Life in Slow Lane Leaves Cubs, Bullinger Deep-Sixed

Padres 8 Cubs 3

SAN DIEGO Just think of all the things that could have beenaccomplished during the Padres' five-run fifth inning against pitcherJim Bullinger and the Cubs on Thursday:

Watching a rerun of "The Munsters" on TV, for instance. Orgetting the oil changed at one of those 12-minute service shops. Ontwo cars.In a spooky 34-minute episode in the Padres' 8-3 victory - whichran the Cubs' losing streak to six games - Bullinger continuallystepped off the rubber to regroup, checked baserunners with throws tofirst, was visited by catcher Brian Dorsett four times, stepped offthe mound to tie his shoelace and was booed by the Jack MurphyStadium matinee crowd of 18,736 for taking so long."He gets into a funk and he can't get out," Cubs pitching coachFergie Jenkins said. "You've got to be able to sit back and observewhat the heck is going on.""He had a good rhythm, and next thing you know it was `raindelay,' " Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said. "He lost all rhythm,and that makes your defense lose its rhythm. Your defense goes backon its heels. The game just absolutely stopped. It's tough. Idon't know what happened."What the Cubs (10-12) do know is that most facets of their gamehave bogged down in the six-game skid, their longest since droppingseven in a row last July. They are batting .226 and have a 5.01 ERAin that stretch as they head for Los Angeles for four games beginningtonight (9:05 p.m., Ch. 9, 720-AM).Bullinger (1-2), who has failed to get through the fifth inningin each of his last four starts, retired Padres starter Bob Tewksbury(3-0) to begin the fifth but walked Steve Finley, allowed an infieldsingle to Jody Reed and a smash RBI single to Ken Caminiti, hit WallyJoyner in the foot with a pitch and walked Marc Newfield with thebases loaded before manager Jim Riggleman finally pulled him with hissecond visit of the inning."Last year I let everybody steal on me who wanted to steal,"Bullinger said in defense of his slow pace. "If I don't step off andthrow, that's going to keep happening."After being charged with six runs (five earned) on six hits andfour walks (one intentional) in 4 1/3 innings, Bullinger's ERA jumpedto 7.11."I pitched four pretty good innings, but I beat myself in thefifth with the walks," he said. "My stuff is too good to be gettinghit around like this. It comes back to getting behind in thecount."After Mike Perez replaced Bullinger, shortstop Jose Hernandezmishandled a routine grounder by Archi Cianfrocco that scoredCaminiti, Andujar Cedeno singled in Joyner, and Tewksbury walked withthe bases loaded to give the Padres a 6-2 lead.Bullinger had launched a 1-0 pitch by Tewksbury for a home runto break a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth. Bullinger, who homeredagainst the Rockies April 10 at Coors Field, became the first Cubspitcher since Dennis Eckersley in 1986 to hit two home runs in aseason."He hits a home run, motivates the team and goes back and can'tdo anything," Jenkins said.Cubs hitters didn't do much after that, either, except for asingle by Luis Gonzalez (2-for-3, RBI), who raised his team-leadingaverage to .391, and a double by Brian McRae, who scored on agroundout by Grace.