Benito Santiago isn`t sulking over the end of his hitting streak. The Padres` catcher went 0-for-3 Saturday night against Dodgers right-hander Orel Hershiser in a 1-0 Padres victory, snapping his streak at 34 games. ”I feel happy,” Santiago said. ”That`s all right that it ended. I`m glad that we got the win. I`m looking to next year to be even better.” Santiago`s streak set records for a catcher, rookie and a Latin American player. Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico, struck out in the first, grounded to shortstop in the fourth and flied to right in the sixth. During the streak, he batted .346, going 47 for 136 with 5 home runs and 18 runs batted in. The streak, which started Aug. 25, was the second longest in the major leagues this year behind the 39-game mark by Milwaukee`s Paul Molitor.
Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark, who has been sidelined by a sprained ankle since Sept. 9 except for two plate appearances, struck out in a pinch-hit role Sunday against the Mets. After the game, manager Whitey Herzog said Clark probably won`t be available for regular duty until the sixth game of the National League Championship Series against the Giants.
The Cardinals finished their regular season by drawing a crowd of 41,890, bringing their home total for the year to 3,072,122. Besides leading the majors in attendance, the Cardinals also generated the seventh-largest home attendance in major-league history.
The Padres` Tony Gwynn finished the season with a .370 average, best in the majors and the highest in the National League since 1948, when Stan Musual of St. Louis hit .376. Gwynn also closed out the year with 218 hits, the most by an NL player since 1973 when Pete Rose of Cincinnati had 230. . . . The Red Sox`s Wade Boggs, who underwent left knee surgery last Thursday, watched from the dugout Sunday as he won his third consecutive batting championship and fourth in five years with a .363 average. Molitor needed to go 6-for-6 Sunday to pass Boggs. He went 0-for-4.
