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MLB
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas throws during baseball spring training Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Surprise, Ariz.
Royals undefeated in spring training
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Alex Gordon insists his swing still needs refining even though his spring training statistics indicate it is just fine.
Gordon homered, Mike Moustakas stroked two doubles to raise his average to .579 and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-1 Sunday to remain undefeated in 10 spring training games.
Gordon is hitting .500, but the home run to right-center off Tony Cingrani was his first extra-base hit.
"I was taking a lot of pitches early on," Gordon said. "I just decided if I get a first pitch fastball I was going to go after it, and I put a pretty good swing on it. It feels
good to get a good swing.
"I really haven't been swinging it too well even though my numbers might show it, but I really haven't felt that good." Gordon added. "That definitely felt better to have a result like that."
Gordon, who has won back-to-back Gold Gloves, led the majors with 51 doubles last season.
"Results do matter, but every spring training stats are always a little bit higher than they should be," Gordon said. "So it's just about feeling good and feeling comfortable and that's where I'm trying to get. I'm not there yet. We still have a month left, so I'll just keep going at it."
The Royals improved to 9-0-1, the only undefeated team in the majors this spring.
"That's pretty impressive,"
Gordon said. "We might as well go out and try to win a game and that's what we're doing. Hopefully we can continue it and carry that over."
Moustakas doubled in the fourth and scored on Max Ramirez's single. Gordon led off the fifth with a single, stole second and scored on Moustakas' one-out double.
Reds starter right-hander Homer Bailey allowed one single in two scoreless innings, logging five of his six outs by strikeout.
Royals right-hander Wade Davis pitched three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. He has pitched five scoreless innings in winning his first two starts.
"I'm throwing my changeup more," Davis said. "I probably threw 10 today and I had a couple of ground balls and some bad swings on it. That's a good thing. I'm definitely encouraged by that."
"It could be six out of six." Bailey said and laughed. "Strikeouts kind of come and go. I don't worry about those too much. I like outs. I still try to strike everybody out. If they happen to put it in play in the first couple of pitches, I don't quite get there.
Colon, Xavier Nady and Brandon Wood in a four-run sixth.
The Royals got three consecutive pinch-hit singles from Christian
"I'd like to have a few first pitch strikes, a couple of them missed by a little bit," Bailey said. "But I guess overall, pretty good. Other than that once we got into the at-bat, it came back. I pitched well."
PGA
Michael Thompson wins first PGA Tour
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Michael Thompson's dream of winning his first PGA Tour event was walking up the final fairway with a big lead and very little stress.
The reality was much different Sunday in the Honda Classic.
He had a one-shot lead as he stood in the 18th fairway, some 240 yards from the flag with trouble in the way in the shape of large lake. The motto from his golf team at Alabama was to "finish strong," and Thompson did just that.
Instead of laying up, he drilled a 5-wood into the bunker left of the green, setting up a simple sand shot and a birdie he didn't even need. He closed with a 1-under 69, one of only five rounds under par on a punishing day at PGA National to finally become a PGA Tour winner.
"That for me kind of sealed the deal," Thompson said. "It allowed me to walk up the fairway and enjoy the experience, see the crowd and ... just finish strong."
The start wasn't bad, either.
Thompson holed a 50-foot eagle putt on the third hole, relied on a superb short game around the toughest part of the golf course to build a four-shot lead, and hung on for a two-shot win over Geoff Ogilvy that takes him places he always wanted to be.
And to think just two weeks ago he was so down after a 78-80 performance at Riviera that he wondered if he would ever make another cut.
He gets into his first World Golf Championship next week at Doral, and qualifies for two more WGCs this year at Firestone and in Shanghai. He's in the PGA Championship, gets to start next year in Hawaii and earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
"This week was magical," Thompson said. "Just had a groove and kept feeling it."
It turned out to be a big week for Ogilvy, too.
The former U.S. Open champion missed his past four cuts and had plunged to No. 79 in the world ranking. He already missed the Match Play Championship and was ready to miss another WGC next week at Doral until putting together four solid rounds.
He chipped in for birdie behind the 16th green and two-putted for birdie on the 18th for a 69 to finish alone in second, moving him up to No. 47 to get into Doral.
"I kind of penciled in a week off," Ogilvy said. "So it's nice, and it gets me back in the mix for the Masters."
Ogilvy has to stay in the top 50 by the end of the month to return to Augusta National. For now, he has smaller problems — he only packed enough for this week.
"I'm going to have to go do some laundry," Ogilvy said. "I haven't got a hotel room for tonight. But half the tour lives in this area, so I'm sure I can find somewhere to stay."
Luke Guthrie, tied with Thompson for the 54-hole lead, fell behind with a bogey on the second hole and closed with a 73 to finish third.
Tiger Woods was never in the picture. He started the final round eight shots behind, and whatever hopes he had of a rally ended on the sixth hole when he hit his drive so far to the right that the ball was never found.
Woods took double bogey, and only an eagle on the final hole kept the damage to a minimum. He closed with a 74 - his first time since the Masters last year that he failed to break par in one round of a 72-hole tournament — and tied for 37th.
It was the second straight year Woods closed with an eagle at PGA National — the difference was last year, it gave him a 62 and a tie for second.
"I think I passed 62 somewhere around 12." Woods said.
Despite a bogey on the final hole, Erik Compton had a 70 and was part of the five-way tie for fourth. Compton, who already has had two heart transplants, earned his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour.