNING Padres--Gwynn homered to left-center, his ninth. McReynolds homered to left-center, his 13th. Worrell replaced Tudor. Garvey popped to second. Templeton doubled to right. Kennedy grounded to short. Wynne was walked intentionally. Flannery, batting for Roberts, struck out. Two run, three hits, two left.