Kershaw Not So Scary, Padres Bats Are

Padres showed no mercy for Dodgers Ace Clayton Kershaw as they score 4 off him and hit 3 home runs over the course of the game to defeat Los Angeles 7-3.

The 2011 Cy Young Award winner and the southpaw who was first to face the Friars on 2012's Opening Day was no match for the Padres today. In the first inning, the Padres hit 4 straight singles culminating with an RBI one by Yonder Alonso to put the first blemish on Kershaw's pitching line. In the fourth inning the Dodgers' starter was chased from the game after a sequence where Cameron Maybin singled off of him for the 2nd time, Kyle Blanks drove him in with a triple and Nick Hundley put on the finishing touches with a home run to left field that just stayed fair. Being that it's spring training, I'm sure that Kershaw won't be shell shocked in future outings against the team from San Diego, but it's certainly a nice little feather in the March baseball cap for the Padre bats.

The power threat continued in the 6th when Cameron Maybin kept his tear going with a solo shot to lead off the inning. Then, Blanks walked and was pinch run for with Jeudy Valdez. He stole second base and relief pitcher Matt Guerrier got wild. A wild pitch and subsequent passed ball scored Valdez and made it 6-2. In the 7th, Jesus Guzman took Paco Rodriguez deep for the Padres' final run.

Jason Marquis was the Padres' starting pitcher, making his second start of the Spring. In the 1st inning he gave up a double to Skip Schumaker and would have survived it unscathed if not for a Chase Headley error with 2 outs that allowed the Dodgers LF to score. Marquis gave up another double in the 2nd inning and followed it up by allowing back to back singles, but was able to limit the damage to a single run by retiring the next 2. He concluded his day by getting through the 3rd only allowing a walk while striking out 2.

Tyson Ross got to replace Marquis and impressed the TV audience in San Diego that got to see him for the first time. His results were okay, but his stuff looked electric and he throws it with such ease. He struck out 4 and allowed 2 walks and 3 hits while giving up no runs over 3 innings. Huston Street followed Ross for his second outing of the Spring. Three straight ground outs made his outing a short and easy one. Thad Weber pitched a scoreless 8th and Donn Roach allowed a run in the the 9th, but eventually got the Dodgers out to finish off the game and a 7-3 victory for the good guys.