Padres vs. White Sox (& Mariners?) Wrap-Up

The Padres played two split-squad games today. The “B” game was allegedly played at 9AM PST against the Mariners, but the MLB.com scoreboard ignored its existence because the Illuminati didn’t want the world to see the speed the team put on display in that game. The “A” team (minus B.A. Baracus) squared off against the White Sox, fielding most of the thumpers in Padres’ camp. We got to see some old friends (James Shields, Everth Cabrera, Rymer Liriano) as well as some fresh faces (Jorge Oña, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Hudson Potts, Buddy Reed, Jack Suwinski) from the Padres’ minor league camp.

The Alleged “B”-squad game: Padres played the Mariners, or so I’ve been told. Final score: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As stated above, MLB’s scoreboard didn’t recognize the “B” game and therefore box scores and related tidbits weren’t officially published, but eyewitness testimony (via twitter) offers up the following details. It appears that Andy green asked for all the fast guys as evidenced by the presence of Travis Jankowski, Cory Spangenberg, Franchy Cordero, Javier Guerra, and Carlos Asuaje in this lefty-heavy lineup:

I wish I could have been at this game. I have a soft spot in my heart for mariachi music. Apparently it’s Mariner Leonys Martin’s birthday, and his gift was to have a mariachi bad follow him around for the day. Some day I wish I can be so blessed. As a result, the Peoria complex was filled with echoes of mariachi music throughout the day.

Back on the field, Paul Clemens gave up four runs on six hits over three innings. Logan Bawcom relieved him and I can only presume more relievers followed suit. Bob Scanlan reported that catcher Luis Torrens picked a runner off at second base. These things apparently happened too, which would have been cool to see or hear:

Beyond that, the events that occurred in Peoria on this day shall forever be unknown to all except those select few in attendance.

The “A”-squad game: Padres beat the White Sox 6-5

The “A” game featured Jered Weaver making his spring debut against former Padre James Shields. Perhaps knowing that the homer-prone James Shields was going to be starting prompted him to line up a murder’s row of sluggers to take BP against him. Bah gawd, look at those bats.

Ryan Schimpf was a late scratch from the game. Apparently he felt tightness in his obliques during pre-game warmups, so it was a precautionary move. He was replaced by Allen Cordoba, who started at 2B and batted fifth.

Jered Weaver gave up one run in the first inning after an Austin Hedges throwing error (gasp!) allowed Jose Abreu to reach base He kept his nose clean after that, although Yolmer Sanchez was able to steal both second and third base before Weaver’s fastball even crossed the plate. (Okay, that’s a little embellished. Sanchez stole second while our old friend Everth Cabrera was batting in the second inning.) In all seriousness, Weaver pitched two innings and only allowed the one run, which isn’t a bad first appearance of the spring.

In true James Shields fashion, the former Padre pitched two clean innings and then promptly fell apart in his third and final inning. A walk to Jabari Blash, a Colin Cowgill single, an Erick Aybar walk, then a single by Yangervis Solarte knocked in Blash and Cowgill. Solarte stole second, and with runners on second and third, Shields made a throwing error on an Allen Cordoba grounder that allowed two runs to score. Gee, that seems familiar.

Trevor Cahill pitched three clean innings behind him, logging two strikeouts against one walk and one hit. After the late-innings shift change, Brandon Maurer surrendered two runs in a sloppy sixth, but the Padres came right back in the top of the seventh. We saw the first plate appearance from Fernando Tatis, Jr, who you may recall was the player the Padres got from the White Sox for today’s starter, James Shields. He worked a walk, which was followed by a Solarte single (pinch-run by Jose Rondon), then a Wil Myers single to plate Tatis. Wil Myers then was replaced by pinch-runner HECTOR SANCHEZ(?!?) who would stay in the game to play first base. A wild pitch by Michael Ynoa brought Rondon home, putting the Padres up 6-3 which is where the score would remain to close the frame.

Rule 5 draftee Miguel Diaz gave up one hit and tallied one strikeout in a scoreless 8th. Brazilian Andre Rienzo tried to close the game out for the Padres but got pulled for Brad Wieck after giving up two runs and failing to record the final out. Fortunately Wieck was able to seal the deal, and the Padres won the game with a final score of 6-5.

Roster Moves: First Cuts

On the roster side of the game, the Padres made their first cuts as reported by Bob Scanlan:

Michael Kelly, Dinelson Lamet, and Aroni Nina were all non-roster invitees and therefore long shots to make the opening day roster. Cesar Vargas missed most of last season due to elbow soreness that shut him down last May, but he came into camp healthy after a stint in the Mexican winter league. He gave up one earned run over 3.1 innings pitched in two appearances this spring. He’ll likely need some time to ramp his strength back up before he can be considered for a rotation spot. Kelly and Lamet are rotation candidates for this season, but both were roughed up in their limited work. Nina is a career reliever and may be in the mix later this season.