6B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2006
MLB
John Sleezer/THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Kansas City Royals catcher Matt Tupman tags out Milwaukee Brewers' Carlos Corporan at the plate for the last out of the ninth inning of a spring training game Wednesday in Phoenix. The Brewers won 7-6 in 10 innings.
Brewers defeat Royals during extra innings
Fielder hits 450-foot homer into the outfield
PHOENIX — Prince Fielder's strained right elbow isn't hurting his power.
WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS
Fielder hit a 450-foot homer off Joe Mays in his first at-bat Wednesday, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat a Kansas City Royals' split squad 7-6 in 10 innings.
Fielder, whose home run landed behind the outfield berm, injured the elbow in a hitting drill last weekend.
"It really only hurts when I swing and miss, so I'll try not to do that," he quipped.
Ned Yost IV, a minor league first baseman and son of the Brewers manager, singled home the winning run with one out in the 10th.
"I'm happy for him," the elder Yost said.
David Bush, acquired from Toronto in the Lyle Overbay trade, bolstered his bid to win
"It really only hurts when I swing and miss, so I'll try not to do that."
Prince Fielder
Brewers first baseman
the No. 5 spot in Milwaukee's rotation by throwing three scoreless innings.
Bush, who allowed four hits, escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam in the first inning by striking out Reggie Sanders and getting Mark Teahen to ground out.
Zach Jackson and Gabe Gross, the other two players who came to Milwaukee in the Overbay trade, also contributed to the victory. Jackson pitched allowed two runs and four hits in three innings.
Gross hit a two-run homer off Runelvys Hernandez.
Mays gave up three runs in three innings, Hernandez allowed two runs in three innings and Mike MacDougal gave up a run and two walks in his inning of work.
Trailing 6-2 in the eighth, the Royals scored four runs on five hits against Brewers reliever Dan Kolb. Non-roster player Mitch Maier contributed a two-run double to the rally.
Milwaukee missed a chance to win the game in the ninth. With one out and Carlos Corporan on third, Tony Gwynn Jr. — the son of the former San Diego Padres star — fouled off a squeeze bunt and then lifted a shallow fly to Maier, who threw out Corporan at the plate from left.
The Royals are 3-3 in spring training play. They opened up the exhibition season with a tie against the Texas Rangers on March 2.
Royals notes:
Kansas City split the rest of the series with Texas, winning 7-6 on March 3 and losing 9-8 on March 4.
The Royals won 13-8 against the Colorado Rockies on March 5. They lost 8-3 against the San Diego Padres on Monday. They won 9-3 over Colorado on Tuesday.
Kansas City takes on Texas again today at 2:05 p.m.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Canada upsets U.S.
Varitek's slam not enough to avoid loss
BY BOB BAUM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Charles Rex Arboass/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
USA catcher Jason Varitek hits a grand slam against Canada during the fifth inning of round one of the World Baseball Classic at Chase Field in Phoenix. Canada got out to an early 8-0 start and won the game 8-6.
Chase Ulloy thought he had given the United States the lead
PHOENIX — Adam Stern hit .133 in 36 games for the Boston Red Sox in an injury-plagued 2005 season. Adam Loewen spent all of last year at Class A Frederick in the a Baltimore organization.
On a brisk Wednesday afternoon, they outshone the Jeters and A-Rods of Team USA, leading Canada to an surprising 8-6 victory in the first round of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
"We like to tell everyone we can play baseball, too," Stern said. "We're not just a hockey country."
Stern hit an inside-the-park homer, drove in four runs and made two sensational catches in center.
Loewen, a 21-year-old left-hander, gave up three hits and walked three but didn't allow a run in 3-2-3 innings and got the victory.
"He pitched a heck of a game," U.S. manager Buck Martinez said, "and he showed a lot of composure for a guy that hasn't pitched about A-ball."
"The team played unbelievably behind me," Loewen said. "Stern had the game of his life."
Jason Varitek's 448-foot grand slam helped bring the United States back from an 8-0 deficit, but a Canadian team made up largely of minor leaguers held on.
Loewen escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first when Chipper Jones hit into a double play.
"It's a very quiet locker room right now," Martinez said. "I think everybody is feeling like they got kicked in the stomach."
in the eighth, flipping his bat and raising both arms in triumph after he hit a long drive to center with two on. But Stern made leaping catch at the wall near the 407-foot sign to end the inning.
A crowd of 16,993 at Chase Field alternated between booing America's futility and supportive chants of "U-S-A!"
"I thought Chase's ball was gone when he hit it," Derek Jeter said. "I mean, he crushed that ball, but you've got to hit it pretty good to get it out in that part of the park."
Canada had seven left-handed hitters in the lineup, a situation that played perfectly into the hands of lefty U.S. starter Dontele Willis, the first player to commit to playing for the Americans last summer.
But the Canadians (2-0), who had to rally in the ninth Tuesday night to beat South Africa 11-8, were patient, hit Willis hard and scored in each of the first five innings.
"I just didn't do anything right today," Willis said. "It's just one of those games."
Stern tripped in a run in the second and singled in two more in the third. Then leading off the fifth, his opposite-field fly ball skidded off the base of the bullpen fence past left fielder Matt Holliday.
As Holliday pulled up lame, Stern raced around the bases for an inside-the-park homer to put Canada up 8-0. After being examined by the trainers, Holliday stayed in the game.
The United States didn't allow a runner beyond first base in its 2-0 victory over Mexico on Wednesday, but Willis was ineffective and allowed five runs and six hits in 2-2-3 innings. He was relieved by Al Leiter, who surrendered two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
"I know for a fact we don't have the depth that some of the other countries have," Canadian manager Ernie Whitt said. "But we do have a lot of heart."
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