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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen) Xander Bogaerts hits second homerun; Andrelton Simmons 3-for-3 Nederlands FORT MYERS / KISSIMMEE / JUPITER / LAKELAND / TAMPA, Florida / TEMPE / PHOENIX, Arizona (USA) - On Monday (March 19), seven Dutch players came into action in Major League Spring Training-games. Xander Bogaerts hit his second Spring Training-homerun for Boston Red Sox, while Andrelton Simmons had a perfect day at he plate, hitting 3-for-3 for Los Angeles Angels. Also playing on Monday were Ozzie Albies, Didi Gregorius, Kenley Jansen, Spencer Kieboom and Ademar Rifaela. (March 19) Related Articles: Eugene Helder debuts in Spring Training with basehit. (March 18) Hendrik Clementina & Darren Seferina in Spring Training. (March 17) Ozzie Albies hits 2 homeruns (from both sides) for Atlanta. (March 16) Spring-debut Jansen; Simmons returns; Schoop HRs again. (March 15) Jonathan Schoop helps Baltimore to win with 4th homerun. (March 14) Didi Gregorius hits third homerun in Spring Training. (March 13) 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 Fort Myers, Boston Red Sox played home against Philadelphia Phillies and won 6-5. Boston trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, then scored four runs to win the game. ...Xander Bogaerts during the... ...2017 World Baseball Classic... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) Xander Bogaerts started as short stop for Boston and was 2-for-3, including a homerun. He scored once and batted in two runs. In the bottom of the second inning, Bogaerts led off and struckout. Philadelphia-starter Drew Hutchison struckout the side in this inning. By the way, these were his only strikeouts in the five innings he threw. With Boston trailing 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the fourth, Bogaerts homered to even the score. In the top of the fifth, Aaron Altherr hit a 3-run homerun for the Phillies to give his team a 4-1 lead. In the sixth inning, off of reliever Tom Eshelman, Hanley Ramirez led off for Boston with a double, then his pinch-runner Sam Travis scored on an one-out single from Bogaerts, which narrowed the deficit to 4-2. Bogaerts was replaced in the top of the seventh inning by new leftfielder Blake Swihart, while Deven Marrero became the new short stop. Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Boston recorded five basehits, including four 'extras', to win. The inning began with back-to-back-to-back doubles from Jantzen Witte, Ivan De Jesus, Jr. and Deven Marrero off of Eshelman, bringing in two runs and making it a 5-4 score. After a strikeout accounted for the first out, Tate Matheny delivered a runscoring triple to bring in the tying run. Pedro Báez then took over the pitching, but was greeted with a walk-off single from Chris Madera that brought in Matheny, who is the son of St. Louis Cardinals-Manager Mike Matheny.

At Kissimmee, Atlanta Braves shutout Toronto Blue Jays 6-0 in a home-game. Leading 1-0, Atlanta rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Atlanta recorded six basehits, including two by Ozzie Albies, who started at second base and was 2-for-4, including a triple. He also scored a run and batted in another. In the bottom of the first inning, with one out, Albies hit a triple, then scored the first run for Atlanta on a sacrifice fly by Freddie Freeman off of starter Aaron Sanchez. In the third inning, Albies lined out to rightfield to close the at bat. In the sixth inning, he again was the final out, this time with a strikeout. In the bottom of the seventh, Atlanta rallied for five runs. With one out, Tyler Flowers reached on an error. Hereafter, Toronto-starter Aaron Sanchez was relieved by Ryan Tepera. He got the bases loaded after a single and a walk. Preston Tucker and Rio Ruiz then both delivered a 2-run single. With two outs, Craig Breslow became the new pitcher. He began with a walk, then gave up an RBI-single to Albies that lifted the lead to 6-0. At first base, Albies was replaced by pinch-runner Daniel Lockhart. In the top of the eighth, Lockhart became the new second baseman.

At Jupiter, Washington Nationals visited Miami Marlins and lost 9-1. Miami already lead 6-1 after four innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Spencer Kieboom entered the game for Washington as new first baseman, replacing Matt Adams. Kieboom got his lone at bat in the top of the eighth and then grounded out.

At Lakeland, Baltimore Orioles played at Detroit Tigers and won 4-2. Leading 2-1, Baltimore took more distance by scoring twice in the top of the sixth inning. With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Ademar Rifaela was inserted by Baltimore as pinch-hitter for designated hitter Anthont Santander. Rifaela struckout and remained in the game as the new DH. On February 24, the Curaçao-born Rifaela also was added to the main-squad of Baltimore for the game against Minnesota Twins. He then also was used as a pinch-hitter and singled in his lone at bat in his Spring Training-debut.

At Tampa, New York Yankees played at home against Tampa Bay Rays. After eight innings, New York led 2-0, but then Tampa Bay rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth to win 4-2. Didi Gregorius played a complete game as short stop for New York and was 1-for-3. He also scored a run and walked. Gregorius led off the second inning with a walk, then moved on a single by Tyler Austin. The latter was forced out on a grounder by Austin Romine. That brought Gregorius to third base and with two outs, he scored the first run on a single by Ronald Torreyes. Gregorius popped out in the third inning, but got on base again in the sixth. After Aaron Hicks had led off with a walk., Gregorius singled to bring him in scoring position. With one out, Hicks scored on a sacrifice fly by Romine. In the bottom of the seventh, the Yankees got the bases loaded with two outs and appeared to add a run when Gregorius hit a line drive into centerfield. But there, Kevin Kiermaier caught the ball, ending the inning.

...Andrelton Simmons hitting during the... ...2013 World Baseball Classic... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) At Tempe, Los Angeles Angels won 8-4 at home against Seattle Mariners. Los Angeles broke an 1-1 tie with a 7-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. Andrelton Simmons started for the Angels as short stop and was 3-for-3. He also scored a run and batted in one. In the bottom of the second inning, Zack Cozart led off for the Angels with a single, but was caught stealing in a double play while Luis Valbuena struckout. Hereafter, Simmons singled, but was left behind. In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the score at 1-1, Valbuena led off and reached on an error. He then moved to third base when Simmons singled again and scored on a following single by Martin Maldonado. Moments later, Simmons advanced on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ian Kinsler, which led to a pitching change. Chasen Bradford took over from starter Christian Bergman, but the scoring continued. With two outs and two runners on base, Albert Pujols, Kole Calhoun and Zack Cozart (2-run) all delivered runscoring singles to increase the lead to 7-1. The bases then got loaded when Valbuena walked. In his second at bat in this inning, Simmons then again singled and this time, he brought in Cozart to make it an 8-1 score. A grounder then ended the long inning. In the top of the seventh, Simmons was replaced by new rightfielder Brennon Lund, while Nolan Fontana became the new short stop.

At Phoenix, Los Angeles Dodgers played at home against Oakland Athletics and won 3-1. Los Angeles opened the score with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The game began with a big blow for the Dodgers. After Logan Forsythe had led off for the team in the bottom of the first inning with a single, Justin Turner was the batter with one out. Turner, who always stands close to the plate, was hit on his left wrist by the first delivery from starting pitcher Kendall Graveman. Turner, who clearly was in pain, left the game and later, it was diagnosed that he had suffered a small fracture. As a result, the All Star third baseman will begin the season (which opens on March 29) on the disabled list and will be out for some weeks. In the top of the sixth, still with a scoreless tie, Kenley Jansen took over the pitching from Dodger-starter Alex Wood. As he did in his previous two outings, Jansen retired the side, as he got two flyouts and a groundout. All runs were scored on homeruns. In the seventh, Cody Bellinger (lead-off) and Joc Pederson (with two outs) homered for the Dodgers. Trayce Thompson added a homerun in the eighth. The lone run of Oakland was scored on a homerun by Chad Pinder in the ninth.

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