Padres vs. Reds Game Recap 3/23/12

Fox Sports San Diego is proving to be the Padres lucky charm.  In their two broadcasts, the Padres are 2-0.  Edinson Volquez pitched well enough to earn himself an extra, unscheduled inning of work.  Yonder Alonso had two hits and an RBI.  And the Padres rolled to a 5-2 victory.

Volquez pitched 5 2/3 innings, gave up just two runs, struck out six, and allowed just two hits and two walks.  He was sharp against his former club, and readily admitted after his performance he had a little extra going against his old teammates.

"I think it was my best game the whole Spring Training.  My fastball was better, it was down. I feel like I’m very close."

The first run Volquez gave up scored on a sacrifice fly.  The second scored after he had left the game.  With two out in the fifth, Volquez departed and handed the ball over to Brad Brach.  Brach allowed two hits, and he allowed the inherited runner to score before getting the final out of the inning.

At the plate, the Padres struck early.  Much like their first game on FS San Diego, the Padres scored four runs in the first inning (they scored five in their first game on the network).  John Baker had an RBI base knock, Yonder Alonso had a sweet looking single, and Mark Kotsay smoked a double.

The Padres tacked on another run in the third.  They strung together nine hits in the game including two from Alonso, one from Matt Clark after he replaced Alonso, and two from John Baker.  The win improves he Padres record to 13-9.

The Padres split up again and take on the Red again today at 1:05 PT in Peoria and the Cubs at 1:05 PT in Mesa.  Clayton Richard will get the start in Peoria for the Padres, while Anthony Bass will take the hill against the Cubs on the road.