2013 KANSAS CITY ROYALS SPRING TRAINING NOTES Chicago Cubs (16-17) vs. Kansas City Royals -- SS (23-7-1) Wednesday, March 27, 2013 CACTUS LEAGUE CHAMPS!!!--The Royals iced the Cactus League crown on Tuesday with an 11-6 win over the Seattle Mariners in Peoria and enter tonight with a 3 1/2 game lead over the M’s with just 3 exhibitions remaining...though it’ll mean nothing when regular season play begins next Monday in Chicago, Kansas City has established a franchise record for wins with 23, eclipsing the previous best of 22 set when the club trained in Baseball City, Florida in 1999...the win on Tuesday was KC’s sixth in a row. WINNING STREAK HALTED AT SIX--The Royals fell for the first time in a week Upcoming Probables earlier today, dropping a 9-1 affair to the Brewers in split-squad action at Maryvale... Tonight (SS) vs. Chicago Cubs @ Surprise Stadium (6:05) Luis Mendoza, making his first start since being named the fifth starter in the 2013, James Shields, Kelvin Herrera, Tim Collins (L), Aaron Crow, starting rotation, had a tough afternoon allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 10 hits in 5.2 Luke Hochevar innings with a walk and 3 K’s...the offense, which entered today with a 28 point lead vs. in team batting over all of Major League Baseball, was held to just 5 hits, wiht the lone Scott Feldman, Zach Putnam, Michael Bowden, Hector Rondon, run scoring on an Xavier Nady home run in the fourth inning, which at the time cut Cory Wade the deficit to 2-1...Miguel Tejada continued his solid spring as he attempts to return to the Majors, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Thursday vs. Cincinnati Reds @ Goodyear Stadium (1:05) Ervin Santana, Bruce Chen (L), J.C. Gutierrez, ROSTER MOVES--The Royals today optioned lefthanded pitcher Donnie Joseph to Francisley Bueno (L), Dan Wheeler, Donnie Joseph (L) Omaha, while welcoming lefthanded pitcher George Sherrill and outfielder Xavier vs. Nady back to camp...both Sherrill and Nady were released on Monday, but re-signed Mat Latos, Jose Arredondo, J.J. Hoover, Logan Ondrusek, with the organization yesterday and remain non-roster invitees to camp...Kansas Sean Marshall (L), Manny Parra (L) City now has 35 active players in camp, which does not include Felipe Paulino, Friday vs. Cleveland Indians @ Surprise Stadium (12:05) currently on the 60-day disabled list as he recovers from Tommy John surgery...the Jeremy Guthrie, Luke Hochevar, Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera, breakdown includes 18 pitchers (2 non-roster), 4 catchers (1 non-roster), 8 infielders Tim Collins (L), Aaron Crow (1 non-roster) and 5 outfielders (1 non-roster). vs. HOTTOVY TRADE COMPLETED--Kansas City has recieved minor league outfielder Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Albers, Nick Hagadone (L), Jerry Gil, Desmond Henry from the Texas Rangers as the player to be named in the November Rich Hill (L) 8, 2012 trade that sent left-handed pitcher Tommy Hottovy to the Texas Rangers... Henry will join the Royals extended spring training camp in Surprise...the 19-year old was Texas’ fourth round selection in the 2011 June Free Agent Draft out of Centennial High School in Compton, Calif...the 6-1, 175-pound right-handed hitter and thrower has played a combined 25 games for the Rangers’ Arizona League rookie squad in 2011 and 2012...a product of the MLB Urban Youth Academy, Henry combined to steal 85 bases in this final two seasons at Centennial High. ROTATION SET--Manager Ned Yost has announced that Luis Mendoza will be the fifth starter in the rotation when the season begins next week, with Mendy’s first work slated for Saturday, April 6 in Philadelphia...he joins the previously 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 next 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 ADDITIONS--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 have added tomorrow’s game in Goodyear against Cincinnati, with first pitch slated for 3:05 p.m. (KC time) and Friday’s spring finale with Cleveland can be heard on 1660 AM in Kansas City at 2:05 p.m. DEFICITS REMAIN SCARCE--The Royals trailed for seven of the nine innings in today’s loss to the Brewers, which is an unusual set of circumstances given the way the club has played this spring...Kansas City has now been behind in only 71 of the 281 innings played during this exhibition season, or only 25% of the time. VS. CUBS--Tonight is the second and final meeting of the spring season between the Royals and Cubs...Chicago recorded an 8-3 win over Kansas City on March 16 in Ho-Ho-Kam Park...these clubs are not slated to meet during the regular season. OFFENSE CONTINUES TO PACE MLB--With 18 more hits yesterday, the Royals entered today leading all 30 MLB clubs with a .338 average, 28 points higher than the next closest club, the Los Angeles Angels...the Royals are first in baseball with 207 runs, 374 hits, 80 doubles, a .390 on-base pct. and .900 OPS, while ranking tied for third in triples (15)...individually, Lorenzo Cain is third among all A.L. hitters with a .442 mark, while Mike Moustakas is fifth (.419) and Alex Gordon sixth (.413)...Cain is first among AL hitters in on-base pct. with a .525 mark, while Gordon is sixth at .479 and Moustakas tenth at .455...Moose and Gordo are tied for second in hits with 26 each...Billy Butler’s 18 RBI are tied for the top spot among all American League hitters on both sides of the country...Gordo is tied for fourth in home runs with 5. 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. THE FINAL COUNTDOWN--The Royals have 3 games remaining in the 2013 exhibition slate including this evening’s battle with Chicago... tomorrow is a 1:05 affair vs. the Reds in Goodyear and spring training 2013 ends with a noon affair in Surprise vs. the Indians on Friday. SPRING WORK--Kansas City is 23-7-1 entering tonight’s contest, with 3 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 34 ties for a .522 winning pct...since coming to Arizona in 2003, Kansas City has posted a much better 185-140 mark with 14 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 eight players from minor league camp to assist with tonight’s split-squad tilt: rigthanded pitchers Sam Runion (#96) and Anthony Ortega (#95); catchers Ryan Jenkins (#76) and Kenny Swab (#82); infielders Anthony Seratelli (#69) and Alex McClure (#84); outfielders Tim Ferguson (#79) and Yem Prades (#84). 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--Tonight’s game is being televised on Fox Sports Kansas City, the television home for Royals baseball, with Ryan Lefebvre, Rex Hudler and Joel Goldberg...Monday in Chicago will kickoff 140 telecasts on FSKC, with Ryan and Rex providing the call from U.S.