The San Diego Padres rallied for a 6-5 victory Tuesday over the Oakland Athletics.
Sonny Gray allowed only Will Venable's ground single while striking out two with no walks in 45 pitches. He was helped by Sam Fuld's sliding catch of Alexi Amarista's liner to left in the third.
It was a significant improvement from Gray's last start, when he gave up four runs on five hits in one inning while not throwing his curveball or sinker.
"I thought my curveball was good today and my sinker, I was able to get a lot of groundballs," said Gray, who indicated he treated it like a regular-season game.
Jed Lowrie's two-run shot to right off Ian Kennedy came in a three-run first. Coco Crisp, who had been 1 for 13, doubled twice and drove in a run and John Jaso added an RBI double for the A's.
Kennedy yielded four runs and eight hits, including four doubles, in four innings.
"Fastball was a little up today," Kennedy said. "Changeup is not quite there yet. Curveball feels good. Overall, I'm glad it's not quite the regular season yet."
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Alex Dickerson hit a three-run homer off Philip Humber in a four-run seventh for the Padres.
