Las Vegas no vacation for Padres’ Mouton

Steve Guiremand

Friday, May 29, 1998 | 11:01 a.m.

Sidelined for 15 days because of a strained left quadricep muscle, San Diego Padres outfielder James Mouton decided he needed to spend a few days in Las Vegas.

No, not to gamble or for a little R&R.

"I needed to get some at-bats," Mouton said before the Stars' 4-0 win over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Thursday night at Cashman Field.

"It's been 15 days since I swung a bat in a game, so I brought it up to (San Diego Padres General Manager) Kevin Towers that I should come down here and get some swings in. He said to come back when I thought I was ready."

If Thursday night's game is any indication, that won't be too long.

In his first at-bat as a Star, Mouton smashed a 3-2 pitch by Sky Sox pitcher Mark Brownson up between the palm trees beyond the left field fence, an estimated 470 feet away.

Mouton also singled in the third inning and grounded out sharply to third in the fifth before calling it an early night.

"I plan on playing three or four games here before going back to San Diego," Mouton said. "I'll face some good pitchers here and then go back and face some more good pitchers up there."

Mouton suffered his injury while trying to avoid a collision with Padres second baseman Quilvio Veras on a popup.

"We were both coming full speed," Mouton recalled. "Luckily, (Veras) ran by at the last second. It could have been really dangerous. But when I pulled up, I felt something pull."

Mouton, who was hitting .184 in 30 games, was put on the 15-day disabled list on May 16. He is now on a 20-day injury rehab assignment with the Stars, which means he doesn't count against Las Vegas' 23-man roster.

"It's feeling much better now," Mouton said. "Right now I feel it when I try to make an explosive type of move. I can jog to full speed, but if I try to go full speed in one or two steps I feel a pinch in there."

Mouton said it was tough to leave a San Diego team that leads the National League's West Division by three games and has been one of the surprise teams in Major League Baseball this season.

"It's a real family unit up there," Mouton said. "But it's a thing where things are well under control. No one player makes a team. I just want to get my work in and get back up there."

* RIVERA GETS NEW POSITION: The Padres, already overjoyed with the outfield defense turned in by Ruben Rivera since his call-up to replace James Mouton, may also try him at first base. Rivera, who is hitting a surprising .316 for the Padres, took grounders at first base for 20 minutes before San Diego's 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night in Phoenix. Wally Joyner, the Padres' regular first baseman, has been in and out of the lineup with a hamstring problem while backup Archi Cianfrocco, scheduled for an injury rehab assignment with the Stars this weekend, is on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle. "I would do it," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said about the possibility of playing Rivera at first in a game. "It's good to keep your options open. When a guy is swinging the bat well, like Ruben, it's good to look at it." If the Padres decide to give Rivera some time at first base, it wouldn't figure to bode well for Eddie Williams. Williams, who is batting just .143 since his call-up to San Diego, has been helping to fill in at first base for Joyner.