The San Diego Padres scored seven runs in the sixth inning to earn a 10-5 comeback win against the shorthanded Los Angeles Dodgers at Peoria Sports Complex. Carlos Asuaje led the Padres with three RBI.
Andrew Toles got the Dodgers on the board early, clubbing a two-run home run off Dinelson Lamet in the first inning. Then in the third, Toles’ sacrifice fly extended the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0.
Each time he scored Chris Taylor, who doubled in both of his first two at-bats and finished 2-for-3 on the day. After the Dodgers saw their lead cut to one, Will smith led off the fifth inning with a solo home run.
The hit and RBI were both firsts for Smith, who was playing in his fourth Cactus League game.
The Dodgers were without scheduled starter Hyun-Jin Ryu and several others who were expected to be in the lineup, because of a virus that swept through their Camelback Ranch clubhouse. Wilmer Font started in Ryu’s place and shined once more.
He struck out the side in the first inning and surrendered a home run in the second, the only hit Font allowed. It broke up a Spring Training streak of consecutive batters retired at 10 over his two starts.
Henry Owens, the first Dodgers reliever to appear in the game, walked Travis Jankowski with one out in the third inning. Jankowski stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and later scored on Jose Pirela’s base hit.
The game then unraveled for the Dodgers in the bottom of the sixth, when Mark Lowe entered in relief. He surrendered a leadoff double to Fernando Tatis Jr. followed by a base hit to Eric Hosmer.
Hunter Renfroe’s infield RBI single pulled the Padres to within a run, Christian Villanueva’s base hit tied it. Lowe then walked Allen Craig to load the bases, which were cleared by Asuaje on a go-ahead triple to right field.
Jordan Jankowski took over but allowed two more runs to score before he could end the inning. Although Lowe faltered, J.T. Chargois had an encouraging performance in his debut with the Dodgers as he needed all of 13 pitches to strike out a pair and retire the side in order in the fifth.
It didn’t make much of a difference in the final score, but Yusniel Diaz led off the ninth inning with a home run.
