Hosmer, Padres beat Diamondbacks 8-7 in wild opener

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eric Hosmer had a homer among his three hits and drove in three runs, newcomer Victor Caratini also had three RBIs and the San Diego Padres gave up four long balls in the fifth inning to blow a five-run lead before beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-7 on Thursday to open one of the most anticipated seasons in franchise history.

Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff triple in the seventh off Alex Young (0-1) and scored the go-ahead run on Jurickson Profar’s sacrifice fly in front of an announced crowd of 8,773, about 20% of Petco Park’s capacity as allowed under state coronavirus guidelines.

Emilio Pagán (1-0) pitched one inning for the win and newcomer Mark Melancon breezed through a perfect ninth on seven pitches for the save.

Arizona’s Ketel Marte had four hits, including one of Arizona’s four home runs in the wild six-run fifth that got Madison Bumgarner off the hook for what would have been his third straight opening day loss to San Diego. Asdrubal Cabrera, pinch-hitter Tim Locastro and Stephen Vogt also homered for the Diamondbacks in the fifth, which cost Yu Darvish the decision in his Padres debut.

San Diego took a 6-1 lead against Bumgarner after four innings. Hosmer and Wil Myers hit consecutive homers in the third, and Hosmer had an RBI double in the fourth. Caratini hit a two-run single in the second — his first plate appearance with the Padres — and an RBI single in the third.

Caratini is Darvish's personal catcher. They were obtained from the Chicago Cubs on Dec. 29.

The Padres blew the five-run lead in the fifth when the Diamondbacks combined four homers with a throwing error by star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. to rally for six runs and take a 7-6 lead. Darvish allowed a solo shot by Marte to center field with one out and a...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Hosmer-Padres-beat-Diamondbacks-8-7-in-wild-16071219.php