Royals’ first pitch in their first televised game was delayed for security situation
The start of Tuesday’s first televised Royals game was delayed for an hour because of a security situation outside of Surprise Stadium.
Police blocked off an area around the center field gate and box office. At issue was a vehicle that was part of a display in front of the ballpark.
An officer on the scene described the delay as an “over-abundance of caution,” and from the parking lot outside a police dog was visible walking the area as officers appeared to search a red SUV.
While the area was blocked off, the box office was temporarily closed and patrons with will-call tickets were unable to claim them.
An announcement over the Surprise Stadium public address system approximately 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the game alerted those already in the park that first pitch would be delayed. The Royals went on to beat the Diamondbacks 6-4.
“I was actually walking out to the field, and I think (VP of communications and broadcasting Mike Swanson) came up and was like they’re not letting anybody on the field,” said Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer, who started the game. “I didn’t really know what was going on, but Mike (Matheny) came in and said it was going to be at least 30 minutes until we know anything and then it will probably be another 30 minutes until game time. I just got comfortable on the couch and waited until someone told me.”
The Surprise Police said in a statement, “During a routine security check of the Surprise Spring Training facility, a trained explosive detection dog (K-9) alerted on a static display vehicle located outside of the stadium. This vehicle had been placed outside the stadium as advertisement by a local dealership.
“In order to (ensure) the safety of our community, and out of an abundance of caution, we contacted the Glendale Police Department’s Explosive Ordinance Team to further assist in (ensuring) the vehicle does not pose any threat to the community. The Glendale EOD Team has completed their check of the vehicle and determined there is NO threat. The routine security sweeps are part of our ongoing security measure to (ensure) the safety of our sports fans.”
The game, originally scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. Central Time, began at 8:05.
Zimmer finding a feel
Royals relief pitcher Kyle Zimmer gave up single and a walk with one out in the first inning, but he got back-to-back fly balls to end the inning and keep the Diamondbacks out of the scoring column.
Zimmer compared the start to last season in Triple-A, when he’d served as the “opener” on several occasions, starting the game only to pitch an inning before handing it over to another member of the pitching staff.
“It felt good,” Zimmer said. “I’m just trying to continue to work on staying consistent in my mechanics, staying through my fastball. Off-speed is feeling really good. I feel like I’m spinning it well. I just gotta keep working on consistently getting ahead of guys and finishing them off.”
Zimmer said he was able to make an adjustment after falling behind the third batter of the inning, Kole Calhoun, and walking him.
He said he’s comfortable throwing a curveball, slider and changeup as secondary pitches. He’s been encouraged by his curveball this season. That pitch caused havoc for him last season.
“The fact that I sort of feel like I have consistent feel for my curveball again is opening up a lot with working fastballs in and my slider off that too,” Zimmer said. “Last year, I sort of lost feel for my curveball early in the year. I was sort of fighting with one pitch throughout the year. That was a big focus for me coming into this season, getting feel for the off-speed so I don’t have to throw 80 percent fastballs.”
Power surge
Third baseman Maikel Franco entered Tuesday night having gone 3-for-16 this spring, but he broke out with a 3-for-3 performance that included a home run and 4 RBIs. The home run was his first of the spring and one of two for the Royals in the game.
Ryan McBroom also hit a home run, a two-out solo shot to center field for his second round-tripper of the Cactus League season. Meanwhile, Ryan O’Hearn had a double and a sacrifice fly in a two-hit game.
Junis feeling better
The Royals announced after postgame on Sunday that Tuesday night’s scheduled starting pitcher Jakob Junis had been scratched from that start due to a minor lower back strain.
On Tuesday, Junis said he felt better and that the training staff was being cautious. He thought he might do some work on the back field on Wednesday. The Royals will play on the road in Peoria on Wednesday afternoon.
The group of pitchers scheduled to throw on Wednesday include Mike Montgomery, Kris Bubic, Tim Hill, Scott Barlow, Gabe Speier, Randy Rosario, Jesse Hahn and Richard Lovelady.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 9:53 PM.
