SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and Travis Snider homered as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 Monday.
Cain hit his first spring home run in the third off Jacob Turner after Mike Moustakas walked.
Gordon homered on a 0-2 pitch from Turner to lead off the first. Gordon is 8 for 12 with three home runs and four RBIs in his past four games. Snider ripped a three-run shot in the Royals’ five-run seventh.
Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura struck out six in four innings, allowing one run and three hits.
“It feels good this time of year to have a good feel for your pitches,” Ventura said.
Turner, who was limited to two minor league starts last season because of an elbow injury, allowed three runs and six hits in three innings.
“I left a pitch up to Gordon,” Turner said. “That home run to Cain, I was trying to go down and away and it just kind of ran back over the middle on me. I definitely need to execute that fastball down a little bit better.”
Jason Coats homered for the White Sox.
STARTING TIME
White Sox: Turner is 0-2 with a 10.57 ERA in three starts, allowing nine runs on 13 hits, including four homers, and four walks in 7 2/3 innings. “The stuff has been pretty good,” Turner said. “The execution has been a little bit disappointing at times, especially out of the stretch. Coming off the injury, I’m happy to be pitching, happy to be competing. I do feel like I’ve executed a lot of good pitches. Every time I go out there and pitch, I’m not trying to give up any runs if it’s spring training or Game 7 of the World Series. Every time I pitch, I’m trying to get good results and also execute pitches.”
Royals: Ventura struck out the side on 13 pitches in the first inning. “All of them were changeups,” he said. “I was working on and making sure I stayed through it and it was working.” He also wriggled out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the fourth.
A SALE JOB
White Sox LHP Chris Sale pitched in a B-game against Dodgers. Sale threw 75 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, two walks and a hit batter, while striking out four.
ROYALS TRIM 19
The Royals optioned RHP Kyle Zimmer, a 2012 first-round draft pick, and OF Jose Martinez, who led the Pacific Coast League with a .384 batting average last season, to Triple-A Omaha as the club made 19 roster moves. The Royals have 44 players still in camp.
Kansas City also optioned RHP Miguel Almonte, 1B Cheslor Cuthbert and OF Brett Eibner to Omaha. The team optioned OFs Bubba Starling and Jorge Bonifacio, LHP Matt Strahm, RHP Alec Mills and INF Ramon Torres to Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
The Royals assigned nine non-roster invitees to minor league camp.
STILL HITLESS
2B Christian Colon went 0 for 3 and is hitless in 22 at-bats. “I can think of about five or six that I’ve hit well, but no luck,” Colon said. “It just trickles down and keeps going. I’ll be fine. When the lights come on, I’ll be ready.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: C Dioner Navarro, who fouled a ball off his left ankle Sunday, did not play.
UP NEXT
White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana will start against the Dodgers.
Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy will face the Reds, who will counter with LHP Brandon Finnegan, a 2014 Kansas City first-round pick who was a member of the Royals’ bullpen in the 2014 World Series.
