The Royals came away with a win today against the San Francisco Giants in sound fashion. Zito gave up 5 hits, 8 runs (5 earned), and 4 walks in 2 and 2/3 innings, and saw his ERA balloon to 17.18. The hitting didn’t stop there. They totaled 14 hits all together in this contest, and spread it out pretty well. The real highlight was Damon Hollins who went 3 for 3 and drove in 5.
It’s really nice to see some solid at bats from the Royals this spring training. I am eager to see how they will react to this beating they handed the Giants, especially since this win came a day after they got a solid beating of their own curtosy of the Cubs.
Hideo Nomo pitched for the first time since his elbow surgery in 2005. He wasted no time showing why he won more games then any other pitcher in Japanese baseball history (123), allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, struck out 1, and did not give up a walk. By the looks of it the Royals now have more pitchers to start then they have positions to fill. Can you say pitching race? This is not something that I think the organization feels bad about. That is a positive position to be in as long as they can trust the right people to make the right decisions. It will be very interesting to see how they handle this new development in their pitching rotation. Hillman had this to say about Nomo’s performance today, “I’m comfortable with the way he’s progressing.” Sounds good to me. Tomorrow will tell how Nomo feels after today’s showing. If his arm and elbow don’t feel any adverse affects, I think he is winning over the coaching staff, and I can see him in this years starting rotation.