Royals regulars see plenty of playing time in one of spring's final tuneups
Change the location and the calendar, the opponent and the uniforms, and Tuesday night's 4-1 Royals win over San Diego could be mistaken for a regular-season game.
At least that's what the box score said.
Royals regulars saw significant playing time Tuesday, a rarity for spring training. All but four starters played the entire game and right-hander Jeremy Guthrie gave the Royals six solid innings and threw 94 pitches.
For most of Cactus League play, Royals hitters would exit in the middle innings after three at-bats -- but not Tuesday night. Instead, they stayed in the game, in what was perhaps their final tuneup before Opening Day on Monday in Kansas City.
Kendrys Morales and Mike Moustakas each had multi-hit games for the Royals, who did not register an extra-base hit against Padres pitching.
3 UP
• Guthrie escapes jams. Royals starter Guthrie's line reads pretty well: One run in six innings to go along with six strikeouts. But Guthrie had to tightrope his way out of trouble in the third and fourth innings, when he allowed a combined six hits but only the lone run.
Guthrie retired the first six batters he faced but gave up back-to-back hits to start the third inning. If not for a failed bunt by Padres pitcher Brandon Morrow and an outfield assist from Jarrod Dyson, those four third-inning hits could have turned into more than one run. In the fourth, Guthrie gave up two hits but escaped unblemished.
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• Holland bounces back. It's tough to say that a perennial All-Star closer bounced back from one poor spring training appearance, but Greg Holland had a much easier time Tuesday night than his last outing. Holland, who gave up four runs in 2/3 inning Sunday, posted a 1-2-3 eighth inning Tuesday, striking out two.
Only once in his career has Holland given up four or more runs in a regular-season game, and it happened in 2010.
• Capitalizing on the leadoff man. The Royals got the leadoff hitter on base three times Tuesday night, and each time he came around to score. Kansas City's first batter reached in the first, second and sixth innings, the only innings in which the Royals scored.
3 DOWN
• Losing runners on the base paths. The Royals are largely known for their aggressive style of baseball that keys on stolen bases, but the running game backfired on Kansas City on Tuesday night. Two Royals were thrown out trying to steal and a third was picked off second base.
Derek Norris, whom Kansas City toasted for six stolen bases in last season's Wild Card Game, threw out Dyson in the second before cutting down Lorenzo Cain's delayed steal attempt in the third. Pinch runner Whit Merrifield was picked off in the sixth inning by Marcos Mateo.
• Defensive miscues. The Royals didn't commit an error Tuesday night, but a couple of mistakes cost them extra bases. Eric Hosmer appeared in good position to snag Yonder Alonso's third-inning bouncer to the right side, but the ball skipped past the Gold Glover. On the play, Dyson threw out Alexi Amarista at the plate to save a run.
One inning later, four-time Gold Glover Alex Gordon misplayed Will Middlebrooks' hit to left, which allowed Middlebrooks to coast into second with a double.
• Gordon's hat trick. Gordon struggled at the plate, too, going 1 for 4 with three strikeouts. Two of the three strikeouts were against left-handers as the Royals' left fielder continues his recovery from offseason wrist surgery.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Royals conclude Cactus League play with a final game against the Dodgers at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Kansas City then heads to Houston for a pair of exhibitions before opening the regular season Monday against the White Sox.
Fans will see a pitching matchup worthy of Opening Day on Wednesday when Kansas City sends Yordano Ventura to the hill to take on reigning National League MVP Clayton Kershaw. Ventura's outing will be an abbreviated one, with Chris Young, Franklin Morales, Luke Hochevar, Brian Flynn and Louis Coleman scheduled to pitch as well.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
