Hiroki Kuroda Hurls Four Scoreless as Yankees Top Cardinals; Giants Previal, 2-1, over Rangers, Madison Bumgarner Earns Win

Players of the Day for Monday, March 11, 2013

Grapefruit League

Hiroki Kuroda

Some much needed good news for Yankee fans came in the form of four solid innings from the mound by Hiroki Kuroda (1-1), who will likely fall into the role of #2 starter behind C.C. Sabathia once the regular season gets underway.

With sluggers Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez nursing injuries, the Yanks will need good starting pitching and Kuroda delivered on Monday, blanking the Cardinals for four innings on three hits, fanning six without allowing a walk. New York went onto the 4-0 victory, a string of four relievers finishing what Kuroda started.

After four years with the Dodgers, Kuroda spent 2012 with the Yankees, posting a record of 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA.

Even with the win, the Yankees remain at the bottom of the Grapefruit League standings with a troublesome 5-11 record.

Madison Bumgarner

Cactus League

10,025 fans set out to Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona but had a surprise of a different kind as Madison Bumgarner and four relievers shut down the Rangers on six hits in a 2-1 victory for the Giants, their sixth win against seven losses.

Texas fell to 7-8 as Bumgarner delivered four strong innings, allowing one hit and a walk while striking out four.

Notching his first win of the Spring without a loss, Bumgarner is looking to fill his role on one of baseball's best starting staffs. Last season, he went 16-11 with a 3.37 ERA for the world champion Giants, but was 1-2 in the post-season.

Billy Butler Leads KC Slug-fest over Angels; Chone Figgins 4-for-4 in Marlins' Victory

Players of the Day for Sunday, March 10, 2013

Grapefruit League

Chone Figgins

Breaking out the good wood with 15 hits, the Miami Marlins improved to 6-7 in Grapefruit League play with a 10-2 victory over NL East rival, Atlanta.

Leading the Marlins charge was transplanted infielder, Chone Figgins, a long-time fixture in the AL West, first with the Angels and most recently (2010-2012) with the Mariners, with a 4-for-4 effort - all singles - a pair of runs and two RBI.

Figgins, traded to the Marlins in the off-season, appears to be a solid candidate for the starting spot at second base, though he's also played third in the past. The hot corner will likely fall to either Kevin Kouzmanoff or Placido Polanco, players with a bit more pop than the singles-hitting Figgins.

Figgins is batting .333 thus far in the exhibition season.

Cactus League

Billy Butler

Like a 70s radio show, the hits just keep on coming for the amazing Kansas City Royals, this time belting out 18 hits in a 17-11 win over the power-packed Angels, who socked four homers but committed six errors - three by catcher Hank Conger - in defeat.

Billy Butler, the regular DH for the Royals, rapped out a pair of singles and a double in four at-bats, scoring three times and driving in four runs.

The 7,417 fans in attendance were treated to an offensive fireworks show which included a combined 33 hits and at least one run scored in each inning, though the Royals had theirs in bunches, scoring five in the fourth and piling on seven in the sixth.

Butler is batting .387 with 11 RBI. The Royals have lost just once in 14 games and have a three-game lead over 11-5 Seattle in the Cactus league standings.

Adam Wainwright Goes 4 2/3 Scoreless for Cardinals; KC Wins Again, Johnny Giavotella goes 3-for-4

Players of the Day for Saturday, March 9, 2013

Grapefruit League

Adam Wainwright

If the St. Louis Cardinals are going to contend in the NL Central this season, they'll need their full complement of starting pitchers and that includes one Adam Wainwright, the 2010 All-Star who missed all of 2011 due to injury and surgery and came back in 2012 healed, but not as overpowering, posting a 14-13 mark with a 3.94 ERA.

In a positive sign for the lanky right=hander, Wainwright tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings in his longest outing of the exhibition season thus far, allowing three hits while fanning six as the Cardinals topped the Marlins, 2-0.

Wainwright was sharp, walking just one to run his record to 2-1, getting help from Pete Kozma, who drove in both St. Louis runs with a fourth-inning double.

The Cardinals improved to 8-5, good for third place in Grapefruit standings, while the Marlins fell to 5-7.

Cactus League

Johnny Giavotella

After suffering their first loss of the Spring on Thursday (a 12-2 loss to Seattle) and having a pair of split-squad games rained out on Thursday, the Kansas City Royals got back to their winning ways with a 13-2 smashing of the world champion San Francisco Giants.

The Royals padded their stats with 20 hits off seven San francisco hurlers, seven players had multiple-hit outings. One of those was backup second baseman Johnny Giavotella, who cracked three singles in four at-bats, scored once and drove in four runs.

Johnny G. played 53 games for the Royals in 2012, but hit just .238. He's battling with Chris Getz for the starting spot at second, and is batting .318 thus far with seven hits and seven RBI.

Kansas City continues to lead the Cactus League standings with a 12-1 record. The Giants are just 4-7.

Evan Gattis Leads Braves Past Astros; Cactus League Games Postponed

Players of the Day for Friday, March 8, 2013

Grapefruit League

Evan Gattis

Atlanta's Evan Gattis singled, doubled and socked a three-run homer in four at-bats as the Braves downed the Houston Astros, 14-9, in exhibition action.

The Braves banged out 17 hits, decimating Houston's string of eight pitchers used in the game. Gattis scored three times and finished with four RBI.

Gattis, a 6'4" prospect who advanced last season to the AA Southern League, is looking for a backup spot to regular catcher, Brian McCann, and is having a solid Spring, batting .440 with a pair of homers and seven RBI.

Cactus League

All Cactus League games were postponed on Friday due to adverse weather conditions.