2013 KANSAS CITY ROYALS SPRING TRAINING NOTES Kansas City Royals (23-7-2) vs. Cincinnati Reds (11-18-2) Thursday, March 28, 2013 LONG DAY ENDS IN A TIE--Wednesday saw the Royals have a 6-game winning streak halted in the afternoon and then saw a 7-0 lead go by the wayside in the nightcap that ended in a 9-9 tie...the afternoon affair was a 9-1 loss to the Brewers in Maryvale, as Luis Mendoza was touched for 6 runs (4 earned) on 10 hits in 5.2 innings with a walk and 3 K’s...meanwhile the offense was held to just 5 hits, with the lone run scoring on an Xavier Nady home run in the fourth inning...last night, Kansas City jumped on Cubs’ starter, Scott Feldman, for 7 runs on 12 hits in 4.1 innings in Surprise, but Chicago rebounded late against the KC pen, plating 5 in the eighth and 2 more in the ninth to forge the 10-inning deadlock...James Shields was strong in his final tuneup before opening the season on Monday on the south side of Chicago, working 5.0 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits with a walk and 4 K’s...Chris Getz led a 19-hit offensive attack, going 6-for-6 with a pair of runs scored and 2 RBI. CACTUS LEAGUE CHAMPS!!!--The Royals iced the Cactus League crown on Tuesday with an 11-6 win over the Seattle Mariners in Peoria...though it’ll mean Upcoming Probables nothing when regular season play begins on Monday in Chicago, Kansas City has Today vs. Cincinnati Reds @ Goodyear Stadium (1:05) established a franchise record for wins with 23, eclipsing the previous best of 22 Ervin Santana, Bruce Chen (L), J.C. Gutierrez, set when the club trained in Baseball City, Florida in 1999. Dan Wheeler vs. GETZ HAS HUGE NIGHT--Chris Getz, who won the starting second base job a Mat Latos, Jose Arredondo, J.J. Hoover, Logan Ondrusek, week ago, continued to add to his tremendous spring with a 6-for-6 affair last Sean Marshall (L), Manny Parra (L) night against the Chicago Cubs...his performance upped his spring average to Tomorrow vs. Cleveland Indians @ Surprise Stadium (12:05) .450, the third best in all of baseball, while his .492 on-base pct. ranks sixth and his Jeremy Guthrie, Luke Hochevar, Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera, 27 hits are tied for eighth most. Tim Collins (L), Aaron Crow ROSTER MOVES--The Royals today optioned righthanded pitcher Louis vs. Coleman to Omaha (AAA) and assigned pitcher Dan Wheeler and catcher/first Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Albers, Nick Hagadone (L), Jerry Gil, baseman Max Ramirez to minor league camp...coupled with the moves yesterday Rich Hill (L) of optioning Francisley Bueno and Donnie Joseph and assigning Atahualpa Monday vs. Chicago White Sox @ U.S. Cellular Field (3:10) Severino to minor league camp, Kansas City now has 29 active players in camp... James Shields vs. Chris Sale (L) the breakdown includes 14 pitchers (1 non-roster), 3 catchers, 7 infielders (1 non- Tuesday -- Off day in Chicago roster) and 5 outfielders (1 non-roster). Wednesday vs. Chicago White Sox @ U.S. Cellular Field (1:10) ROTATION SET--Manager Ned Yost has announced that Luis Mendoza will be Ervin Santana vs. Jake Peavy the fifth starter in the rotation when the season begins next week, with Mendy’s Thursday vs. Chicago White Sox @ U.S. Cellular Field (1:10) first work slated for Saturday, April 6 in Philadelphia...he joins the previously Jeremy Guthrie vs. Gavin Floyd announced foursome of James Shields, Ervin Santana, Jeremy Guthrie and Wade Davis...lefty Bruce Chen will work out of the bullpen when the season commences. MATCHUPS IN CHICAGO--The 2013 regular season will begin on Monday in the Windy City, when the Royals and White Sox meet in a 3:10 game at U.S. Cellular Field...the pitching matchup for the opener will see James Shields battle southpaw Chris Sale...following an off day on April 2, the clubs will meet on Wednesday, April 3, at 1:10, with Ervin Santana toeing the slab against Chicago’s Jake Peavy...the opening series will conclude at 1:10 on Thursday, April 4, with Jeremy Guthrie taking on righthander Gavin Floyd...Kansas City will then shift its attention to interleague play for a 3-game series in Philadelphia as the Phils open the home half of the slate...KC will send Wade Davis, a still to be named starter and Shields to the hill at Citizens Bank Park...Santana is slated to make the start in the Kauffman Stadium opener on April 8 vs. Minnesota. RADIO TODAY AND TOMORROW--Now that the Kansas NCAA tournament basketball schedule is set, the Royals and 610 Sports have finalized the broadcast slate for the rest of spring training...the Royals and 610 added today’s game in Goodyear against Cincinnati and tomorrow’s spring finale with Cleveland can be heard on 1660 AM in Kansas City at 2:05 p.m. DEFICITS REMAIN SCARCE--The Royals never trailed in last night’s tie with the Cubs, which has been par for the way the club has played this spring...Kansas City has now been behind in only 71 of the 291 innings played during this exhibition season, or only 24% of the time. VS. REDS--Today is the third and final meeting between these clubs, with Kansas City looking to sweep the spring series...the Royals were 3-2 winners over Cincy on March 1 in Surprise and then took an 8-1 decision here two days later...these clubs are not slated to meet during the regular season. OFFENSE CONTINUES TO PACE MLB--With 19 hits in the nightcap on Wednesday, the Royals enter today leading all 30 MLB clubs with a .336 average, 27 points higher than the next closest club, the Los Angeles Angels...the Royals are first in baseball with 217 runs, 398 hits, 84 doubles, a .388 on-base pct. and .903 OPS, while ranking second in slugging pct. with a .515 mark...individually, Chris Getz ranks third in hitting (.450), Lorenzo Cain is fifth (.446), Alex Gordon ranks 10th (.420) and Mike Moustakas is 11th (.418)...Cain is first among all hitters in on-base pct. with a .530 mark, while Getz is sixth (.492)...Gordon’s 29 hits are fifth in the Majors, just ahead of Moustakas at sixth (28) and Getz tied for eighth (27)...Billy Butler’s 19 RBI are tied for the top spot among all hitters on both sides of the country...Gordo is tied for sixth in home runs with 6. MLB NETWORK APRIL TELEVISION--The MLB Network has announced its April schedule of Major League action and the Royals are ticketed for a trio of appearances...the first will be a national telecast on April 6 from Philadelphia, though that broadcast will be blacked out in KC since it will also be carried by Fox Sports Kansas City...the April 13 affair when Toronto visits Kauffman Stadium is the backup game for the Network and then on April 17 when KC visits Atlanta, the 12:10 start vs. the Braves will be on MLB Network...the game in Atlanta is not on the FSKC slate, thus Kansas Citians will be able to watch the MLB Network feed. FINALE TOMORROW--The Royals will host the Cleveland Indians tomorrow at noon at the Surprise Recreation Campus to pull the curtain on Spring Training-2013...Kansas City will charter out to Chicago immediately following the contest, take Saturday off per the basic agreement and then workout on Sunday in U.S. Cellular Field in preparation for Monday’s 2013 lid-lifter vs. the White Sox. SPRING WORK--Kansas City is 23-7-2 entering today’s contest, with 2 games remaining in this 34-game spring slate, minimized due to two rainouts...the Royals have an all-time exhibition record of 615-563 with 35 ties for a .522 winning pct...since coming to Arizona in 2003, Kansas City has posted a much better 185-140 mark with 15 ties for a .569 mark...the Royals spent their first 34 seasons training in Florida, starting in Fort Myers (1969-87), followed by a 15-year stint in Baseball City (1988-2002). LITTLE HELP PLEASE--The Royals have brought over 10 players from minor league camp to assist with today’s contest: rigthanded pitchers Malcolm Culver (#76) and Anthony Ortega (#95), lefthanded pitcher Buddy Baumann (#90); catcher Juan Graterol (#91); infielders Anthony Seratelli (#69), Angel Franco (#82) and Whit Merrifield (#85); outfielders Roman Hernandez (#79), Paulo Orlando (#80) and Lane Adams (#88). NED’S THIRD FULL SEASON BEGINS--The 16th full-time manager in franchise history, Ned Yost, was named to his post on May 13, 2010 and recorded a 198-253 ledger since taking the reins...included was a 72-90 mark a year ago...this is his second stint as a big league manager after nearly six full campaigns at the helm for the Milwaukee Brewers (2003-2008)...he compiled a 457-502 record with the Brew Crew including a 166-146 mark in his last two seasons...Yost, a catcher during his playing days, began his coaching career in the Atlanta organization, including 12 straight seasons on Bobby Cox’s big league staff (1991-2002). ON THE AIR--Monday in Chicago will kickoff 140 telecasts on FSKC, with Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler providing the call from U.S.