The San Diego Padres rallied against Scott Alexander in the sixth inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1, in their first matchup of the spring.The teams will meet again Saturday, March 20, at Peoria Sports Complex.
Trevor Bauer again battled command issues in the early going, which led to the first two Padres batters reaching. A wild pitch left runners on second and third with nobody out, but Bauer worked out of the jam by inducing a pop-up followed by two strikeouts.
While he struggled to get a feel for his fastball, Bauer settled in with the curveball during the 27-pitch first inning. Bauer was much more efficient in the second as he retired the side in order.
That was aided by Justin Turner making a diving play at third base, marking a second consecutive day he turned in a web gem. Zach McKinstry made a similarly impressive play at shortstop and Bauer wound up getting through three scoreless innings on 52 pitches.
He allowed two hits, issued a walk, collected three strikeouts and the Padres to 0-for-6 with a runner in scoring position.
The Dodgers had an ample opportunity to break the scoreless tie when Padres relief pitcher Adrian Morejon walked three batters in the bottom of the third. The threat was put out by CJ Abrams making a diving catch and doubled up Matt Beaty at second base to end the inning.
After Tony Gonsolin threw two scoreless innings, Alexander was unable to keep the game locked in a tie. He started his appearance with back-to-back strikeouts, only to then allow three consecutive hits.
The last of which was Gosuke Katoh’s two-run single that gave the Padres a decided lead and knocked Alexander out of the game.
The Dodgers had 10 batters retired in a row before Andy Burns’ leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. That was followed by Matt Davidson’s RBI double, which was L.A.’s first hit since the second inning. Davidson took third base on a wild pitch, where he was stranded by the next three batters.
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