 allowed three hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out seven and walked one.Machado went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in his Padres debut on Thursday. He struck out in his first two at-bats Friday night before lining a single to left off Derek Holland in the fifth. That advanced Wil Myers, who scored on Franmil Reyes' sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. Machado singled again in the seventh off Mark Melancon.The signing of Machado to a $300 million, 10-year contract early in spring training has energized a fan base desperate for a winning team. The Padres also promoted top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., who had two hits on opening day and just missed hitting his first home run when he doubled off the wall in center in the second Friday night to move Eric Hosmer to third. They both scored on Manuel Margot's single.Kinsler homered leading off the third. He walked to begin the fourth and tried to score on Myer's double to right but was thrown out, a call that was upheld after review.Holland (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits in four innings, struck out five and walked two.UP NEXTGiants: Dereck Rodriguez, who was 6-4 with a 2.81 ERA as a rookie in 2018, is scheduled to start Saturday night. He had a 1.29 ERA and 13 strikeouts in two starts against San Diego.Padres: LHP Nick Margevicius is scheduled to make his big league debut. The 22-year-old was 10-8 with a 3.60 ERA in 23 appearances in 2018, including 22 starts, between Low-A Fort Wayne and Single-A Lake Elsinore.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Padres' Lucchesi next up in youth movement against Giants There was a new feeling in the stands at Petco Park in San Diego on Thursday afternoon.Hope.Wil Myers summed it up best when asked what is new about the Padres. "We have a team now," said the left fielder.Left-hander Eric Lauer (1-0) pitched six innings and four relievers preserved the 2-0 shutout win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Thursday was Day One of a long grind. The Padres can slip back into mediocrity Friday night as San Diego's Joey Lucchesi opposes the Giants' Derek Holland in the second game of a four-game, season-opening series against the Giants at Petco Park.But for the moment, the Padres have a winning record . . . and before Thursday they hadn't been over .500 since June 8, 2015, when they were 30-29. Between then and Thursday, the Padres had gone 249-340."We're excited about it," Padres manager Andy Green said before Thursday's game, referring to his hopes for the season and free agent acquisition Manny Machado."We have guys who can hit up and down the lineup. Any time you insert one of the best hitters into the middle of your lineup, you are going to feel good about it. We have guys who can hit up and down the lineup, guys in the six and seven holes who last year probably would have been in the one and two holes. We're growing as a group. With experience comes a higher expectation level," Green said.The Padres don't have experience in their rotation, however.Lauer was the second-youngest Opening Day starter in Padres' history. Lucchesi is the only member of the rotation who has pitched a full season as a starter. Rookies Nick Margevicius and Chris Paddack will start on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, followed by reliever-turned-starter Matt Strahm on Monday when the Padres host the Arizona Diamondbacks.The average of the Padres' five starters is 24 years, 216 days."We're going to go out there with the youngest rotation in baseball," Green said. "We're excited about the young guys. The rotation is talented. If it comes down to talent or experience, we'll take talent every time." Lucchesi, 25, was the first member of the 2016 draft class to make his major league debut on March 30, 2018. He was 8-9 last season with a 4.08 earned run average in 26 starts -- averaging exactly five innings per start. He finished the season leading the Padres with 130 strikeouts.A Bay Area native, Lucchesi was 1-0 against the Giants in his rookie season, allowing four runs in 11 innings over two starts. He had a 3.21 ERA in four starts this spring with 13 strikeouts against four walks in 14 innings.The 32-year-old Holland was one of the most improved pitchers in the majors last season as his ERA fell from 6.20 with the Chicago White Sox in 2017 to 3.57 with the Giants. He made 36 appearances (30 starts) for San Francisco, going 7-9. He was 7-14 with the White Sox in 2017.One of the key factors in the improvement was Holland's home run stats. He served up 31 in 135 innings in 2017, compared with 19 in 171 1/3 innings with the Giants last year. Holland signed a one-year extension with the Giants in January with an option for 2020."I felt like I owed it to the Giants," said Holland. "They gave me a chance to redeem myself last year.Friday night's outing will be the 215th start of Holland's career. It will be start No. 27 for Lucchesi.--Field Level Media
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