Mariners 13, Padres 3: First game ends badly for Friars

This afternoon, the Padres and the Mariners kicked off Spring Training in earnest with their annual charity game. The San Diego pitching staff, however, misunderstood the cause they were playing for, donating a baker’s dozen of runs to their Peoria roommates. This is about what we expected, as A.J. Preller is putting together a crew made of used chewing gum and sunflower seed shells, and Jered Weaver’s fastball is expected to ship in two to four weeks.

Paul Clemens got the nod for today’s start, and wasted no time in reminding everyone he’s Paul Clemens. In the first inning, he gave up a one-out double to Jean Segura, walked Robinson Cano, and then served up a meatball for Nelson Cruz to take yard.

Here’s the part you do want to hear: The young guns that are going to be the future of the team got off to a hot start. With Ryan Weber on the mound in the fourth inning, Wil Myers led off with a single up the middle. Hunter Renfroe followed that up with an off the wall double to center. Wil read it right and sped home on the play, while Hunter picked up an extra base thanks to an error by Shawn O’Malley. Yangervis Solarte got the run home with a ground out to first, and then Travis Jankowski tied the game with a bomb to center field. Austin Hedges got in on the action with a double of his own, though he was left stranded on second. If this is what the core of the lineup looks like for the foreseeable future, that’s great news.

The Vedder Cup rivals will face off again tomorrow at 12:10 with Zach Lee on the mound for the Friars.