Castellanos' jack triggers big four-run inning
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- As a 24-year-old, Joe Wieland is often the younger of the two starting pitchers whenever he takes the mound. But on Saturday, Wieland had seven years over his counterpart, Dodgers teenage phenom Julio Urias.
Making his Cactus League debut at the tender age of 17, Urias struck out a pair and worked a perfect first inning as the Dodgers downed the Padres, 5-4, on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 13,232 fans at Camelback Ranch.
"I felt really happy, but also under control and not nervous at all," Urias said through a translator. "It has always been a dream of mine, I'm happy to be here with the Dodgers."
Urias, a native of Mexico and ranked by MLB.com as the No. 64 prospect in baseball, finished his day throwing 14 pitches, including nine for strikes. He struck out Will Venable and Yonder Alonso.
As for Wieland, the right-hander struggled with his command throughout his start, walking five batters, allowing six hits and surrendering five earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings. Coming off Tommy John surgery, Wieland pitched well in his previous two outings, tossing a combined four shutout innings, but he failed to build on that success Saturday as he couldn't find the strike zone.
The Dodgers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on Carl Crawford's groundout that brought in Dee Gordon, who hit a leadoff triple. Adrian Gonzalez later singled home another run on a line drive to left.
Gordon added a sacrifice fly in the third and finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Miguel Rojas also had a pair of hits.
A couple innings later, Wieland retired the first batter he faced in the third before allowing the next five Dodgers to reach base, prompting the Padres to go to the bullpen.
Held scoreless through seven innings, the Padres -- who scratched outfielder Seth Smith before the game due to illness -- finally got on the board in the eighth with a solo home run from newly acquired infielder Alex Castellanos. Utility man Alexi Amarista added a RBI single later in the four-frame to cut the Padres' deficit to a run.
Up next: Ian Kennedy makes his fourth start of the spring at 1:05 p.m. PT on Sunday when the Padres host the Royals in Peoria. Kennedy had trouble with his fastball command in his last start against the A's, allowing three of the four runs he yielded in the first inning. He pitched well thereafter, allowing four hits over the last four innings. Look for Kennedy to try to command the fastball down in the strike zone on Sunday.