Padres break camp grateful to be intact

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Thursday, April 1, 2004 9:52 PM PST ∞

PEORIA, Ariz. ---- The Padres wrapped up Cactus League play with a 13-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon, thereby finishing ahead of just one team among the 12 in Arizona with an 11-18 record.

The only number that matters to general manager Kevin Towers is this: one. That's how many players expected to contribute to the Padres this season remain sidelined heading into Opening Day on Monday. Setup reliever Rod Beck left camp for personal reasons about midway through spring training, and it's still uncertain when he will return to the club.

"Other than losing Rod Beck it's been a good camp," Towers said. "Spring training anymore has become trying to keep your players healthy to start the season."

On that front, the Padres look better than they did a week ago. Phil Nevin, who missed three weeks with a strained left shoulder, started for the second day in a row at first base and went 1-for-3 with an RBI. He will start both of the team's exhibition games in Petco Park this weekend.

"Nevin's fine," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's ready to go."

Recovering from a strained right hamstring, Jay Payton isn't quite ready for center-field duty ---- that will come Saturday night ---- but he did get his first major-league at-bats since the March 9 injury. Payton was the Padres' designated hitter Thursday and went 2-for-4, including a smoked double off the wall in center.

"That was probably as hard a ball as we've had hit all spring," Bochy said. "He looked good. He squared up on balls very nicely."

Peavy off

Right-hander Jake Peavy provided a fitting end to a camp in which Bochy admitted that his pitchers underwhelmed. Peavy, probably the best of the bunch with a 2.45 spring ERA entering Thursday's game, allowed seven runs (six earned) on six hits in three innings. The big blow was a three-run homer by Raul Ibanez in the third.

"He was working on some things," Bochy said. "Overall, he didn't throw bad. I thought he had good stuff."

Short hops

The camp surprise, according to manager Bruce Bochy, was OF Jon Knott, who will begin the season at Triple-A Portland. Knott went 2-for-4 Thursday and finished with a 407 spring average. "We knew he was good last year (when he played at Double-A Mobile and Portland), but he can hit," Bochy said. "He has a good eye at the plate and tremendous power." ... 1B Todd Sears, who missed most of spring with a back injury, was assigned outright to Portland. Six more players must be trimmed from the roster by midnight Saturday. ... New OF Kerry Robinson went 3-for-5 batting out of the leadoff spot. ... The Padres will hold a workout at Petco Park tonight at 7 before playing the Mariners twice over the weekend. LHP David Wells will start Saturday.

Ballpark tour

A look at baseball's other stadiums, from oldest to newest, as we count down to Petco Park's April 8 opener. The 24th of 29:

COMERICA PARK

Team: Detroit Tigers

Opened: 2000

Cost: $360 million

Capacity: 40,120

Dimensions: LF 345 feet, LC 370, CF 420, RC 365, RF 330

Fast facts: Comerica Park opened on the same day ---- April 11, 2000 ---- as SBC Park in San Francisco. That's about all they have in common. While the Giants' home revived the franchise and brought new fans to see the new ballpark, the Tigers hit rock bottom in their new home. It's not so much the stadium that has turned people off, though Tiger Stadium certainly was a sentimental favorite. The Tigers simply have been horrid on the field, killing any chance of enthusiasm for the park itself. The consensus is that it's a nice place, just not particularly distinct. Where most of the newfangled parks have been built on a small scale, the Tigers built a pitchers' park. Right-handed sluggers were at a particular disadvantage --- Juan Gonzalez left via free agency after one year in Detroit for that reason ---- with the left-field power alley originally 395 feet distant. The Tigers brought the fences in for the 2003 season, but their offense was too bad to capitalize.

Did you know?: The center-field flagpole was in play until last year, when the fences were brought in.

Sources: Detroit Tigers media guide, ballparks.com