San Diego Padres: Chacin Shaky, But Padres in the Win Column

The San Diego Padres won a spring training game on Tuesday, topping the Giants 9-5. In the early innings, new starter Jhoulys Chacin struggled.

The San Diego Padres entered Cactus League action on Tuesday with an 0-3 record. Their losing ways are now no more.

Against a division rival in the Giants, the Padres came away with a resounding 9-5 victory to notch the first win of spring training play. Led by strong offensive performances from Austin Hedges and Jabari Blash, the club put up as many runs on Tuesday as they did in the first three contests combined.

The biggest story entering the game was the spring debut of offseason signing Jhoulys Chacin. Chacin pitched adequately after settling in, but struggled in the first inning. He gave up an earned run on two hits and a walk, but came back to strike out two and limit the damage.

Offensively, it was Blash leading the way. The outfielder had two hits including a three-run home run, and also drove in an additional run on a sacrifice fly. Hedges was the other Padre with multiple hits, adding to his already impressive spring. Hedges is hitting a ridiculous .750 to open spring play with eight at bats under his belt. A small sample size, no doubt, but fans are excited, for good reason.

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Kyle McGrath earned the win, one of the organization’s top minor league relievers. His two innings of scoreless baseball in the sixth and the seventh set the stage for Brad Wieck and Aroni Nina to close out the game. At the end of the day, a sixth inning go-ahead run and a three run seventh anchored by bench players propelled San Diego to victory.

Spring training games are meaningless, so its not like fans are celebrating this one, or are even feeling any sort of relief after starting 0-3. But there is something to be said for a boosted morale which results from victory.

Next: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: A Captivating February

The Padres return to action Wednesday in split squad form. The two games will feature half of the club hosting the Oakland Athletics in Peoria, and the other half of the club traveling to the Colorado Rockies’ facility. First pitch of both games is set for 12:10 PM PT.