Blash, Sanchez lift Padres; Richard soild

March 10th, 2017

TEMPE, Ariz. -- and both homered to power the Padres to a 4-2 win over the Angels on Friday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Designated hitter , who is coming off foot surgery in December, went 0-for-2 with a walk in his spring debut for the Angels. chipped in with an RBI single in the second, while reached base twice and scored a run.
Sanchez crushed a three-run homer to right-center off Angels starter JC Ramirez, staking the Padres a 3-0 lead in the first, though the Halos scored twice in the bottom of the second to trim the deficit to one. Still, Blash gave San Diego an insurance run with his fourth home run of the spring, a solo shot off Ramirez in the fourth.

Padres left-hander surrendered two runs (one earned) on two hits while walking one and striking out one over three innings. Richard showed a bit of wildness in the second, hitting two batters and making an errant throw to first on a pickoff attempt, which allowed Maybin to score from third.
"He showed all of his repertoire today," said Padres manager Andy Green of Richard. "Mixed in some offspeed, changeups, he had sink. He's right where we want him to be."

Ramirez, who is fighting for a spot in the Angels' rotation or bullpen, allowed four runs on three hits, including two home runs, while walking one and striking out three over four innings. After giving up the three-run homer to Sanchez in the first, Ramirez retired nine consecutive batters before surrendering the solo shot to Blash with two outs in the fourth. He has worked exclusively out of the bullpen in his first three seasons in the Majors, but the Angels are trying him as a starter this spring. 
"I just want to be on the team, help the team get some wins," Ramirez said. "Whatever they decide for me, I'll be ready, whether it's in the bullpen or in the starting rotation."

Angels shortstop Cliff Pennington departed after the first inning with right shoulder tightness and is considered day-to-day. Matt Williams entered the game in the top of the second to replace Pennington at shortstop.
"His shoulder just started to act up a little bit after the first inning, so we took him out as a precaution," manager Mike Scioscia said. "But I don't think it's anything serious."
Padres Up Next:Alex Dickerson is slated to make his Cactus League debut as the designated hitter on Saturday when the Padres head to Maryvale to face the Brewers at 12:05 p.m. PT, live on MLB.TV. Rotation candidates and are slated to pitch, as is righty reliever , a non-roster reliever who has impressed this spring.
Angels Up Next: Right-hander is slated to make his second start of the spring Saturday when the Angels face the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch at 12:05 p.m. PT, live on MLB.TV. Richards, coming off stem-cell therapy to treat a damaged ulnar collateral ligament, gave up three runs over two innings in his Cactus League debut against the Reds last week.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.