Padres release DaVanon, Fick

The Padres made 2 more roster moves on Saturday, leaving them with 40 players in big league camp.

They released veterans Jeff DaVanon and Robert Fick, deciding not to option them to their minor league camp because they already had the depth in their minor leagues and didn't want to take at bats away from their young players coming up.

Manager Buddy Black, "They're two veteran players that came into camp that were battling for positions on our club. They both acted and played with great professionalism, as they are, but the staff and Kevin Towers, we decided it probably wasn't going to work for either of those two as we move closer to March 31. We decided to do it at this time."

Black continued, "We felt our situation at Triple-A was pretty set with the number of young players we're going to have there, both in the outfield and in Fick's case behind the plate. Those guys probably wouldn't get the at-bats in Triple-A that they'd want."

LeBlanc roughed up, Padres lose 9-3

Young left-hander Wade LeBlanc didn't have quite the first start he was hoping for, Padres got into an early hole and couldn't recover.

LeBlanc gave up 5 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits, lasting just 2 2/3 innings. Things didn't get any better for San Diego when minor league reliever Mike Johnston came in to relieve LeBlanc, promptly allowing 6 batters to reach base before finally getting the 3rd out in the 3rd inning. Carlos Guevara went 2 innings, giving up 0 runs on 1 hit, striking out 2 and walking 2.

Offensively for San Diego, Tony Clark upped his spring batting average to .429, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the 5th. Callix Crabbe and Chip Ambres also picked up RBI's for the Padres. Crabbe doubled in Robert Fick in the 3rd, Ambres homered in the 7th his first of the spring.

The A's got big output from Brooks Conrad and Mike Sweeney. Conrad went 2-for-5, hitting a 3-run HR along with an RBI double. Sweeney also homered, a 2-run shot off Padres' starter Wade LeBlanc.

Next up for San Diego, the Padres will travel to Tucscon and Hi Corbet Field to take on the Colorado Rockies. Left-hander Shawn Estes will get the start for San Diego. Jake Peavy will also be on the mound, though he will be pitching in a minor league game at the Peoria Sports Complex. Both games are scheduled to start at 1:05pm. Also, a little less than an hour from now, the Dodgers and Padres will play the final game between the 2 squads from Beijing, China.