Brandon Morrow and Odrisamer Despaigne have been involved in a spirited competition for the final spot in the San Diego Padres rotation. While both pitchers have thrown extremely well this spring, the veteran Morrow might have pulled ahead in the race.
Morrow (W: 1-0, 1.00 ERA) pitched four shutout innings, and the San Diego offense powered the Padres to a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.
The Padres' offense got off to a hot start in this one, as they scored twice in the second inning. Will Middlebrooks got San Diego on board with an RBI double that plated Derek Norris. Tommy Medica followed with an RBI single to put San Diego up 2-0.
San Diego scored three times in the third inning to open up a 5-0 lead. Matt Kemp slammed a solo home run to left, and Medica hit a two-run bomb later in the inning.
The offensive explosion for San Diego came at the expense of Cubs ace Jon Lester. Lester (L: 0-1, 6.48) was tagged for six earned runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings for Chicago. Lester struck out four and allowed the aforementioned two home runs.
The Cubs were kept in check by Morrow, as he allowed just three hits in his four innings of work, walking none and striking out two. Morrow earned his first win of the spring. Through three spring starts, Morrow has a 1.00 ERA.
On the Cubs side, rookie sensation Kris Bryant did not hit a home run, but he did go 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. He started at DH for Chicago.
Notable for San Diego: RF Matt Kemp, 2-for-3, HR (2), 2 RBI; 2B Yangervis Solarte, 2-for-3, RBI; 1B Tommy Medica, HR (1), 3 RBI (hitting .556 this spring).
Notable for Chicago: SP Jon Lester, 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, BB, 4 K; SS Starlin Castro, 1-for-2, BB.