Lambo's homer leads A's past Padres

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Andrew Lambo, trying to win an outfield job with the A's, certainly didn't hurt his chances on Sunday against the Padres. The 27-year-old had two hits, including a two-run home run, in a 6-5 Oakland victory at the Peoria Sports Complex.
Lambo's home run to center field came in the fourth inning off the Padres' Luis Perdomo, who followed starting pitcher James Shields. Shields, in his first outing of spring, tossed two scoreless innings and had four strikeouts.

Chris Bassitt, who is trying to lock down a spot in the A's rotation, allowed a single to Matt Kemp in the first inning, but little else. In his two scoreless innings, Bassitt allowed one walk and had one strikeout.
"I got out of a little trouble, self-induced," Bassitt said. "It was a little bit of nerves. First start of the spring. Exciting. The whole ground-ball thing, that's my MO. I've always been a ground-ball pitcher. If you're seeing those, you usually know that what I'm throwing is working."
The A's got some production from the top of the order on Sunday as leadoff hitter Billy Burns had a single, a double and walked. Burns was thrown out trying to steal second base in the first inning by former A's catcher Derek Norris.

The A's added three runs in the fifth inning, as Chris Coghlan had an RBI single and another run scored when Khris Davis reached base on a fielder's choice. All three runs came against Padres Minor League pitcher Tayron Guerrero.
The Padres avoided a shutout when Brett Wallace connected for his first hit of the spring -- a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Teammate Manuel Margot later added a two-run triple to cut the lead to 6-4.

"Manny Margot was good once again today. We took a lot of walks [six], which is going to be part of building a strong offense. We didn't necessarily get the big hit today," Green said.
Up next for the Padres: The Padres head to Maryvale on Monday for a 12:05 p.m. PT game against the Brewers. Andrew Cashner, No. 3 in the rotation, will make his first start of the spring and is scheduled to work two innings. He'll be followed by rotation hopeful Drew Pomeranz. Fans can listen live to a free exclusive webcast on Padres.com or watch live on MLB.TV.
Up next for the A's: The A's play the defending World Series champion Royals at Hohokam Stadium on Monday at 1:05 p.m. MT. Rotation contenders Jesse Hahn and Kendall Graveman are slated to go one-two in the game. Melvin also said catcher Josh Phegley is penciled in to make his first start of the spring. Phegley has been working through some soreness in his right shoulder.