The Padres began Sunday’s spring exhibition with a bang, notching a pair of solo home runs early on, but couldn’t hang on to the lead as they fell 4-3 to the Royals at Peoria Stadium.
Yu Darvish, one of San Diego’s prized acquisitions this offseason, shined in his spring training debut with four Ks across the first two innings of the game, three of which came in the opening inning, alone.
Most of the Padres’ usual starters participated in Sunday’s game, minus Fernando Tatis Jr. and Austin Nola. In their place, Ha-Seong Kim started at shortstop and Victor Caratini held things down behind the plate.