Well, Thursday was the last day in Arizona. The Rangers broke camp today. We leave Arizona with a 10-16-1 record and we skip town on a four game losing streak. Only the White Sox (8-19) did worse in Cactus League play. Not terribly worried. It’s the time of year when you hear “they don’t count” a lot, and then people like me say “but you still want a winning record”. I think I said this same thing last year, too. :)
The biggest disappointments out of camp for me have to be the Eaton injury and the lack of any of the candidates to take a real solid hold of the #5 spot. Dickey got it, but it seems to be based on one extremely good outing, I can’t recall any of his others being that stellar. Due to the Eaton injury, Juam Dominguez gets called back to be the #5, now that everyone else is bumped up one game. My gut tells me he won’t grab a hold of this opportunity, either.
Oh yeah, this game. Padilla started, and went 6, giving up four runs. Not great at all, but not horrendous, either. Two home runs I believe accounted for all the runs, so overall he pitched “fair”, only one walk. Cordero’s appearance was a bit more disturbing, giving up two runs in his one inning on three hits.
Offensively, Mark Teixeira’s home run was the big deal for us, givng us three of our four runs. Kevin Mench now has an eight game hitting streak, and he looks like our hottest player coming out of the gate.
Friday night we have an exhibition game in Frisco, then one in Arlington on Saturday that I’ll be at. Still have some roster decisions to make, I wonder when the big flood will come down.
ST27: Mar 30, 2006 vs. Royals (L: 6-4)
10-16-1 (.385) – 10th – 8 Dn – Streak L4
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Photos
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Game Recap
SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Emil Brown and Mark Teahen hit two-run homers, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 on Thursday in the final Arizona game for both teams before breaking camp.
Teahen hit his first spring home run with two outs in the fourth with Brown aboard. Brown hit his third homer in the sixth with Justin Huber on base. Both home runs were off Vicente Padilla, who dropped to 0-2 in four starts.
“I was due for one of those,” Teahen said. “It is good to get that feeling back after the offseason.”
Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer in the third off Royals left-hander J.P. Howell. Teixeira went 0-for-15 in the World Baseball Classic and was hitless in his first 11 at-bats upon returning to the Rangers, but homered in his past two games.
“I’ve been having some good at-bats lately, but none of the results really matter this time of year,” Teixeira said. “The games count April 3rd and I’ll be ready.”
Billy Butler, the Royals’ top pick in the 2004 draft who has a .352 batting average in his first two minor league seasons, and Huber contributed RBI singles in the seventh off Francisco Cordero.
Steve Andrade, claimed on waivers by the Royals on Tuesday from the San Diego Padres, worked two scoreless innings to pick up the win. Andrade, who walked one and struck out one, is 2-0 in two appearances since joining the Royals and has not allowed a hit in three innings. He is a candidate for one of two openings in the bullpen.
Kevin Mench, who is hitting .463 for the Rangers, went 1-for-3 and has a nine-game hitting streak.
Royals infielder Esteban German stole his 10th base, which tops the Cactus League. Shane Costa went 3-for-3 with two doubles for the Royals.
The Royals finished 16-9-2 in Arizona to lead the Cactus League, while the Rangers were 10-16-1.
Notes
RF Reggie Sanders was scratched from the Royals’ lineup with the flu. … Rangers RHP Jon Leicester was optioned Thursday to Triple-A Oklahoma. He was 0-0 in four relief appearances this spring with a 9.09 ERA. … OF Gary Matthews (ribcage strain) will start the season on the disabled list, but Rangers manager Buck Showalter said he should be ready to play in the April 6 opener for Triple-A Oklahoma. … The Royals traded INF Joe McEwing to the Houston Astros for a player to be named.
Box Score
CAC FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - TEXAS 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 10 0 KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 x 6 11 0 FINAL
WP - STEVE ANDRADE (3-0) LP - VICENTE PADILLA (0-2) SAVE - LEO NUNEZ (2)
HOME RUNS: TEX - MARK TEIXEIRA (2) OFF J.P. HOWELL IN THE 3RD GERALD LAIRD (2) OFF LEO NUNEZ IN THE 9TH KAN - MARK TEAHEN (1) OFF VICENTE PADILLA IN THE 4TH EMIL BROWN (3) OFF VICENTE PADILLA IN THE 6TH
TIME: 2:05 ATT: 2,972
TEXAS (4) AT KANSAS CITY (6)
TEXAS AB R H BI KANSAS CITY AB R H BI B Wilkerson cf 3 1 1 0 D DeJesus cf 3 0 0 0 L Nix cf 2 0 0 0 B Butler lf 1 0 1 1 M Young ss 2 1 1 0 M Grudzielanek 2b 3 0 1 0 D Jimenez ss-2b 1 0 0 0 E German 2b 1 1 0 0 M Teixeira 1b 4 1 1 3 M Sweeney dh 2 0 0 0 J Botts 1b 0 0 0 0 J Huber pr-dh 1 1 1 1 P Nevin dh 3 0 1 0 D Mientkiewicz 1b 2 0 1 0 D Dellucci ph-dh 1 0 1 0 M Stairs ph-1b 2 0 0 0 H Blalock 3b 3 0 1 0 D Brown lf 3 2 3 2 A Hyzdu rf 1 0 0 0 C Lubanski rf 1 0 0 0 K Mench rf 3 0 1 0 M Teahen 3b 2 1 1 2 A Brown lf 1 0 0 0 T Graffanino ph-3 2 0 0 0 M Derosa lf-3b 4 0 0 0 A Berroa ss 2 0 0 0 R Barajas c 3 0 1 0 A Sanchez ph-ss 1 0 0 0 G Laird c 1 1 1 1 S Costa rf-cf 3 0 3 0 I Kinsler 2b 3 0 0 0 J Buck c 3 1 0 0 T Olson ss 1 0 1 0 TOTALS 36 4 10 4 TOTALS 32 6 11 6
TEXAS 003 000 001 -- 4 KANSAS CITY 000 202 20x -- 6
DP--TEXAS 2, KANSAS CITY 1. LOB--TEXAS 6, KANSAS CITY 3. 2B--S Costa, M Young. HR--E Brown 1 (3) (off V Padilla), M Teahen 1 (1) (off V Padilla), G Laird 1 (2) (off L Nunez), M Teixeira 1 (2) (off J Howell). SB--E German 1 (10), J Huber 1 (1), S Costa 1 (2). CS--H Blalock.
IP H R ER BB SO HR TEXAS V Padilla (L,0-2) 6 8 4 4 1 5 2 F Cordero 1 3 2 2 0 0 0 B Shouse 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 J Benoit 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 0 KANSAS CITY J Howell 4 7 3 3 0 1 1 S Andrade (W,3-0) 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 S Stemle 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 L Nunez (S,2) 1 2 1 1 0 0 1
WP--J Howell. SO--TEX: B Wilkerson, H Blalock, M Teixeira, L Nix. KAN: J Buck 2, D Mientkiewicz, T Graffanino, A Sanchez, M Sweeney. BB--TEX: M Young. KAN: M Sweeney. T--2:05. A--2,972.