PEORIA, Ariz. — The Padres lost 4-3 to the Dodgers and 9-3 to the Rockies in split-squad games Friday night.
Batter’s box: The Padres’ regulars stayed in Peoria to face the Rockies while the team playing the Dodgers’ regulars at Camelback Ranch was made up mostly of players competing for jobs. … The Padres’ first hit against the Rockies was Jackson Merrill’s two-out double in the fourth inning. Merrill has doubled in consecutive games. … Alex Verdugo subbed in as designated hitter, his first appearance in a Cactus League game since signing a minor-league deal with the Padres. He walked and flied out. … Minor-league catcher Rodolfo Duran hit his third home run of the spring. … Left fielder Ramón Laureano was the only starter to face the Dodgers, and he hit his second home run of the spring. … Immediately before Laureano’s homer, Bryce Johnson doubled. Johnson is the likely fourth outfielder at the start of the season. … Playing against the Dodgers, Nick Solak took over the team lead with his 15th hit. Solak, an infielder/outfielder who has played 259 games in the major leagues, is in camp on a minor-league deal.
Balls and strikes: Nick Pivetta, the Padres’ presumptive opening-day starter, allowed a run in the third inning, three (two earned) in the fourth and another in the fifth. The Rockies got eight hits, including two home runs, against him in four-plus innings. Pivetta threw 71 pitches, which should put him in line to throw between 80 and 90 in his first start of the season. … Bradgley Rodriguez, working a second straight night, took over for Pivetta and threw a scoreless inning. The 22-year-old right-hander has allowed one run in 9⅔ innings this spring. … Jason Adam, whose season ended on Sept. 1 when he suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his left leg, worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning in his Cactus League debut. He is expected to pitch again in Monday’s spring finale before the Padres decide whether he is on the opening-day roster. … Jeremiah Estrada turned in his second scoreless inning in two nights. Despite walking seven batters, he has not allowed a run in 9⅔ innings. … Left-hander Marco Gonzales started against the Dodgers and allowed one run in 3⅔ innings. Gonzales, a veteran in camp on a minor-league deal, can opt out at the end of spring training. … Alek Jacob was charged with two runs in his two-thirds of an inning against the Dodgers. … Logan Gillaspie, who worked 6⅔ scoreless innings over his first three appearances before being charged with nine runs in a game last Saturday, took over for Jacob with the bases loaded and allowed two runs to score before allowing one of his own the next inning.
Extra bases: Jake Cronenworth batted lead-off for a second straight night and the eighth time this spring. He appears destined to begin the season as the Padres’ lead-off batter when they face right-handed starters. In fact, the top seven spots in the order were the same Friday as they had been Thursday. Fernando Tatis Jr. batted second with Merrill, Manny Machado, Gavin Sheets, Xander Bogaerts and Miguel Andujar after that. … Playing their second straight game in the heat (98 degrees at first pitch), most Padres starters were out of Friday’s game after five innings.
On deck: Randy Vásquez starts against the Brewers, 1:10 p.m. PT on Saturday in Maryvale, Ariz. Also scheduled to pitch are David Morgan, Adrian Morejón, Ron Marinaccio and Mason Miller.