White Sox hand Royals first Cactus League defeat, 6-2
The Royals were the last major-league club to taste a spring training defeat.
The Chicago White Sox — who will open the regular season on April 6 at Kauffman Stadium against the Royals — did the honors with a 6-2 victory Tuesday at Surprise Stadium.
The loss dropped the Royals to 6-1, but, remember, there are no trophies in the Cactus League.
For those wanting an early scouting report on the Central Division-rival White Sox, 3-3 in the spring, know this: Chicago can hit.
Micah Johnson, a splendid second baseman, had four hits against four Royals pitchers: a double off Jeremy Guthrie in the first; a single off Greg Holland in the third; a single off Jason Frasor in the fourth; and a single off Brandon Finnegan in the sixth.
Jose Abreu and J.B. Shuck each had two hits as the White Sox collected 15 hits in the game.
Not that the Royals expected to go undefeated anyway.
“We weren’t going to go undefeated,” outfielder Jarrod Dyson said. “We’re just going out there and playing our game and having fun with it. It’s not like we’re going out here and trying to make our business to destroy every team.
“We’re working on stuff. Hitters are working on their timing, pitchers are working on location, and we’re happy to win ballgames. The young guys are getting in there and stepped up and took the lead (in games). That’s how we’ve ended a majority of the games we’ve won.”
The Royals will play split-squad games Wednesday against San Diego in Surprise and against Cincinnati in Goodyear. Yordano Ventura will make his second start of the spring against the Padres while Joe Blanton will face the Reds.
Other observations from Tuesday’s game.
▪ This is why they call it spring training. In first inning, light-hitting Dyson clubbed a home run followed by power hitter Mike Moustakas, who was out on a bunt attempt.
▪ Center fielder Lorenzo Cain outran the baseball to deep center and hauled in Geovany Soto’s blast to the warning track.
▪ Johnson could be worth the price of admission when the teams open the season at Kauffman Stadium. He made two dazzling plays on Tuesday, making a backhand stab of a grounder up the middle by Dyson and shoving the ball with his glove to second for a force; and leaping high for a line drive off the bat of Moustakas, only to see it trickle out of his glove when he hit the ground for a single.
To reach Randy Covitz, call 816-234-4796 or send email to rcovitz@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @randycovitz.
This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 6:09 PM with the headline "White Sox hand Royals first Cactus League defeat, 6-2."