Jason Hammel impresses, Raul Mondesi homers in 7-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox

The most impressive performance of Jason Hammel’s spring was spoiled by one pitch to White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada. Well, nearly spoiled.

“Save for the last pitch, it was a pretty good outing,” said Hammel, who was making his third start of the spring for the Royals. “And even that was a pretty good pitch.”

The pitch in question came against Moncada — one of the game’s top prospects — with one out in the bottom of the fifth on Wednesday afternoon. Moncada belted a two-run homer to right field, tying the score. He would later add another homer against reliever Kelvin Herrera in the White Sox’s 7-3 victory at Camelback Ranch.

But for Hammel, who is settling in with a new club after signing a two-year deal in the offseason, the rest of the afternoon went to plan.

In 4  1/3 innings, he allowed two runs and five hits while striking out five. He spent most of the afternoon fine-tuning his change-up, which could be an important pitch as he transitions back to the American League.

“It’s going to be a weapon for me this year,” he said. “I know obviously I’m probably going to get a lot of left-handed lineups.”

To keep those hitters off balance, Hammel will seek to utilize a pitch that moves away from left-handers. On Wednesday, the results were promising.

In all, Royals manager Ned Yost said Hammel was scheduled to pitch four innings or 65 pitches. But after working through four innings on 50 pitches, Hammel took the mound for a fifth to elevate his pitch count.

“It felt real good,” Hammel said. “It’s kind of funny. I warmed up like I had never thrown a baseball before, too. I felt like I was going to be lucky to get an out today.”

As Hammel worked through another spring start, second baseman Raul Mondesi continued his furious push for a roster spot. Mondesi opened the afternoon with a leadoff homer against White Sox prospect Reynaldo Lopez. Mondesi added a walk and scored two runs, raising his batting average to .444 this spring.

“Mondi had a great day — scored both our runs with a home run and a walk,” Yost said. “He looked fantastic at second.”

Mondesi, 21, could still face a numbers crunch as he attempts to win the job at second base.

Christian Colon and Cheslor Cuthbert are out of options, which means they must be placed on waivers to be sent to the minor leagues. That could force their inclusion on the 25-man roster.

The other vacant spot could belong to Whit Merrifield, who offers the ability to play the outfield and three infield spots.

But for the moment, Mondesi continues to make his case.

The arms

Reliever Kelvin Herrera was touched up for two runs in one inning of work, though one was unearned. Herrera surrendered a solo homer to Moncada before allowing a grounder toward second base with one out.

The ball slipped past second baseman Merrifield, allowing Adam Engel to reach base. A wild throw from center fielder Billy Burns allowed Engel to race all the way to third base. He scored on a double by Danny Hayes.

Left-hander Mike Minor worked a scoreless eighth, keeping his Cactus League ERA at 0.00.

The regular guys

With Eric Hosmer still at the World Baseball Classic and Mike Mosutakas, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon getting days off, the Royals’ lineup was a piecemeal group on Wednesday.

Right fielder Jorge Soler finished 0 for 2 with a sacrifice fly and a strikeout. Designated hitter Brandon Moss was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout.

Colon started at shortstop but left the game after suffering a cut on his finger while being picked off second base. The Royals announced the injury as a “sprained middle finger.”

“He jammed the tip of his finger a little bit,” Yost said. “But the cut is not serious, so he should be OK tomorrow.”

The young guys

His path to the big leagues blocked by a glut of outfielders, Jorge Bonifacio continued his hot spring, homering off Chicago’s Michael Ynoa in the eighth inning.

Bonifacio, who spent last year at Class AAA Omaha, is hitting .462 with three homers this spring.

WHITE SOX 7, ROYALS 3

WHITE SOX 7, ROYALS 3

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E: Hammel (1), Merrifield (3), O’Hearn (1), Burns (1), Moncada (5). LOB: Kansas City 7, Chicago 3. 2B: Cuthbert (2), Hayes (3). HR: Mondesi (2), Bonifacio (3), Garcia (2), Asche (3), Moncada 2 (2). SB: Colon (1), Gore (2). CS: Gore (1). SF: Soler (2).

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TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers

Holds: Clark (2). Umpires: Home, Stu Scheurwater; First, Dale Scott; Second, Tripp Gibson III; Third, Gabe Morales. Time: 2:48. Attendance: 4,821.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Jason Hammel impresses, Raul Mondesi homers in 7-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox."