Braves Sweep Padres : Baseball: Glavine pitches Atlanta to 5-1 victory. More personnel changes are on the horizon for Padres.

SAN DIEGO —  It hardly seems possible, but nearly one-third of the season has elapsed, and the Padres still are searching for answers.

They lost once again Wednesday night, 5-1, to the Atlanta Braves, and by the time the clubhouse door opened, the Padres were announcing their 19th and 20th roster moves of the season, with more coming today.

The Padres, activating right-handed reliever Larry Andersen from the disabled list to help their beleaguered bullpen, optioned left-hander Steve Rosenberg back to triple-A Las Vegas. When you give up a three-run homer in three consecutive appearances, much less own a 6.94 ERA, it’s tough to stick around these days, even with the Padres.

Those were all the announcements the Padres would reveal, but they already decided that Jose Melendez, 7-0 at Las Vegas, will be joining the team and start Friday night against the Houston Astros. The Padres will announce today that they are either releasing right-handed reliever Wes Gardner (0-1, 7.08 ERA) or sending him to Las Vegas. Gardner was seen leaving the clubhouse Wednesday night in tears. If Melendez performs well, the Padres will consider leaving him in the starting rotation and moving Adam Peterson (1-1, 3.80 ERA) into the bullpen.

The Padres on Friday are expected to activate second baseman Marty Barrett from the disabled list. Barrett, who’s in Las Vegas on a rehabilitative assignment, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that his right knee feels fine and that he expects to return Friday. Third baseman Jim Presley, who made his first start Wednesday since May 10, is likely to be released.

While the Padres (22-25) still seek solutions, they’re struggling to be competitive; in front of 13,038 Wednesday, they lost for the fourth consecutive time.

They were swept by the Braves for the first time since Aug. 4-6, 1986. That’s quite an accomplishment, considering the Braves hadn’t swept anyone since May 5-7, 1989, when they did so to the Montreal Expos.

Of course, the Padres have an excuse for their woes. They have been playing at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, where they have lost 10 of their past 11 games. The Padres have a 7-15 record at home this season, tying the Baltimore Orioles with the worst home mark in the major leagues.

The only simple solution for the Padres’ woes might be to invite the GOP convention to San Diego--and, as the Houston Astros will do in 1992, they could go on a 28-game road trip.

“Don’t ask me to explain it,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “I don’t have any answers. . . .

“It’s frustrating. We know we’re a better ball club that we’re showing, but we’ve got to go with what we’re showing now. And it’s not looking good, that’s for sure.”

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch is hopeful at least that the latest roster move will bring some normalcy back to the bullpen, which has been getting pounded in Andersen’s absence. With Andersen unavailable, Riddoch has been forced to use closer Craig Lefferts much earlier than he has wanted.

It’s no coincidence that each of Lefferts’ four blown saves this season has occurred when he entered the game in the eighth inning, instead of simply pitching the ninth. It’s been such a frustrating time that Lefferts on Wednesday even decided to take a razor to his longtime mustache.

“I have no control over what happened,” said Andersen, “but I feel like I’ve been messing up (Lefferts). I know he’s more effective throwing just one inning, but because I’ve been out, he’s had to go in earlier.

“It’s been so frustrating, I think because of all the expectations coming in. Not just the expectations of myself, but what the team expected of me when I signed my contract.”

Andersen signed a two-year, $4.35 million contract as a free agent during the winter. It was the Padres’ major free-agent acquisition and one that the Padres thought was imperative if they were going to be competitive.

“We don’t want to use Larry’s injury as an excuse,” Riddoch said, “but it has hurt us. We feel as bad about it as he feels about it. We still haven’t seen him healthy.”

Perhaps if the Padres had a bullpen they could trust, Riddoch could have turned to it much sooner Wednesday night. Instead, Padre starter Andy Benes (2-6) stayed in for seven innings and allowed 16 baserunners. The 12 hits he surrendered, in fact, were the most allowed by any Padre pitcher this season.

The Braves put the game away early for Tom Glavine (8-2).

Glavine, in winning his sixth consecutive game and moving into a four-way tie for the most victories in the major leagues, was as dominant a pitcher as the Padres have faced this season. He was only two outs away from his second shutout of the season until Shawn Abner hit his first home run of the season--and his first since June 5, spanning 221 at-bats.

How well is Glavine pitching?

Gwynn’s lone hit against Glavine was a bloop single to left field, leaving Gwynn (.354) with a career .229 batting average against Glavine. The only pitchers who have given Gwynn more trouble are Frank DiPino of the St. Louis Cardinals (.053, one for 19), and Mike Maddux (zero for 13) of the Padres.

“Man, I hate facing that guy,” Gwynn said. “Let me tell you, he’s one of the best. I don’t think he was as sharp as I’ve seen him, but when you only give up one run on a homer, you’re still pretty sharp. He’s got some new pitches this year.”

Glavine, who didn’t earn his eighth victory last season until Sept. 14, when he also beat the Padres, didn’t even give the Padres a chance.

The Padres managed seven hits--six singles--and they had only two baserunners reach second base through the first six innings. Jose Mota, the No. 8 hitter, was the only Padre batter with two hits.

Benes, meanwhile, was in trouble from the opening pitch, walking leadoff hitter Otis Nixon on five pitches. Terry Pendleton followed with a single to left. After inducing an infield pop-up from Ron Gant, David Justice doubled to center for one run, and after an intentional walk to Sid Bream, Jeff Blauser hit a sacrifice fly for a second run.

The Braves kept chipping away at Benes the rest of the game, adding a run in the second inning on Pendleton’s double, a run in the fourth on Gant’s single and run in the seventh on Justice’s sixth home run of the season.