Major League Baseball

Royals 14, Athletics 12

Published Mar. 28, 2010 1:21 a.m. ET

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Justin Duchscherer was roughed up for 11 runs in his second start after missing last season, and the Oakland Athletics lost 14-12 to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

``I'm not trying to minimize how bad they kicked my butt but the reality is it's a spring training game,'' Duchscherer said. ``I don't want to go out there and embarrass myself, but you don't take it quite as seriously as you would when it really counts.

Mitch Maier homered and drove in five runs for Kansas City. Maier went 3 for 5 to raise his spring average to .426. Kila Ka'aihue hit his fourth home run in the Royals two-run eighth.

Duchscherer missed last season after having elbow surgery and was also diagnosed with clinical depression while rehabbing. He gave up 11 runs - eight earned - on nine hits in three-plus innings.

``I actually felt a lot better today than I did the other day. I was throwing decent pitches, I was just missing and getting myself in bad counts,``Duchscherer. `` My mentality is in spring training. I'm not going to start walking guys, so when I was behind I was throwing pitches over the plate. My stuff isn't quite there yet and I can't pitch over the white. So they took advantage of getting ahead in the count and I gave them some pretty good pitches to hit.

``I have no aches, no soreness so that's a positive,'' he added.

Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a three-run homer for the A's, while Mark Ellis went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

Royals center fielder Rick Ankiel, who has not played since March 11 because of a sore right ankle, was scheduled to return Saturday as the designated hitter, but was scratched after leaving a minor league game Friday.

``He came out a littler bit sooner than we had hoped cause he felt it a little bit,'' Royals manager Trey Hillman said. ``In the cage this morning, he felt it again. So that's another stay tune.''

Alberto Callaspo was shut down from all baseball activities Saturday and likely for Sunday after pulling a muscle in his right side during batting practice Friday.

``Because of where we are in spring training, making sure we are less aggressive than more aggressive,'' Hillman said of shutting Callaspo down for at least three days.

Callaspo, who is a switch hitter, leads the Cactus League with a .458 batting average and is projected to bat third.

``Callaspo, we're going to get a better read (Sunday),'' Hillman said. ``It is usually 24 to 48 (hours), but he came in feeling a lot better today and it wasn't that bad yesterday, so we still think it's going to be OK.

``He doesn't have any pain at all swinging from the right side or throwing a ball,'' Hillman added. ``The only issue is left-handed and the swing left-handed. That's how he did it. That's when he felt it.''

NOTES: Oakland Athletics left-hander Dallas Braden possibly has a staph infection on his left shin but isn't expected to miss any time. Braden woke up Friday morning with a lump on his leg and after being checked out by team trainers, was sent to see a doctor, just hours before he was scheduled to pitch against the Chicago Cubs. Although no firm diagnosis was made, Braden was given antibiotics as a precaution. Braden, slated second in Oakland's starting rotation behind ace Ben Sheets, missed the final two months of last season because of nerve damage in his left foot. The condition left him with a tingling sensation in his entire foot - and no feeling at all in about half of it. Earlier this week, a neurologist told him the numbness never would subside.

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