Padres score 27 runs without WBC players
The WBC is underway and MLB Spring Training is getting weird, San Diego FC prepares for Sporting KC, Formula 1 gets off to a rocky start, LeBron grabs another record, and a bunch more.
With every great thing, like the World Baseball Classic, comes a sapping of resources from elsewhere.
With the best baseball players in the world collectively leaving MLB Spring Training camps across the country, suddenly the level of competition in Spring Training games has changed dramatically.
At least, that’s one way of thinking about how and why the San Diego Padres scored 27 runs against the Seattle Mariners in Peoria, AZ yesterday. With temperatures rising (it will be almost 90 in the Phoenix area on Sunday), you can probably expect more crooked numbers over the next few days.
There are seven WBC games today and all of them count. Also, I believe all but one of them mark the first game in this year’s tournament for the countries playing in it. If you were starved for baseball, open wide….here it comes.
The two games I’ll be laser-focused on today are USA against Brazil (5:00pm PT on FOX) and the Dominican Republic (with Tatis and Machado in the lineup) taking on Nicaragua (4:00pm PT on FS2). But if you happen to have the morning to yourself, Cuba is taking on Panama in about 20 minutes from when I hit send on this email.
Now, onto the links…
San Diego Padres
Padres hit eight home runs, score 27 times in spring training rout of Mariners - San Diego Union-Tribune
The Padres sent 17 batters to the plate and scored 12 runs in the second inning. The first six runs were charged to Luis Castillo, the veteran right-hander who is projected to be in the back of the Mariners’ rotation. The rest of the runs in the inning came against a pair of minor-leaguers.
Song leaves with oblique injury; Buehler debuts - MLB.com
Sung-Mun Song’s shortstop debut came to an earlier-than-expected end on Thursday -- though not before he launched his first home run of the spring.
Song, the newly signed utilityman, exited the Padres’ 27-6 Cactus League beatdown of the Mariners on Thursday with tightness in his right oblique -- the same oblique he’d injured during the offseason. The Padres hoped that Song had moved fully past the injury, but he does not appear to have done so.
Here’s the Padres’ player pool for their Spring Breakout game - MLB.com
The Padres selected a high school left-hander with each of their first-round picks in the last two Drafts -- and both are on their preliminary Spring Breakout roster this year. Kruz Schoolcraft, their first-rounder last summer, is the only Padre on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list. He checks in at No. 88.
Kash Mayfield, meanwhile, was selected first in the 2024 Draft and is currently the team’s fourth-ranked prospect. Righty Miguel Mendez (Padres’ No. 3) could also cover innings in the game.
World Baseball Classic
World Baseball Classic: Shohei Ohtani puts on offensive show as Japan shuts out Chinese Taipei 13-0 - Yahoo Sports
The 10-run second inning by Japan set a WBC record for most runs in a single inning. The previous record was held by the U.S. (2023) and Cuba (2009). Ohtani’s five RBI in the second inning was also a record in a single inning.
Aussies improve to 2-0 at Classic after topping Czechia - MLB.com
The global connection was on full display at Tokyo Dome. Many Japanese fans were wearing Czech Republic caps and holding up signs supporting Czechia’s players, with the two nations establishing a formal partnership thanks in part to former national team manager Hideki Kuriyama.
San Diego FC / San Diego Wave FC
Sporting Kansas City v San Diego FC: Varas aiming to instil ‘no-regret’ mentality - BeIN Sports
San Diego collected four points in two meetings with Sporting KC last year, recording a home win and an away draw. They did not concede a goal in either of the two meetings.
Indeed, Varas’ side’s +7 goal difference after two matches is the second-best at this stage of a season in MLS history (Austin FC had +9 in 2022).
No team has posted a goal difference of better than +8 through three matches of a season (Chicago Fire in 1999, Atlanta United in 2017, Austin in 2022).
