The San Diego Padres travel to Mesa, Arizona, on Tuesday to take on the Chicago Cubs in Cactus League play. Starter Marco Gonzales, who has position issues after more than a year off the mound, went 1.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and hitting a batter.
Ron Marinaccio followed up with 1.1 scoreless innings, further solidifying his long-relief record by getting up and down the first and second innings. He will soon head to Italy for the World Baseball Classic, but has yet to have a hit so far.
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Bradgley Rodriguez struck out three in his relief inning and hit a weak hit on a pop-up to reach first. Catcher Francis Peña continued to struggle with command, allowing two walk-offs, a home run and three doubles in 0.2 innings pitched.
The remaining pitchers kept suppressing the Cubs, but the Padres’ performance was slightly inferior, scoring only three runs in the last two innings, but failed to reverse it and eventually lost 6-5.
First baseman Romeo Sanabria had another good day at the plate, pinch-hitting Nick Castellanos and driving in a single and a run. Castellanos also struck out 11 in the fourth inning, hitting a double over the center field wall and adding two RBIs. Outfielder Bryce Johnson went 2-for-2 with two singles and a walk. He’s having a great spring and is currently 3-for-8 with a hit in the three games he’s appeared in.
New Priest Song Sung-moon had no hits in his Padres debut as a starter but threw a clean triple and loaded the bases with a good hitter in the third inning.
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Although outfielder Tirso Ornelas was designated for assignment last week, he cleared waivers yesterday and returned to spring camp. He came on in the sixth inning for DH Miguel Andujar and got a hit in his first at-bat.
Busy driving range
The game, a 40-minute drive from Mesa, began on the training field, then in the bullpen of Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta, Walker Buehler and Miguel Mendez.
German Marquez was throwing BP live in the backfield, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill were swinging, and multiple pitchers were on hand.
The team bus left for Mesa at 11 a.m., and the Mesa-bound players finished their work early and left the field. The rest of the team does infield and outfield work and batting practice. Ramon Laureano took a break while walking through the fields to sign autographs and snap a photo or two.
Tomorrow’s game is in Peoria against the Angels. Michael King will make his Cactus League debut.
