www.grand-slam.nl	International Baseball
	Headlines

Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2018 by Marco Stoovelaar

(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) Brands debuts; Gregorius and Schoop homer again Nederlands ATLANTA, Georgia / NORFOLK, Virginia / BRADENTON / FORT MYERS, Florida / ARLINGTON, Texas / LOS ANGELES, California (USA) - On Monday (March 26), nine Dutch players played for a Major League-team during Spring Training-games. More and more teams are now traveling home for the start of the new season. Some games are played in Major League-stadiums, others on Minor League-sites. Spring Training ends on Tuesday, then the regular season opens next Thursday. Catcher Paul Brands, who was added to the main-squad of Pittsburgh Pirates for Sunday's game (but then didn't play), made his Spring Training-debut today. With that, he became the first Dutch-born player to make his Spring Training-debut since Didi Gregorius and Loek van Mil did so in 2011. Gregorius then made his debut playing for Cincinnati Reds, while Van Mil pitched for Los Angeles Angels. Brands became the first Dutch player in Spring Training who was born in Haarlem since Greg Halman made his debut playing for Seattle Mariners in 2007. Didi Gregorius hit his fifth homerun of Spring Training for New York Yankees, while Jonathan Schoop hit his seventh for Baltimore Orioles. Minor Leaguer Jiandido Tromp played an entire game for Philadelphia Phillies. The other players who played were Ozzie Albies, Xander Bogaerts, Kenley Jansen, Jurickson Profar and Andrelton Simmons. (March 26) Related Articles: Paul Brands 23rd Dutch player in Spring Training. (March 25) Jansen faces Simmons in Spring Training. (March 25) Gregorius, Albies and Bogaerts hit homeruns. (March 24) Basehits for Simmons, Gregorius and Profar. (March 23) Kevin Josephina 22nd Dutch player in ML Spring Training. (March 22) Jonathan Schoop hits sixth Spring Training-homerun. (March 21) Only 3 Dutch players in Spring Training-action on Tuesday. (March 20) Xander Bogaerts hits 2nd HR; Andrelton Simmons 3-for-3. (March 19) 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 Atlanta, Atlanta Braves lost 5-1 against New York Yankees. The game was played at SunTrust Park, the home of the Braves since last season. The Yankees scored twice in the first and third inning. For New York, this was its final Spring Training-game. The team now will travel home to New York and then en route to Toronto (Canada), where it will open the season on Thursday against Toronto Blue Jays. Atlanta will play its final exhibition game on Tuesday, then open the season at home on Thursday against Philadelphia Phillies. Didi Gregorius started as short stop for New York and was 1-for-2, which was a 2-run homerun. He scored twice. Ozzie Albies was the starting second baseman for Atlanta and was 1-for-3. He scored one run. New York opened the score in the top of the first inning off of starter Brandon McCarthy. With two outs, Giancarlo Stanton walked, then Gregorius followed with his fifth homerun of this Spring Training. Stanton hit a 2-run homerun in the third inning. Gregorius flied out in the third inning and walked in the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, he was replaced by new rightfielder Trey Amburgey, while Ronald Torreyes took over as short stop. Albies grounded out in the first inning. He then led off the fourth inning with a double, moved on a grounder by Freddie Freeman and scored Atlanta's lone run on a grounder by Tyler Flowers. Albies struckout in the sixth, then was replaced in the top of the seventh by new second baseman Daniel Lockhart.

At Norfolk, Baltimore Orioles played against its Triple-A team Norfolk Tides and won 7-6. At Harbor Park in Norfolk, Baltimore trailed 3-1 after five innings, then came alongside in the sixth and took a 6-3 lead in the top of the eighth. With this game, the Orioles closed its Spring Training and now returns home to Baltimore where it will open the regular season on Thursday against Minnesota Twins. Jonathan Schoop started at second base for Baltimore and was 1-for-3, which was a 2-run homerun. This was his seventh homerun this Spring Training. His brother Sharlon Schoop played an entire game as second baseman for Norfolk and was 0-for-4 with a run batted in. Jonathan grounded into a double play in the first inning and flied out to open the fourth at bat. With Baltimore trailing 3-1 in the top of the sixth, Anthony Santander led off with a single. With two outs, Schoop homered to make it a 3-3 score. In the bottom of the sixth, Schoop was replaced by new first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez, while Corban Joseph took over at second base. Sharlon struckout in the first inning. After Norfolk had come alongside in the fourth, the team took a 2-1 lead on a force play-grounder by Schoop. He later advanced to third base, but then was picked off there by the catcher. He then flied out in the sixth and grounded into a double play int he eighth inning.

