Kansas City Royals defeat San Diego Padres 7-4 – MLB Spring Training Recap
Kansas City Royals secured a comfortable 7-4 win over San Diego Padres at the Surprise Stadium, Arizona on Tuesday, March 6 in their Grapefruit League clash of the 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training Session.
The Royals adopted a very aggressive strategy during the contest. Dominating their opponents in almost all areas of the game, they established complete control over the contest. The Padres, on the other hand, will be disappointed with the outcome of the game. There were several good performances from Padres’ players but they failed to emerge victorious.
Luke Hochevar, who was drafted into the team in 2006, produced a match winning performance as he tossed up two scoreless innings to help the Royals beat the San Diego Padres. Throwing 10 pitches in the first innings and 19 in the second, the starter showed that he has a strong and reliable arm.
Max Ramirez was outstanding in batting department of the game, hitting two home runs and driving in four runs for the Royals. The right handed striker has done exceptionally well in the minor leagues but he has not been able to live up to his immense potential in big league. He will be feeling very confident after playing a key role in Royals’ victory on Tuesday.
"My mindset is use all my pitches and in a two-inning span I'm trying to find ways to use everything," Hochevar said. "In the second, I tried to find ways to work on my changeup especially. That's a focus point of mine this spring and granted results are going to come after."
"It's come a long way," Hochevar said. "I've been playing with a lot of different grips. I've been talking with Dave and I think I've found one I'm comfortable with, that I don't have to think about, I can just cut it loose and let it work on its own."
Kansas’ manager Ned Yost was delighted at his team’s overall effort and he aimed to give similar performances in their upcoming Spring Training games. It will be interesting to see if the Royals can carry their excellent form into the regular season.
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