World Baseball Classic updates: Martinez chased early, Sullivan advances, Bogaerts bounced

Nick Martinez got his work in on Sunday night.

It wasn’t his best showing this spring.

The Padres’ 32-year-old right-hander allowed three runs and was lifted with two outs in the third inning Sunday, digging the U.S. into an early hole in its Pool C matchup with Mexico, which led 7-1 after four innings.

Martinez struck out two but allowed five hits and a walk while throwing 33 of his 57 pitches for strikes.

An infield single in the first inning preceded Joey Meneses’ two-run homer to left-center. Martinez issued a two-out walk before former Padres second baseman Luis Urias grounded out to third to end the inning.

After striking out two in a perfect second, Martinez yielded three two-out infield singles, including a pop-up in shallow center that second baseman Jeff McNeil couldn’t quite reel in, to end his start for Team USA.

It was the fourth start this spring for Martinez, who is transitioning from a reliever to a full-time starting pitcher.

Martinez had allowed three runs — one earned — in 9 1/3 innings over his first three spring starts with the Padres.

Italy’s Brett Sullivan cheers to his teammates during the fifth inning of a Pool A game against Netherlands of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, Sunday, March 12, 2023.

(I-Hwa Cheng / Associated Press)

Around the classic

Xander Bogaerts is on his way back to Padres camp. Brett Sullivan is moving on.

The Padres’ 29-year-old reserve catcher went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Italy’s 7-1 win over the Netherlands on Sunday.

The victory created a five-way tie in Pool A, with all five teams at 2-2. Italy and Cuba advanced on tiebreakers.

Acquired in the deal that sent Victor Caratini to the Brewers last April, Sullivan spent all of 2022 at Triple-A El Paso.

He is 6-for-15 with four runs scored in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Bogaerts exits the WBC after going 4-for-15 with a homer in the Netherlands’ second game. He will rejoin the Padres in Peoria sometime in the coming week.

• Padres minor leaguer Jarryd Dale went 1-for-2 off the bench in Australia’s 7-1 loss to Japan, which went 4-0 to easily advance out of Pool B. Australia is 2-1 and will advance with a win over the Czech Republic on Sunday night.