The San Diego Padres have dropped to 0-2 in their Cactus League slate, losing to the Seattle Mariners 9-4 on Thursday afternoon.
Andrew Cashner, a candidate to start on Opening Day, labored through his only inning of work. After setting down the first two hitters in order, Cashner allowed three consecutive singles. The Mariners scored their first run on an RBI single by All-Star third baseman Kyle Seager. Cashner threw 24 pitches in the inning, allowing the one run and three hits.
The Padres tied up the score in the third inning when shortstop Alexi Amarista delivered with an RBI single. Amarista, a starting shortstop candidate, went 3-for-3 on the afternoon.
The Mariners took the lead for good in the bottom of the third when Nelson Cruz swatted his first home run of the spring. The blast, a two-run shot, came off of Ian Kennedy, who pitched two innings in relief. Kennedy allowed the pair of earned runs in his spring debut.
In the fifth inning, with the Padres trailing 4-1, right fielder Will Venable socked a two-run homer to pull the Padres within a run. Venable started in right field and went 1-for-2, with a walk on the afternoon.
Seattle pulled away in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs off of Padres reliever Shawn Kelley. Patrick Kivlehan, who entered the game as a replacement for Cruz, hit a three-run shot to put Seattle up 8-3. Seattle added a run on a throwing error by Padres catcher Austin Hedges.
San Diego got a run in the ninth inning on a solo homer by infielder Taylor Lindsey. Cody Decker ended the game by grounding into a fielder’s choice.
The Padres squandered numerous opportunities to score as the team went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The team did pound out 13 hits in the loss.
WP: Justin Germano (1-0)
LP: Ian Kennedy (0-1)
Notable for San Diego: CF Wil Myers, 1-for-3, BB. 3B Will Middlebrooks, 1-for-3. 1B Brett Wallace, 2-3. SP Robbie Erlin, 2IP, 4H, 2ER.
Notable for Seattle: Robinson Cano, 2-for-3. 3B Kyle Seager, 2-for-3. SP Roenis Elias 2 IP, 3H, 0ER.