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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen) Didi Gregorius hits third homerun in Spring Training Nederlands TAMPA / KISSIMMEE / WEST PALM BEACH, Florida / MARYVALE (PHOENIX) / MESA, Arizona (USA) - On Tuesday (March 13), five Dutch players participated in games played by Major League-teams during this years Spring Training. Didi Gregorius hit his third Spring Training-homerun for New York Yankees. On Monday, Jonathan Schoop (Baltimore Orioles) also had hit his third homerun. Schoop didn't play on Tuesday. Besides Gregorius, Ozzie Albies, Spencer Kieboom, Chris Pieters and Jurickson Profar also played on Tuesday. Since a few days, several Major League-clubs have started sending players back to Minor League Camp or assign them to Minor League-teams. The regular season opens on March 29. Before playing their first game, the rosters of the Major League-teams must have been brought back to 25 players by then. (March 13) Related Articles: Sharlon Schoop in Spring Training; Italian Gasparini makes debut. (March 12) Gregorius HRs; Sicnarf Loopstok, Jiandido Tromp in action. (March 11) Schoop hits 2nd Spring Training-HR; Pieters doubles. (March 10) Spring Training-debut Kenley Jansen postponed. (March 9) Gregorius homers, Simmons injured in Spring Training. (March 8) 3 Hits & 2 Runs by Dutch players in Spring Training. (March 7) Xander Bogaerts homers for Boston. (March 6) Only two Dutch players in Spring Training-action on Monday. (March 5) Productive day Dutch players in League Spring Training. (March 4) Another Kieboom in Major League Spring Training. (March 3) Didi Gregorius collects three hits in Spring Training-game. (March 2) Spencer Kieboom, Chadwick Tromp deliver game-winning hits. (March 1) Andrelton Simmons plays in first Spring Training-game. (February 28) Seattle adds Aruban Eugene Helder for Spring Training-game. (February 27) Jonathan Schoop homers for Baltimore. (February 26) Spencer Kieboom collects 2 basehits for Washington. (February 25) Baltimore adds 2 Curaçao-players for Spring Training-game. (February 24) First Dutch players in action in Major League Spring Training. (February 23) Major League Spring Training-season opens. (February 21)

At Tampa, New York Yankees played at home against Detroit Tigers in a game that ended in a 2-2 tie. Detroit took an 1-0 lead in the third inning, then New York scored twice in the bottom of the eighth. In the next at bat, Detroit came alongside. ...Didi Gregorius hit his third Spring Training-homerun... ...On the photo, he has homered for the Netherlands... ...during the 2017 World Baseball Classic... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) Didi Gregorius started as short stop for New York was 1-for-3. His basehit was a homerun that tied the score in the eighth. In the second inning, Gregorius grounded out. Detroit then opened the score in the top of the third inning when Cuban Leonys Martin homered. Gregorius led off the fifth inning for New York, but then struckout. In the bottom of the seventh inning, new Detroit-pitcher Drew VerHagen had a strong outing, as he struckout powerhitters Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez. In the next inning, Gregorius led off and also faced VerHagen. The Amsterdam-born infielder drilled the ball into right-centerfield for a homerun that tied the score. This was the third homerun this Spring Training for Gregorius. Later in the at bat, the Yankees got the bases loaded, then took a 2-1 lead on a force play-grounder from Shane Robinson. In the top of the ninth inning, Gregorius was replaced by Tyler Wade, who also took over as short stop. A single by Victor Reyes produced Detroit's second run in the ninth inning. After the game, talented second baseman Gleyber Torres was sent to MInor League Camp and was optioned to New York's Triple-A team. Torres, who was 1-for-2 with a walk in today's game, is the top propect in the Yankee-organization. In Triple-A, he will get more playing time. When Spring Training began, Torres was a possible candidate to make the Major League-roster as second baseman. In June last year, he underwent Tommy John-surgery on his left elbow and is still recovering. Last Monday, New York signed veteran signed baseman Neil Walker, who last year played for the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers.

At Kissimmee, Atlanta Braves played at home against Toronto Blue Jays and lost 13-6. Toronto scored in each inning from the fourth on. The Canadian squad led 8-6 after six innings, then added five more runs in the remainder of the game. Ozzie Albies started at second base for Atlanta and was 0-for-2 with a walk. With Toronto leading 1-0 and one out in the bottom of the first inning, Albies walked. Moments later, he was caught stealing at second base. There, he was tagged out by short stop Gift Ngoepe, who last year became the first South African player to make his debut in the Major League while playing for Pitsburgh Pirates. Ngoepe became the first player born in the African continent since Al Cabrera, who played in one game for St. Louis Cardinals in 1913 and was born on the Canary Islands. Albies flied out in the third inning and struckout in the fifth at bat. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Albies was replaced by pinch-hitter Christian Colón, who also went on to become the new second baseman.

At West Palm Beach, Washington Nationals played at home against New York Mets and won 7-4. Washington took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, then added two runs in both the third and sixth inning. Trailing 7-0, New York scored its four runs in the final three innings. In the top of the eighth inning, Spencer Kieboom entered the game as new catcher. This was a so-called double switch, as in the batting order, Kieboom replaced pitcher Ryan Madson, who was to be the lead-off hitter in the bottom of the eighth. New pitcher Joaquin Benoit replaced Ryan Raburn, the number six in the batting order, who had come into the game in the seventh as pinch-hitter for catcher Matt Wieters. In the bottom of the eighth, Kieboom led off and got his lone at bat, but he struckout.

At Maryvale, which is an urban village of Phoenix, Texas Rangers visited Milwaukee Brewers and lost 4-3 at Maryvale Baseball Park. Texas broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh, but Milwaukee answered with two runs of its own. Jurickson Profar was the starting short stop for Texas and was 1-for-3. He hit was a double and he also scored a run. Profar flied out in the top of the second inning. He again flied out when he led off the fifth inning. With the score at 2-2 and facing new pitcher Aaron Wilkerson in the top of the seventh inning, Profar hit a ground-rule double with one out. Profar advanced on a grounder by Destin Hood, then scored the go-ahead run for Texas on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the seventh, Profar was replaced by Michael De Leon, who also took over as short stop. Moments later, Eric Sogard led off for Milwaukee with a single, then his pinch-runner Jake Hager scored when next hitter Jesus Aguilar homered to put the Brewers ahead, 4-3.

At Mesa, a split-squad of Chicago Cubs played at home against San Francisco Giants and won 2-1. Chicago scored its runs in the first and fourth inning. San Francisco avoided a shutout by scoring its lone run in the top of the ninth. In the top of the seventh inning, Chris Pieters entered the game as new rightfielder for the Cubs, replacing Jason Heyward. In the bottom of the eighth inning, facing new pitcher Cory Gearrin, Wynton Bernard led off for the Cubs with a single. Hereafter, Pieters got his lone at bat, but he grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

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