The first official spring training game was against, who else. The Kansas City Royals. We have traditionally opened against them several times in a row since we’ve moved spring operations to Surprise, AZ. So the next couple of reports will probably have the same names in it. But that’s the most exciting part about doing a recap for Friday’s game. It’s all we get. I enter the 9th season doing this website, and the one thing I’ve said many times in the past is I hate these games where all we get are the recap sheets. Can’t hear ’em can’t see ’em. Now that I’ve got my regular annual gripe about that out of the way…
I’m thoroughly embarrassed I missed all this earlier. I do websites for a side business, and was dealing with some server issues relating to one of them, and the fact we were starting games completely slipped my mind. Not that it would have made much difference due to it being a “box score only” game, but still – I should have said something. :)
The “A” game was a loss to the Royals by the score of 8-6. This game can be summed up in a couple of words – “John Koronka got bombed”. In a performance worthy of Chan Ho Park or Mark Clark, John gave up a six spot in the fourth inning (after pitching a shutout third). That was essentially the game there from the Royals offensive standpoint. In fact, Alex Gonzalez for the Royals was the only guy to get more than a lone hit (two). The only other Ranger pitcher to give up a run was Wes Littleton (1). Willie Eyre also gave up one, but it was unearned. Kameron Loe, Edinson Volquez, & Jack Benoit all pitched shutout ball. Take out Koronka, and it was a decently pitched game.
Offensively, we had the same thing as KC did. Of our 10 hits, only one player had two (Catalanotto, two doubles), the rest were scattered. However, two of those were home runs, by Guillermo Quiroz & Victor Diaz.
Fresh off his contract, Mike Young committed one of the two errors the Rangers made this game (yeah, yeah – I know. But I still got a chuckle out of it).
There was also a B game earlier in the morning where Kevin Millwood made his spring debut, as did Sammy Sosa. You never get box scores for B games, so I can’t find Millwood’s line. Although of course, the press reported that Sammy Sosa went 0-3 with a walk and a couple of strikeouts. Couldn’t pass up that info, eh? :)
Still, it’s nice to get the juices flowing again – nice to be writing again.
Couldn’t find a combined box score/recap at MLB’s site, the line/box score is below. I’ll only do that for games that I can’t find a combined recap/box score link at mlb.com for during spring training.
CAC FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - TEXAS 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 6 10 2 KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 6 0 0 1 1 x 8 11 0 FINAL
WP - JIMMY GOBBLE (1-0) LP - WES LITTLETON (0-1) SAVE - MATT WRIGHT (1)
HOME RUNS: TEX - GUILLERMO QUIROZ (1) OFF ROBERTO GIRON IN THE 6TH VICTOR DIAZ (1) OFF JIMMY GOBBLE IN THE 7TH KAN - RYAN SHEALY (1) OFF JOHN KORONKA IN THE 4TH
TIME: 3:00 ATT: 4,949
TEXAS (6) AT KANSAS CITY (8)
TEXAS AB R H BI KANSAS CITY AB R H BI K Lofton cf 3 0 0 0 D DeJesus cf 3 0 0 0 M Byrd cf 2 0 0 0 M Tupman c 2 1 0 0 F Catalanotto dh 4 1 2 0 M Grudzielanek 2b 2 0 1 0 M Young ss 2 0 0 0 F Cortez pr-2b 1 1 1 1 R Vazquez ss 2 0 0 0 R Gload lf 2 1 1 0 M Kata ss 1 0 1 0 B Butler ph-lf 2 0 1 0 M Teixeira 1b 2 0 1 0 R Sanders dh 2 1 1 1 N Gold pr-1b 1 2 0 0 M Maier ph-dh 2 0 0 0 H Blalock 3b 1 0 0 0 S Costa rf 3 1 1 1 D Relaford pr-3b 1 1 0 1 R Shealy 1b 3 1 1 3 B Wilkerson lf 1 0 1 0 J Huber 1b 1 0 0 0 J Botts pr-lf 2 0 0 0 J LaRue c 2 1 1 0 N Cruz rf 2 0 1 1 J Gathright cf 2 0 0 0 V Diaz rf 3 1 1 2 A Gonzalez ss 2 1 2 1 G Laird c 2 0 1 0 A Blanco ss 2 0 1 0 G Quiroz c 2 1 1 1 A Gordon 3b 4 0 0 0 I Kinsler 2b 2 0 0 1 J Hairston Jr 2b 1 0 1 0 D Meyer 2b 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 35 6 10 6 TOTALS 35 8 11 7
TEXAS 000 211 200 -- 6 KANSAS CITY 000 600 11x -- 8
E--M Young, W Eyre. DP--TEXAS 1, KANSAS CITY 1. LOB--TEXAS 10, KANSAS CITY 7. 2B--S Costa 2, A Gonzalez, F Catalanotto 2. 3B--R Gload. HR--R Shealy 1 (1) (off J Koronka), G Quiroz 1 (1) (off R Giron), V Diaz 1 (1) (off J Gobble). SB--F Cortez 1 (1), M Kata 1 (1). CS--A Blanco. SF--D Relaford. IP H R ER BB SO HR TEXAS K Loe 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 J Koronka 1 1-3 6 6 6 0 0 1 E Volquez 2-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 J Benoit 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 W Littleton (L,0-1) 1 1-3 2 1 1 1 1 1 W Eyre 1 2-3 2 1 0 0 1 0 KANSAS CITY G Meche 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 D Brazelton 2 4 3 3 2 0 0 R Giron 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 J Gobble (W,1-0) 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 M Wright (S,1) 1 1 0 0 2 1 0
WP--M Wright, W Eyre, E Volquez. SO--TEX: F Catalanotto, D Meyer, J Botts, N Gold. KAN: J Gathright, S Costa, M Maier. BB--TEX: N Gold 2, D Relaford, B Wilkerson, H Blalock, J Botts. KAN: F Cortez, B Butler. T--3:00. A--4,949.