SAN DIEGO -- Tommy Pham missed the first week of Padres camp, but the way he's swinging right now, you'd never be able to tell.

The veteran outfielder has homered in consecutive intrasquad games, including a booming two-run shot to left-center field on the first pitch he saw Wednesday night. In the team's first game open to media and available for streaming, Pham announced his presence in style, going 2-for-2 with a homer and a double.

The Padres traded for Pham in the December deal that sent Hunter Renfroe and Xavier Edwards to Tampa Bay. Pham was limited in Spring Training because of the lingering effects of a 2019 UCL strain. Then, he tested positive for the coronavirus upon intake screening before being cleared to play on July 10.

"It felt great, I felt like a little kid back on the diamond, I was so happy to be back with my teammates and playing baseball again," Pham said upon his return last week.

The San Diego offense has sorely lacked a presence like Pham for most of the past decade. Over a five-year stretch from 2014-18, the Padres finished last in the Majors in on-base percentage every year. Last year, they began to improve with the arrivals of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, but they still finished 25th.

Pham has showed off his power over the past two nights, but his biggest asset has always been his ability to get on base. He reached at a .369 clip last season and owns a .373 career mark. No Padre has reached those levels over a full season since Chase Headley in 2012.

"He's one of our gold standards in what we're trying to do, that's for sure," Padres manager Jayce Tingler said of Pham’s approach at the plate.

Throwing partners square off
When Garrett Richards and Zach Davies squared off on Wednesday night, Padres fans got a look at precisely what that duo has been working on over the past few months.

The two right-handers live in the same Phoenix-area neighborhood and were throwing partners while the baseball world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twice a week, they threw off the mounds at the Peoria Sports Complex to stay fresh. But when they weren’t at the team’s complex, they threw and worked out locally.

“We threw pretty much every day, got our work in and were able to get everything in that we needed to,” Davies said.

Richards was sharper on Wednesday night, leading the “Brown” team to a 3-1 victory over the “Gold” team in the five-inning scrimmage. In four innings, Richards allowed a run on six hits while striking out five.

Davies, meanwhile, allowed two runs over four innings -- both coming on Pham’s homer. But his third inning was shut down early due to a rising pitch count with runners on second and third and two outs.

Defensive gems
A couple highlight-reel defensive plays from Wednesday’s intrasquad game:

• In the top of the first inning Wednesday night, Taylor Trammell robbed Trent Grisham of extra bases with a spectacular leaping grab at the right-field wall.

• In the bottom of the fourth, Machado ranged to his right to snare a Ty France grounder and threw a perfect one-hop strike to first base. Eric Hosmer, who shuffled his feet nicely to receive the hop, came off the bag, tipping his cap toward Machado.

Offensive highlights
Pham was the offensive standout for the Brown team. For Team Gold, it was Francisco Mejía, who went 2-for-2 with a double to right and a single to center. Jake Cronenworth and Franchy Cordero both doubled as well.