The San Diego Padres offense is depending on a few players to have bounce-back years in order to contend in 2015. If Monday afternoon is any indicator, San Diego will be in good shape.

Will Middlebrooks and Yonder Alonso slammed home runs, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Chicago Cubs, 6-3, in Mesa.

San Diego jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Derek Norris reached on a Starlin Castro error to start the inning. Alonso reached base on a throwing error by Cubs starting pitcher Edwin Jackson. After Jedd Gyorko popped up, Middlebrooks slammed a three-run shot. The home run was the first of the spring for the San Diego’s new third baseman.

Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner looked in mid-season form as he stifled the Cubs for three innings. Cashner did not allow a hit and walked just one hitter in his outing.

In the fifth inning, San Diego went ahead on a solo home run by first baseman Alonso. The homer was Alonso’s first of the spring. Alonso is batting .333 early on in the spring. San Diego outfielder Abraham Almonte singled in a run later in the inning to put San Diego up 6-0.

Chicago got on the board in the fifth inning when Mike Olt connected for a homer off Jason Lane. The Cubs added another run in the inning on a Jonathan Herrera RBI single.

In the sixth inning, Cubs catcher Miguel Montero connected for his first home run of the spring to pull the Cubs to within 6-3.

San Diego received excellent work from the bullpen from that point, as Kevin Quackenbush, Nick Vincent, and Jose Valverde slammed the door on the victory for San Diego.

WP: Andrew Cashner (1-0)

LP: Edwin Jackson (0-1)

S: Jose Valverde (1).

Notable for San Diego: 2B Jedd Gyorko, 2 for 3, 2 doubles. OF Justin Upton, 1 for 4. SP Andrew Cashner, 3 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K.

Notable for Chicago: 1B Anthony Rizzo, 0 for 3 (hitless this spring). 3B Kris Bryant, 1 for 1, BB. SP Edwin Jackson, 2 IP, 4 H 4 R (0 ER) 1 K. 

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Kevin Charity
Hello, my name is Kevin Charity. I am 29-years-old, and I reside in San Diego, California. I have been blogging for about four years, mostly writing about baseball. I am a huge San Diego Padres fan, and I have had my work featured on MLBTraderumors.com. No one knows as much as the Padres organization as I do.