German Marquez and JP Sears were squarely in the mix in the competition to decide the fifth spot in the starting rotation for the San Diego Padres. Their respective candidacies took a hit in San Diego’s 10-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals at the Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday. Marquez had easily his worst outing of the spring and that was in large part due to his lack of command. Marquez finished his outing after 1.2 innings pitched. He allowed six earned runs on four hits with four walks and a strikeout. Sears fared a little better considering he pitched four innings, but he allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts. The plus for Sears is that he kept the ball in the yard and he did not allow a walk. The Padres offense was held in check throughout the game and managed just five hits. The lone run scored for San Diego came on the strength of a Ramon Laureano home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Padres will look to have a better outing when they take on the Athletics at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. today at 1:05 p.m.
