Padres fade in 5-3 loss to Rangers

After the Padres built an early 3-0 lead, the Rangers battled back to take the exhibition game by a final score of 5-3. Only one Padres starter participated in Thursday’s contest and that was right fielder Wil Myers. He finished 1-of-3 at the plate, striking out once.

It was a three-run deep shot by third baseman Nick Tanielu in the opening inning that got the Padres on the board first but that was unfortunately all she wrote for the San Diego offense that was missing the majority of the team’s usual lineup.

In the bottom of the third, right fielder Joey Gallo cranked a double in left field to score shortstop Eli White to give Texas their first points of the afternoon.

Two innings later, second baseman Nick Solak hit an RBI single to bring the deficit to just one before Gallo continued his fine day with his own three-run homer, creating the eventual final score.

In other injury-related news, 25-year old pitcher Jose Castillo is scheduled to have Tommy John surgery after being diagnosed with a torn UCL. Javy Guerra, also 25, is expected to miss two to four weeks with a sprain of the UCL.

The Padres (1-4) host the Giants (1-1) tomorrow in the team’s first spring contest set in the evening, with a start time of 5:40 p.m.