Padres Lose, But Then Win

Royals' starter Will Smith had a rough outing in Surprise today. He was tagged for five runs (however, only one earned) on five hits. In the 1st inning, a single by Jonathan Galvez, an error by 3B Brandon Wood, and a fielder's choice led to an early 1-0 lead. Then Nick Hundley blasted a two-out two-run homer to give San Diego a nice 3-0 advantage. In the 3rd, Alexi Amarista and Galvez led off with back-to-back singles and then both advanced on a throwing error by Smith. Jesus Guzman's sac fly and Kyle Blanks' RBI single led to two more Padres runs.

Up to that point, Jason Marquis had kept KC off the board. However, he gave three runs back in the 3rd. An error by Gregorio Petit, a double, and a walk led to two runs and put the Royals on the board. A single added another run to make it a two-run game. Marquis finally got the remaining two outs of the innings and ended his night with three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out three.

The game remained uneventful after that until the eighth inning. Tim Stauffer, in his third inning of work, gave up a leadoff double to Paulo Orlando, who then advanced to third base on a passed ball. Then came an RBI groundout, back-to-back singles, a walk, and another single to put three runs on the board. Joe Thatcher came in for Stauffer, but immediately gave up another single for the Royals' fourth run of the inning, giving them a 7-5 lead. Padres offense could not get anything done at the plate in the 9th and San Diego took the loss.

Meanwhile at home in Peoria, Andrew Cashner was getting his first extended outing of the Spring. He pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out two and hit upwards of 97 mph, throwing 23 strikes and 35 total pitches. The Dodgers' sole run off Cashner came in the 2nd inning when Adrian Gonzalez singled, advanced to third on a double by Skip Schumaker, and later scored on a single by A.J. Ellis. But our Padres got that run back in their half of the inning. Mark Kotsay led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on Jedd Gyorko's double, and then scored on an RBI groundout by Cameron Maybin.

San Diego took the lead in the 3rd when Everth Cabrera reached first base on an error and then Will Venable followed with a home run, his first of the Spring. They added two more in the 4th on a John Baker RBI triple and Venable sac fly.

Matt Kemp scored on a sac fly off Anthony Bass in the 4th, Other than that, Bass had a great performance. He pitched three innings of one-hit ball while racking up three strikeouts. The Dodgers took the lead in the 8th inning, however, when Matt Stites took the mound. He was tagged for four runs (three earned) on three hits. Then, Jason Ray was tagged for another run to put the Dodgers on top 7-5 and put our Padres in danger of their second loss of the night.

However, a 9th inning rally by our minor leaguers saved the night. Duanel Jones hit a two-run homer to tie the game. Tommy Medica and Sawyer Carroll both singled. With two runners on and one out, Travis Janikowski hit a walkoff RBI single to end the game and give San Diego its fourth win over the Dodgers this Spring.