PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Torrid Hitting Streak Hikes Tony Gwynn’s Average to .372

PITTSBURGH —  This is nothing new to Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn. He has had plenty of torrid hitting streaks in his career. You don’t win four batting titles without getting hot for long stretches.

Only this time, it’s a little different. This time, Gwynn is seeing the ball so well, hitting it virtually anywhere he wants, that he actually is surprised these days when he doesn’t get a hit.

Gwynn continued his pace Friday with the Padres’ first four-hit game of the season in their 9-2 victory over Pittsburgh. It was the 21st four-hit game of his career, and raised his batting to .372.

“It used to be when you went on one of those runs,” Gwynn said, “you were unconscious. You were just seeing the ball good and hitting it good. Now, it’s like I know exactly what I want to do.

“I feel like I’m right where I want to be. (Padre batting coach) Merv Rettenmund has been kidding me that I’ve got more bat speed this year.

“Who knows, I just hope it continues.”

Another typical night for Gwynn, right?

“There’s nobody like him,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “I’ve been with him for so long, but he never ceases to amaze me. There is definitely a method to his madness.”

Gwynn, who is hitting .474 in his last nine games with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs, has been the catalyst of the Padre offensive attack. Every time you look up, he’s on base. And if you blink, Gary Sheffield or Fred McGriff already have driven him in.

In the last seven games, the top four batters in the Padre order--Tony Fernandez, Gwynn, Sheffield and McGriff--are hitting .419 with 10 doubles, two triples, six homers, 28 runs and 26 RBIs.

“Our four guys can’t continue to go like that,” Riddoch said. “It’s not humanely possible.”

Even for Gwynn?

“Well, I’m not ruling anything out with him,” Riddoch said. “I’m not sure he’s human the way he hits.”

Gwynn said his confidence hit the apex when he lined a single off New York Mets starter David Cone’s split-finger fastball Wednesday night in the third inning.

“That’s the one that did it for me,” Gwynn said. “I never hit that pitch. But that time, I waited back, hit the ball right where I wanted. It got me to thinking where I want to be.”

Something sure is working. Gwynn has nine hits in his last 13 at-bats (.692), and even the four outs he made were hit hard.

“I just know I’m going to go up there hacking,” Gwynn said. “I went to get on base, and let the others drive me in. If we do that, we’re going to score a lot of runs. And if we score a lot of runs, we’re going to win a whole lot of games.”

Padre second baseman Kurt Stillwell, who has tendinitis in his right wrist, missed his second consecutive game and was replaced in the lineup by Tim Teufel.

“If it’s not one thing, it’s been another,” Stillwell said. “If it’s not my finger, it’s my knee. If it’s not my knee, it’s my wrist.

“Every injury I’ve gotten could have been a lot worse, but it’s still frustrating. Just when I had my stroke going for the first time this year, this had to happen.”

Stillwell, who is batting .304 this season, has missed six games this season because of an assortment of injuries. He believes he’ll be ready to play tonight or Sunday.

“That’s been the story of my season,” he said. “I just hope I got them out of the way early. Of course, I’ve been saying that a lot lately.”

Jerald Clark was dropped to eighth in the batting order for the first time this season.

“I’m just glad to get out of the seventh spot,” Clark joked before the game. “That’s got bad luck. If I get a few hits in that eighth spot tonight, I’m never coming out. It’ll take wild horses to get me out of there.”

Clark went one for five, raising his batting average to .177.

Pirate Manager Jim Leyland on Sheffield, who drove in the first two runs of the game: “What an outstanding player. I talked to (Atlanta Manager) Bobby Cox, and he told me that Sheffield was the missing piece of their puzzle. He’s right. What an explosive lineup.

“It’s funny, everybody likes to talk about players being malcontents, or bad guys, or this or that. Hey, just give me talent, I’ll worry about the rest.”

The Padres had a golf tournament on their off day Thursday, set up by catcher Dann Bilardello. The tournament, won by pitcher Mike Maddux and first base coach Rob Picciolo, was captured on videotape by pitcher Larry Andersen.

The most humorous scene on tape?

Bench coach Jim Snyder was spotted in the parking lot trying to find his ball between cars.

Around the Basepaths: Seattle outfielder Kevin Mitchell on the Mariners’ losing ways: “We’re coming to the park expecting to lose. This club is to soft. Too gentle. Too gentlemanly.” . . . Kansas City Royals DH George Brett on being 139 hits shy of reaching the 3,000 milestone: “It would be a tremendous honor, a tremendous thrill, but I’m not going to jeopardize 18 good years of baseball to try to achieve something and hurt the organization at the same time. Brett turned 39 on Thursday. . . . San Francisco first baseman Will Clark entered Friday’s game with a 15-game hitting streak, but incredibly, his batting average somehow has dropped from .347 to .342. He batted .333 during the streak. . . . Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers has gone 13 games and 48 at-bats without a homer entering Friday’s game. It’s his longest homerless streak since joining the Tigers.