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By Liz Alper
Photo: Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer to bring the ROyals to within two, but the Padres prevailed. Via @Royals on Twitter
March 2, 2018 (Surprise, Ariz.) - Padres spring training is well underway. They look...well, about as well as you’d expect the Padres to look, only a lot better thanks to Eric Hosmer. They’re 3-3 with a tie against the Rangers yesterday. Today they faced the Kansas City Royals. Danny Duffy started for the Royals against newly-acquired former Yankee Bryan Mitchell for the Padres.
Remember how last season, the Padres got too antsy and scored immediately in the first inning and it came back to haunt them? This spring, it looks like they’re doing the smart thing and waiting till the second. Christian Villanueva hit a double off the low wall in center to score two and the Padres jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
But it went back to old times in the third after Buddy Baumann came in and gave up a three-run blast to Jorge Bonifacio to put the Royals on top just like that, 3-2.
Wil Myers got it back in the home half of the third with a single that scored Manuel Margot to tie the game at three.
Jose Pirela scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and the Padres reclaimed their lead. Margot singled to score Austin Hedges. Former Philly, now Padre Freddy Galvis hit a sac fly to score Villanueva to kick Trevor Oaks off the mound. Former Royal Eric Hosmer hit a sac groundout that scored Luis Urias. A four-run fourth gave the Padres a 7-3 lead.
Salvador Perez narrowed the gap with a two-run blast to left center in the fifth to make it 7-5.
Hedges added some padding with his fourth home run of the spring in the home half of the fifth. And Villanueva followed up with one of his own, blasting it just to the left of where Hedges did to give the Padres a 9-5 lead.
Fernando Tatis Jr. brought the Padres into double digits in the sixth with a double to left that scored Josh Naylor for a 10-5 lead.
One more was needed, so in the seventh, Franchy Cordero doubled to score Stephen McGee. Shane Peterson scored Cordero with a looping single to center. He scored all the way from first as Naylor hit a long double to the gap in right center and the Padres scored three runs in the seventh to go up 13-5 and win the game.
The Padres next face the Athletics tomorrow at 12:05 p.m.
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