PEORIA, Ariz. — The Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 27-6, as the teams combined for 12 home runs on a windy Thursday at Peoria Stadium.
Batter’s box: The Padres sent 17 batters to the plate and scored 12 runs in the second inning. The first six runs were charged to Luis Castillo, the veteran right-hander who is projected to be in the back of the Mariners’ rotation. The rest of the runs in the inning came against a pair of minor-leaguers. … The first of nine consecutive batters to reach base was Sung-Mun Song, who hit his first home run as a member of the Padres, ripping the first pitch he saw from Castillo 430 feet to right field. Song struck out in his next at-bat and left the game after the second inning after aggravating the right oblique strain he suffered in January and caused him to ease into spring training. The Padres were awaiting test results, and manager Craig Stammen referred to his exit as “precautionary.” … Jake Cronenworth also homered in the second inning. He had led off the game with a single and walked his second time up. … Ty France doubled twice in the second inning. … Jackson Merrill was 3-for-4 with a home run and a double. His second homer of the spring struck more than halfway up the batter’s eye in center field. … Miguel Andujar hit his second homer of the spring and finished 2-for-3 with a walk. … Nick Castellanos was 2-for-3 with his third double of the spring. … Nick Schnell, an outfielder who has spent seven seasons in the minor leagues, hit his team-leading third home run. … Freddy Fermin, Bryce Johnson and Tirso Ornelas also homered. Fermin also doubled and finished 3-for-3 with six RBIs.
Jackson Merrill – San Diego Padres (2)* pic.twitter.com/gK4mSMMT3x
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Balls and strikes: Three of the five candidates for the final spot in the rotation pitched Thursday. … Walker Buehler allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over three innings in his Padres spring training debut. Buehler walked the first batter he faced before retiring the next three batters. After waiting out the long top half of the inning, Buehler gave up a single and triple to start the bottom of the second. Three straight outs followed, with one of them bringing in a run. A groundout and two strikeouts in the third ended his day. … Left-hander JP Sears surrendered a home run in the fourth and fifth innings and hit a batter and walked two others to load the bases with one out before escaping the sixth without allowing a run. Sears has allowed seven runs in 6⅔ innings on the spring. … Triston McKenzie worked a scoreless seventh and allowed a lead-off homer in the eighth before getting two outs. His day ended when he followed those two outs by yielding a single and walking two batters to load the bases. McKenzie has walked seven of the 26 batters he has faced.
Extra bases: Cronenworth’s home run was the left-handed hitter’s second as a major leaguer hit to left field. Both have come in spring training. He has officially never hit an opposite-field homer. … Laureano challenged two strike calls in a row during his first-inning strikeout. He won the first and lost the second. … Fermin, the Padres’ catcher, won his only ABS challenge of the game and is now 5-for-5 getting balls turned into strikes this spring.
On deck: Right-hander Germán Márquez will start against the Cubs, 5:10 p.m. PT Friday at Peoria Stadium. Marco Gonzales, who along with Marquez is competing for a rotation spot, will follow him.
