Tuesday, March 12
Arizona 2 at San Diego 2
Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
Temp: 70 at 1:10 first pitch
San Diego Slugger Goin’ South
Twenty-year-old Padres prospect Jackson Merrill wore #70 and batted ninth Tuesday against the Dbacks. Facing Arizona ace Zac Gallen in the second inning after a two-out walk to Kyle Higashioka, Merrill unloaded to left on Gallen’s 0-1 offering. By the time the ball landed beyond the fence, San Diego Manager Mike Shildt had put Jackson in the jump seat. That would be on the plane to South Korea, where the Padres will play the Seoul Series against the Dodgers March 20-21. Raking cactus pitching at a .343 clip with two HRs will do that.
Following the Merrill manifest adjustment, Gallen gave up a Xander Bogaerts single and Fernando Tatis Jr. double before being rescued by Will Mabrey, who got Jake Cronenworth on a fly ball to center.
Jake McCarthy led off the game with a single but that was the only DBacks’ hit until the fifth inning. Trailing 2-0, Blaze Alexander led off the inning with a single. Kyle Garlick moved him along with a 1-4-3 ricochet bullet out that tipped off pitcher Tommy Nance’s glove, thereby nullifying the double play. Albert Amora Jr. grounded out to short for the second out but Nance walked Tucker Barnhart to flip the order with runners on first and second. McCarthy ripped the ball into the right field corner and by the time Tatis Jr. corralled the ball, Jake was chugging into third with a two-RBI triple to tie the game.
The DBacks and Padres mirrored further scoring chances, both clubs having runners reaching second in the sixth and eighth innings, but that was the extent of the scoring, the game ending in a 2-2 draw.
Fernando Fantasy Update: Tatis Jr. went 2-for-3, legging out an in-field single to deep short in the first and lacing a double that just cleared Garlick’s head in left an inning later. Tatis Jr. struck out in the fifth. The two hits bumped his cactus average to .250 (6-for-24) with 5 RBI and 1 HR.
Ballpark Buzz … Cronenworth made the defensive gem of the day in the third when, with Barnhart at first following a lead-off walk, Jake McCarthy lined a ball toward first. Cronenworth dove toward the line, snaring the ball on one hop. He jumped to his feet, stepped on first, spun and nailed Barnhart at second for the double play. … Hats off to the Peoria Sports Complex staff. My wife has a walker and they graciously stored it in a nearby wheelchair area as we made our way up the stairs to section 201 behind home plate.
David Belisle 