At Bradenton, Pittsburgh Pirates played at home against Philadelphia Phillies and lost 6-3. Philadelphia already led 6-0 after three innings. Jiandido Tromp played then entire game for Philadelphia as its leftfielder. He was 0-for-4, but scored a run. Paul Brands was used as a pinch-hitter and made his debut in the Pittsburgh-team. With an 1-0 lead and one out in the top of the second inning, Matt McBride doubled for the Phillies. He then moved to third base when Tromp hit into centerfield ended in an error. That enabled Tromp to advance to second base. With two outs, both scored on a single by J.P. Crawford. In the third inning, Philadelphia increased its lead to 6-0 on homeruns by Scott Kingery (solo) and Andrew Knapp (2-run). Hereafter, McBride singled, but he was forced out on a grounder by Tromp, who then stranded on first base. Tromp struckout in the fifth inning and he got his final at bat in the top of the eighth. Dovydas Neverauskas from Lithuania became the new pitcher for Pittsburgh. He walked lead-off hitter Andrew Knapp and was relieved by Josh Smoker. He began with a strikeout and hereafter, Tromp grounded into a double play. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with a 6-3 lead, Tommy Bergjans pitched for the Phillies. With two outs, Brands was then inserted as pinch-hitter for Mikell Granberry. In his Spring Training-debut, Brands struckout and that ended the game.

At Fort Myers, Boston Red Sox played at home against Chicago Cubs and won 4-2, but was outhit 10-8. Boston broke a 2-2 tie by scoring twice in the seventh inning. Xander Bogaerts started as short stop for Boston and was 0-for-4. With two runners on base, Bogaerts popped out in the first inning. He flied out in the third inning, then struckout in the sixth with a runner in scoring position. Bogaerts led off the eighth inning and then flied out. In the top of the ninth, he was replaced by new first baseman Jantzen Witte, while Ivan De Jesus, Jr. took over the short stop-position.

At Arlington, Texas Rangers hosted Cincinnati Reds and won 6-5. The game was played at Globe Life Park in Arlington, the home-stadium of Texas Rangers. Trailing 4-1, Cincinnati scored three runs in the top of the third, but Texas answered with three runs of its own. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday in Arlington. Texas then opens the new season at home on Thursday against Houston Astros. Cincinnati then will travel back home where it will open the season on Thursday against Washington Nationals. In today's game, Jurickson Profar briefly played for Texas. He entered the game in the top of the sixth, replacing Elvis Andrus as new short stop. He got his lone at bat in the seventh inning and then flied out.

At Los Angeles, neighbours Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels met again. This time, the game was played in the immense Dodger Stadium. Their, the Angels took an early lead, scoring four runs in the third inning. The teams will play another exhibition game in Dodger Stadium on Tuesday to close their Spring Training. The Dodgers then open the season at home on Thursday against San Francisco Giants. The Angels will travel to Oakland for their opener against Oakland Athletics. Andrelton Simmons started as short stop for the Angels and was 2-for-3 with a run batted in. Simmons led off the second inning, but then popped out. In the fourth inning, the Angels rallied for four runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Albert Pujols delivered a 3-run double. He then scored himself when Simmons followed with a single. With two outs in the fifth inning, Simmons singled again, but was left behind. In the bottom of the sixth, he was replaced by new short stop Nolan Fontana. In the top of the ninth inning, Kenley Jansen took over the pitching for the Dodgers and made his second appearance in two days. Jansen struckout the first two batters he faced, then was relieved by Scott Alexander, who closed the inning.

Thank you for visiting this site. Mail your suggestions and questions to stoov@wxs.nl Copyright © 1997-2018 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.