2013 KANSAS CITY ROYALS SPRING TRAINING NOTES Kansas City Royals (11-1-1) @ San Francisco Giants (4-6-3) Saturday, March 9, 2013 DOUBLE DIP WASHED AWAY--The Royals were victimized by a pair of truncated games yesterday for the first time in franchise history, according to the “Voice of the Royals”, Denny Matthews, who has seen more Royals games than anyone so we’ll take his word for it...the sky opened up with two outs in the top of the third inning during the scheduled day game in Surprise against the Indians...the game was officially called after an hour and nine minute delay with KC leading 3-2...the nightcap made it through four frames at Salt River Fields with the Rockies in the lead 3-1 before the rain came...the delay was markedly shorter in Scottsdale, as the umpires called the game just two minutes after asking for the tarp. DEFICITS STILL SCARCE THROUGH FIRST TWO WEEKS--To say the first two weeks of the spring season have gone well for the Royals would be a vast understatement, as Kansas City has barely faced a deficit...the Royals trailed for the first time entering an inning in the fifth Thursday, snapping a stretch of 37 consecutive innings the club either lead or was tied...the Royals, overall, have been behind for only 13 of the 117 innings the club has played to this point. VS. GIANTS--Today is the second and final meeting of the spring between the Upcoming Probables Royals and the defending champs...KC earned a 9-5 win exactly a week ago across the valley in Surprise...the clubs haven’t met in the regular season since 2008. Today vs. San Francisco Giants @ Scottsdale Stadium (1:05) Yordano Ventura, Greg Holland, J.C. Gutierrez, HAPPY BIRTHDAY EJ!--The newest Royal, infielder Elliot Johnson, turns 29 Donnie Joseph (L), Louis Coleman, Nate Adcock, Dan Wheeler today...EJ shares his day with rapper Bow Wow (26), who apparently is old vs. enough to drop the “Little” and actor Emmanuel Lewis (42) of Webster fame.. Yusmeiro Petit, Michael Kickham (L), Chris Heston, March 9 baseball birthdays include Daniel Hudson (26) and Jesse Litsch (28) and Shane Loux, Jake Dunning Hall of Famers Arky Vaughn and Billy Southworth. Sunday vs. Los Angeles Angels @ Surprise Stadium (1:05) OFFENSE CONTINUES TO PACE MLB--The Royals continue to lead all 30 MLB Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen (L), Aaron Crow, clubs with a .332 average, 16 points higher than the next closest club, Oakland, Francisley Bueno (L), Michael Mariot at .316...KC has recorded double-digit hits in 9 of its 13 games on the spring... vs. Mike Moustakas (.481) leads the Cactus League in batting...Moose is also tied for Tommy Hanson, Brad Mills (L), David Carpenter, Michael Kohn league-lead in hits (13) and is second in on-base pct. (.481). Monday: Off Day in Major League camp PITCHING REMAINS ON TOP AS WELL--Kansas City’s pitching staff enters today with the best team spring ERA among all 30 big league clubs with a 3.46 mark Tuesday vs. Oakland Athletics @ Phoenix Muni Stadium (1:05) through the first 13 games...the White Sox sit in second at 3.66 thru 11 games...KC’s James Shields, Greg Holland, J.C. Gutierrez, Donnie Joseph (L), starters, in very abbreviated work as they continue to build up their endurance, Everett Teaford (L), Louis Coleman have a 2.67 ERA (30.1 IP, 9 ER), third in MLB. vs. Tommy Milone (L) WBC ROYALS UPDATES--The WBC began in earnest on Thursday in the Western Hemisphere...yesterday, Puerto Rico shut out Spain, 3-0, with starting second baseman Irving Falu going 1-for-3 with a double from the second spot...Luis Mendoza, who tossed 2.0 shutout innings on 3 hits, 2 walks and 3 K’s, helped Mexico to a 5-2 win over Eric Hosmer, Tim Collins and USA...Hosmer was 1-for-4 with an RBI while Collins allowed a hit and a walk with a strikeout in 0.1 inning. ROYALS ON WBC ROSTERS--The Royals have nine members of their organization playing for their respective countries after Wednesday’s announcement that first baseman Eric Hosmer was added to Team USA...Hos joins lefty Tim Collins on the Stars and Stripes...pitchers Kelvin Herrera and Atahualpa Severino is joined by infielder Miguel Tejada and PR dinosaur Mike Swanson on the Dominican Republic squad, catcher Salvador Perez plays for Venezuela, pitcher Luis Mendoza is representing Mexico, infielder Irving Falu plays for Puerto Rico and minor league outfielder Paulo Orlando hit .167 (2-for-12) for Brazil, who was eliminated in the first round. FIRST CUT IN THE BOOKS--The Royals moved six players to minor league camp on Friday with the option of Noel Arguelles (lhp) to Northwest Arkansas...Kansas City also assigned the following to minor league camp: Sugar Ray Marimon (rhp), Ryan Verdugo (lhp), Manuel Pina (L), Julio Rodriguez (c) and Luis Durango (of)...the moves put the Royals at 55 active players in camp, not counting righthander Felipe Paulino who is on the 60-day D.L. as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. ON THE HORIZON--Kansas City will host the Los Angeles Angels tomorrow in Surprise...following the club’s second of three off days of the spring on Monday, the Royals will hit the road to Phoenix Muni for an afternoon affair with the Athletics...the Mariners come calling on Wednesday before KC takes a trip down 303 (assuming construction cooperates) to play the Tribe on Thursday...the “workweek” is wrapped up with a day-night split-squad Friday as KC hosts the Padres at 1:05 and then travels to Glendale for a 7:05 contest against the Dodgers. SPRING WORK--Kansas City is 11-1-1 in the early going this year...the Royals have an all-time exhibition record of 603-557 with 34 ties for a .520 winning pct...since coming to Arizona in 2003, Kansas City has posted a 173-134 mark with 14 ties for a .564 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). NEW LOOK SCHEDULE IN 2013--With the Houston Astros joining the American League West this season, the 2013 slate has taken on a new look...the most obvious change is that with 15 teams in each league, an interleague game must take place every day of the season...for the Royals interleague work will commence early when Kansas City visits Philadelphia on the opening weekend of the season for a 3-game set at Citizens Bank Park on April 5-7...it will be Philly’s home opener for 2013...the Royals, and the rest of baseball, will play 20 interleague games this year, up from the 18 that had taken place in previous seasons...Kansas City’s concentration this year will be on the National League East, with the Braves, Nationals and Marlins visiting Kauffman Stadium this summer, which for Atlanta will be the first time ever since interleague play began in 1997...the Royals will also travel to Atlanta as well as Citi Field in New York to face the Mets and the prevoiusly mentioned stop in Philly...Kansas City will also continue its natural rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing a 4-game home and home vs. the Redbirds on May 27-30, with the first two games slated for Kauffman Stadium and the last two for Busch. ROSTER BREAKDOWN--The Royals open the 2013 spring season with an average age of 27 years, 151 days on the 40-man roster, currently ranking 14th among Major League clubs...Kansas City actually has 41 players in camp on the 40-man roster, with Felipe Paulino currently on the 60-day disabled list as he recovers from Tommy John surgery...overall, there are 62 players in camp as the exhibition season opens...the breakdown includes 34 pitchers (9 non-roster), 7 catchers (4 non-roster), 12 infielders (4 non-roster) and 9 outfielders (4 non-roster)...among the 34 pitchers in camp, 14 are lefthanded. LITTLE HELP PLEASE--The Royals have brought over six players from minor league camp to assist with today’s tilt: lefthander Jose Jimenez (#93), righthander Sam Runion (#96); infielders Alex McClure (#84) and Rey Navarro (#83); and outfielders Brian Fletcher (#80) and Whit Merrifield (#85). 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 RADIO--There are 20 games slated for KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network...Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre, Steve Physioc and Steve Stewart will be mikeside this spring...the next broadcast is slated for tomorrow from Surprise vs. the Angels. ROYALS NOTES (Page 2) LAST TIME OUT Player Date IP H R ER BB SO HR W/L/S TODAY’S PITCHERS: Nate Adcock 3/6 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - YORDANO VENTURA, the youngest player in camp at 21, is a non-roster invitee...he has made Noel Arguelles 3/2 1.0 3 2 2 2 2 1 - Blaine Boyer 3/3 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 - three appearances, last tossing 2.0 perfect innings against Cincinnati last Sunday in Goodyear...signed as Francisley Bueno 3/7 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 - a non-drafted free agent on October 8, 2008 out of Samana, DR, he was the 2012 Wilmington Pitcher of the Bruce Chen 3/5 3.0 2 1 1 0 2 0 W Louis Coleman 3/7 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 - Year and also started for the World team in the SiriusXM Futures Game in July at Kauffman Stadium...the Tim Collins 3/2 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 - 5-foot-11 Ventura split last year between Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas (AA) and has been rated Aaron Crow 3/5 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - the past three seasons by Baseball America as having the best fastball in the system.