NEW YORK (AP) -- Matt Clement picked up where he left off last season for San Diego. The New York Mets are still waiting for Mike Hampton and their big bats to get started.

Clement kept New York's offense in a slumber, allowing one run in 6 2/3 effective innings, as the Padres beat the Mets 8-5 on Thursday night to spoil Hampton's home debut.

Hampton, the Mets' first legitimate ace since David Cone took over the title from Dwight Gooden in the early 1990s, lost his second straight start.

Pads' Hernandez destined for DL

Padres catcher Carlos Hernandez left the game in the fourth inning with a strained right groin and will probably be put on the disabled list. Hernandez "It looks like it will be 10-14 days," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "There's a strong possibility we'll put him on the DL. We'll evaluate him tomorrow and make a decision." If Hernandez is put on the DL, the Padres will likely recall top prospect Ben Davis from Triple-A. Hernandez injured himself on the final play of the bottom of the third. With runners on first and second and two outs, Mike Piazza swung wildly at a third strike. The ball went to the backstop and caromed back to Hernandez, who nipped Piazza at first base to end the inning. Hernandez appeared to lose his footing fielding the ricochet and injured himself. Hernandez, who missed the entire 1999 season because of a ruptured left Achilles' tendon, was off to a 5-for-8 this year.

"I don't have an answer," said Hampton, who went 22-4 for Houston last year. "I just pitched terribly, if you want to call it pitching."

Ruben Rivera hit a two-run triple in the third inning and Ed Sprague hit a solo homer in the eighth for San Diego, which won two of three in its season-opening series.

"To come in here and win a series against one of the best teams in the league is a great start for us," said Bret Boone, who came to San Diego in an offseason trade from Atlanta. "It gives us something to build on."

New York, which began the game hitting .185, had been held scoreless for 15 innings before Edgardo Alfonzo walked with the bases loaded in the seventh.

The Mets were hitless in 24 straight at-bats with runners in scoring position before Benny Agbayani's RBI double in the eighth. Todd Pratt added a three-run homer in the ninth.

Alfonzo, Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura -- the 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup -- are hitting .154 (8-for-52) this season.

"We just have to keep going out there busting our butts and eventually things are going to turn around," Piazza said.

Clement, who went 4-0 with a 2.44 ERA over his last six starts in 1999, shut the Mets down early, using a sharp slider and a sinking fastball reminiscent of a former San Diego ace.

"It's like facing Kevin Brown with the stuff he has," teammate Eric Owens said. "When he throws strikes like he did tonight, he can make some very good hitters look pretty bad."

Clement (1-0) got 12 of his 20 outs on the ground and struck out seven. He got out of his biggest jam by getting three straight Mets to pound the ball into the ground with runners on first and third and no outs in the fifth.

"I had to wait until May to get my first win last year, so it feels good to get one off the bat," Clement said. "I still have a lot of work to do."

Rickey Henderson started it by grounding to third. Rey Ordonez was thrown out at home on the play, while Henderson advanced to second and Hampton went to third on the rundown.

	Eric Owens had one of San Diego's two triples. Half of the Padres' 10 hits went for extra bases.

The Mets' struggles weren't limited to the plate. Henderson got thrown out jogging into second base and New York made two errors leading to three unearned runs.

Ordonez, who set a record by not making an error in his final 100 games at shortstop last season, made his second in five games, throwing a ball into the stands behind first base in the sixth inning.

The error led to two unearned runs as the Padres scored on an RBI single by Boone and when Owens scampered home from third base on a fly ball to Alfonzo about 20 feet onto the outfield grass.

The Padres added three runs in the seventh. Phil Nevin hit an RBI double and scored when Owens' drive to right-center that fell between a diving Derek Bell and Hamilton for a triple. Bell's relay was off line and Owens scored on the error, drawing boos from the sparse crowd.

Game notes
Tony Gwynn missed his second straight game with a bruised right elbow. He could return to the Padres lineup Friday in Montreal. ... Hamilton will have his injured left big toe checked out Friday. ... Al Leiter will miss his scheduled start for the Mets on Saturday against the Dodgers because of a strained groin.