San Diego Wave FC Signs Midfielder Kenza Dali to Contract Extension - San Diego Wave FC
Dali made an immediate impact in her debut NWSL season, emerging as one of the league’s most dominant and consistent midfielders and was a finalist for NWSL Midfielder of the Year. The French international was the only player on San Diego’s roster to start every match, leading the team in minutes while finishing tied for the team lead in goals (five) and adding three assists. Her performances earned her four NWSL Best XI of the Month honors (April, June, August, and September) and was named to the NWSL Second Best XI in 2026.
Odds & Ends
An Exquisite 2026 Formula 1 Preview For True Sophisticates - Defector
The trick with every Formula 1 season is to believe, at the start, that it will be exciting. Fortunately, if last year’s preview was any indication, sports fans tend to be quite good about doing this.
But this year, this year really, there is a lot to be excited for. There’s a massive regulations overhaul that is shrinking the cars, if just by a little, and dramatically changing how they operate. There’s a whole new team on the grid, with not-so-new drivers. Even if there aren’t so many new rookies as last year, there is one (a teenage non-pay driver, at that!), plus a lot of sophomores to watch develop. There is already a disaster story on the horizon, for those who enjoy schadenfreude.
Aston Martin: Driving Our Car Will Maim You - Defector
The question of how, exactly, Aston Martin has stumbled into producing a car that effectively turns the cockpit into an electrocution simulator for its drivers and has parts of the car falling off and “all that sort of thing,” has yet to be precisely answered. But while the root cause has still to be diagnosed, the problem itself is well understood: some combination of the car’s chassis, engine, and gearbox produces abnormal vibrations in the car that, on top of the aforementioned issues, are also damaging the car’s battery package. A lack of spare parts resulted in severely abbreviated mileage for the team during F1 Testing in Bahrain; while other teams completed upward of 300 or even 400 laps, Aston Martin only managed 128.
With Tony Clark gone, how will change at baseball’s union impact MLB ahead of looming lockout? - The Athletic
Going forward, smart choices behind the scenes could strengthen players’ positions during perhaps the most crucial negotiation in the union’s history. Missteps in transition, however, could leave a once revered union flailing at a time when MLB’s owners smell weakness. Players and owners are expected to start negotiating the next five-year labor deal next month, and a lockout is likely to follow in December.
LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for NBA field goal record - ESPN
LeBron James already had scored the most points in NBA history. Now, the Los Angeles Lakers star has made the most baskets too.
James hit a turnaround baseline jump shot over Denver Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji with 12.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter of Thursday’s 120-113 loss for his third made field goal of the game and 15,838th of his career, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most made field goals in NBA history.
Jayson Tatum Is Back. The Question Is, at What Cost? - The Ringer
On Friday, Tatum will make his return to Boston’s iconic parquet floor, less than 10 months after rupturing his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. This is the NBA’s most high-profile return from an Achilles tear since Kevin Durant in December 2020, 18 months after he tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals. This is also the most consequential late-season debut since … Michael Jordan’s comeback in March of 1995 after his first, brief retirement.
Toreros Survive and Advance to WCC Tournament Second Round - USD Toreros
USD men’s basketball’s season lives on after an electrifying 66-62 win over 10th-seeded LMU in the first round of the 2026 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Championship Tournament Thursday night in Orleans Arena.
It was a tale of two halves and two players for the 11 seed Toreros, who advance to face No. 7 Seattle U Friday night. San Diego built a cushion over the Lions with a big first half surge, led by grad guard Adrian McIntyre’s 16 points. In the second half, senior guard Juanse Gorosito nullified LMU’s comeback attempts with timely 3-pointers.
Fullerton Ekes Out Come-From-Behind Win Over Tritons - UCSD
UC San Diego had its five-game win streak snapped Thursday with a 75-71 loss to host Cal State Fullerton inside Titan Gym. The Titans rallied from down 12 in the second half to take the lead with just 21 seconds to play. Fullerton's Josh Ward scored 16 points after halftime as the Titans (16-15) moved into a tie with UC San Diego in The Big West standings. Both teams are 11-8 in conference play, tied with UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis with one game remaining.