2016 KANSAS CITY ROYALS Spring Training Game Notes Oakland Athletics (10-11-3) @ Kansas City Royals (11-16) Saturday, March 26, 2016 BELT’S BLAST PROVES COSTLY--Kansas City had its victory drought extended to three yesterday in Scottsdale as Brandon Belt’s three-run homer in the third inning gave San Francisco the lead and proved to be the difference in an 8-5 setback...the Royals have dropped five straight away from Surprise Stadium, which dates back to the two-game set against the Rangers at the Alamodome March 18-19...yesterday, KC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on Travis Snider’s two- run blast off former Royal Johnny Cueto...the lead was short lived, however, as Conor Gillaspie and Belt went deep in consecutive innings off Royals starter Ian Kennedy...Omar Infante led KC offensively, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while Snider chipped in a pair of hits. VOLQUEZ TO START OPENING NIGHT--The club announced this morning that Edinson Upcoming Probables Volquez will be the Opening Night starter on April 3 when KC hosts the New York Mets... Volquez, 32, receives his second career Opening Day assignment, also taking the hill for Today vs. Oakland A’s @ Surprise Stadium (1:05) Cincinnati in the first game of the 2011 season vs. Milwaukee...he’ll be matched up against the Chris Bassitt, Sean Doolittle (L), Fernando Rodriguez, Ryan Dull Mets’ Matt Harvey, setting up a rematch of the two starters from Game #5 of last year’s World vs. Series...free-agent signee Ian Kennedy will take the hill in KC’s second game vs. the Mets on Chien-Ming Wang, Danny Duffy (L), Brian Duensing (L), April 5, while Yordano Ventura will start the first game of the Minnesota series on April 8. David Huff (L), Peter Moylan COLLINS TO HAVE SECOND SURGERY--The Royals announced Thursday that left- Tomorrow vs. Oakland A’s @ Hohokam Park (1:05) handed pitcher Tim Collins had a setback in his recovery from ‘Tommy John’ surgery and will Chris Young, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Joakim Soria require a second operation...a timetable for the second procedure has not been set...Collins, 26, vs. missed the entire 2015 season after having his first ‘Tommy John’ surgery on March 11, 2015. Kendall Graveman, Patrick Schuster (L), Ryan Dull, PACKING THE PARK--Playing in front of a packed house is nothing new to the Royals this Marc Rzepczynski (L) spring, as the club has drawn 10,000 fans or more to four of their last seven home games and at least 8,000 people to nine of their 12 home games overall...in addition, Kansas City played Monday vs. San Diego Padres @ Surprise Stadium (1:05) to a near sell-out crowd in Scottsdale (11,217) yesterday and a Cactus League record, 15,523, Drew Pomeranz (L) at Sloan Park vs. the Cubs last Sunday...KC’s home average (8,480) ranks fifth among A.L. vs. clubs, while its road attendance average (11,916) is tops in baseball. Edinson Volquez, Luke Hochevar, Dillon Gee, Brian Duensing (L) RADIO ADDITION--Tomorrow’s Easter contest against these Oakland A’s in Mesa will be Monday vs. Seattle Mariners @ Peoria Sports Complex (1:05) carried on 610 Sports Radio as well as the Royals Radio Network, with Denny Matthews, Ryan Kris Medlen, John Lannan (L), David Huff (L), Peter Moylan Lefebvre and Steve Physioc calling the action...this is an addition to the original schedule after vs. the University of Kansas’ NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game was set for this evening. Nathan Karns, Steve Cishek, Joel Peralta, Vidal Nuno (L), VS. OAKLAND--The Royals and A’s will battle for the second time this spring, with the Mayckol Guaipe Cactus League series finale set for tomorrow in Mesa...Oakland won the first meeting, taking down a KC split-squad, 6-4, on March 7...the clubs will meet seven times in the regular season, beginning with a three-game set in the Bay Area, April 15-17, while the A’s don’t play at Kauffman until September 12-15. MORE MOVES--The Royals announced several roster moves earlier this week, sending catcher Parker Morin and infielders Orlando Calixte and Dusty Coleman to minor league camp, while optioning left-handed pitchers Scott Alexander and Brian Flynn to Omaha (AAA)...additionally, the club released right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf. ROSTER BREAKDOWN--After Wednesday’s roster trimming, the Royals have 39 players (including left-handed pitchers Mike Minor and Jason Vargas on the 60-day D.L.) in camp...the roster includes 19 pitchers (five non-roster), three catchers, 10 infielders (three non-roster) and seven outfielders (one non-roster)... among the pitchers remaining in camp seven of them are left-handed. EXTRA, EXTRA!--KC will add several players from minor league camp this afternoon...minor league additions include: right-handed pitchers Malcom Culver (#91) and Benino Pruneda (#82), lefty Estarlin Cordero (#95), catcher Xavier Fernandez (#83), infielder Orlando Calixte (#61) and outfielder Edward Salcedo (#76). ROYALS TO DON GOLDEN THREADS IN 2016--In recognition of their 2015 World Championship, the Royals announced last week that they will wear specially designed Majestic jerseys and caps from New Era...the club will debut the uniforms on Opening Night vs. the New York Mets and also wear them on April 5 for the second game of the regular season...the front of the home white jerseys will feature the script ‘Royals’ embossed in gold with blue trim and blue numbers, with the players’ name in blue and their number embossed in gold on the back of the uniform...the Royal blue caps will feature a gold ‘KC’ with white trim on the front with the 2015 World Series Champions logo on the side of the cap. SPRINGING TO WORK AS THE WORLD CHAMPS--The two-time American League champion and 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals have eight games remaining on their 2016 exhibition docket...KC’s A.L. crown last year gave the City of Surprise four of the last six American League championships, with the Rangers taking the title in both 2010 and 2011, the league’s last repeat winner...after today, the Royals play two more “home” games in Surprise Stadium, while Monday marks the final split-squad date of the spring...the five total split-squad days are four more than 2015...this spring session will run through April 2, when Kansas City wraps up play with a pair in Chase Field against the Diamondbacks...last year’s club finished the exhibition season with a 20-10-1 mark before heading north to claim its first-ever A.L. Central crown, followed by a run through the ALDS, ALCS and then the first World Series title since 1985. WINNING WAYS--The Royals are coming off a 95-67 regular season and their first American League Central crown...the last division title won by Kansas City was the 1985 A.L. West, when the club parlayed that triumph into its first World Series crown...the 95 wins in ‘15 were the most by a KC squad since the 1980 Royals went 97-65...dating back to the start of the 2013 season, Kansas City has a 270-216 record for a .556 winning pct., the best mark in the American League and fourth most wins in the Majors behind only St. Louis (287), Pittsburgh (280) and the Dodgers (278). SPRING WORK--The Royals have an all-time exhibition record of 662-605 with 38 ties for a .522 winning pct...the club has posted a 230-182 mark with 18 ties for a .556 mark in the Valley of the Sun...the Royals spent their first 34 seasons training in Florida, beginning with Fort Myers (1969-87), followed by a 15-year stint in Baseball City (1988-2002). A LOOK AHEAD IN 2016--KC will open its 2016 regular season at home for the second consecutive year, though the first homestand will be segmented to say the least...the Royals will battle the New York Mets on Sunday, April 3 and then again on Tuesday afternoon, April 5, in a rematch of the 2015 Fall Classic...Kansas City will then take two consecutive days off on April 6-7, before welcoming the Minnesota Twins in for a three-game weekend series...the first road trip of the ‘16 campaign will feature a stop in Minute Maid Park and a 4-game series against KC’s ALDS foe from 2015, then wrap-up with a three-game visit to Oakland... Kansas City’s Interleague work this year will be vs. the National League East, with the Mets (2), Nationals (3) and Atlanta (3) visiting “The K” while the Royals will travel to play the Mets (2), Marlins (3) and Phillies (3)...KC will also play their cross-state rivals from St. Louis in a 4-game home & home series that starts in Kauffman Stadium on June 27-28 and ends in Busch Stadium on June 29-30...Kansas City will be well represented in San Diego for the All-Star Game as manager Ned Yost and his staff will be operating for the American League squad for a second straight year. AT THE HELM--The winningest manager in franchise history, Ned Yost begins his sixth full season with the club, after taking the reins on May 13, 2010...he has a 468-469 regular season record at the helm for the Royals, surpassing Whitey Herzog’s previous team mark of 410 wins (1975-79)...Yost is the 16th full-time manager in franchise history and enters this year sixth among active managers is games (1,896) and wins (925)...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.