PEORIA, Ariz. — Germán Márquez rebounded on Tuesday. The timing of that is important, because the 31-year-old veteran likely has just one more Cactus League start to buoy his case for a spot in the Padres’ starting rotation.

Márquez struck out a spring-best nine batters while allowing three runs in five innings in the Padres’ 9-6 win over the Seattle Mariners. Two of the three hits he allowed left the yard on a hot day at Peoria Stadium. The one walk he issued — with one out in the fifth inning — crossed the plate after a double and a sacrifice fly.

Márquez’s ninth strikeout stranded the other runner at second base as he exited with a far better line than his last appearance, when he walked four and allowed six runs in 1⅔ innings.

“I was commanding all my pitches,” Márquez said. “I was pounding the zone. My curveball was good today and slider and I threw a couple of good changeups.”

Márquez also hit a batter while throwing 51 of his 78 pitches for strikes. The outing lowered his spring ERA to 9.26 through 11⅔ innings.

The rebound arrived after Márquez huddled with pitching coach Ruben Niebla. A small fix led to Márquez staying back in his delivery.

With Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Randy Vásquez locked for the top three spots in the rotation, Márquez is pushing for one of perhaps two spots.

Walker Buehler took a big step forward with five shutout innings on Monday. Márquez’s nine strikeouts on Tuesday are the most by a Padres pitcher so far this spring. He, Buehler and JP Sears, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are in the thick of the competition with one more turn through the order before the Padres play their final Cactus League game on Monday.

“The only thing I can control is going out there and doing my job,” Márquez said. “They are going to make the decision and I’m just going to do my job.”

Added manager Craig Stammen: “Good bounce back outing for Germán. Had the breaking balls going, good changeups, good velocity in the fastball. So overall, great outing for him. I know he had a few punchouts, eight or nine, something like that. Got through five innings. Pretty darn good outing.”

 

Building the base

Left-hander Adrián Morejón struck out four over two efficient innings on Thursday, pitched one inning on Sunday and returned to the mound on Tuesday, pitching the eighth inning. Expect the frequency to pick up for the main relievers in camp as the Padres finish out their Cactus League schedule.

“Personally, I love doing more than one inning right now, because you kind of get to go through all your stuff,” Stammen, a former reliever, said over the weekend. “You get to pitch a little bit more and work on things and get comfortable. And then it’s like, All right, let’s start stacking those pitching days a little closer together and then be ready to go on opening day.”

Right-hander Jeremiah Estrada pitched 1⅔ innings on Friday and one inning on Monday. Right-hander David Morgan hasn’t had a one-inning-plus outing yet, but he had one day off before pitching the ninth inning on Tuesday.

The relievers at the World Baseball Classic — right-handers Mason Miller, Alek Jacob and Ron Marinaccio and left-hander Wandy Peralta — will rejoin camp after Wednesday’s off day.

Back in the fire

Slowed by an oblique strain after making three Cactus League appearances in February, Ty Adcock jumped right in the fire in his return to Cactus League action on Monday. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed a leadoff triple in the ninth inning before retiring the next three hitters, stranding the runner at third.

Adcock was optioned to Triple-A El Paso after Tuesday’s game.

“If you just have clean innings all the time, you never get challenged a little bit in those difficult situations,” Adcock said Tuesday morning. “It’s good to get into a couple stressful situations before the season hits.”

Notable

Reliever Jason Adam (quad) struck out a batter in a scoreless inning in a minor league game on the backfield after Lefty JP Sears made the start, allowing three runs over five innings while striking out seven. It was Adam’s first game action of the spring.  “A step up from what he’s been doing, (but) not an ultimate step up to a Cactus League game,” Stammen said. “That’ll be, hopefully, the next thing that he gets to do. But this is a necessary step. And then see him here towards the end, hopefully.”
OF Samad Taylor and LHP Jackson Wolf were reassigned to minor league camp, leaving 51 players in big-league camp. The transaction for Taylor came two days after cramping in his right calf forced him from a game. He had the day off Monday and was back to running again on Tuesday. “At first I thought my hamstring was gone,” Taylor said. “Then the knot wasn’t going away, wasn’t going away. Then I did a hydration test and (saw) that I was dehydrated.”