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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) Andrelton Simmons singles and scores; Jurickson Profar, Sherten Apostel productive Nederlands JUPITER / LAKELAND / NORTH PORT, Florida / PEORIA / MARYVALE (PHOENIX) / TEMPE, Arizona (USA) - On Friday (March 6), sixteen Spring Training-games were played, seven in Florida, nine in Arizona. With Opening Day (March 26) less than three weeks away, the teams are now in the process to shape up their rosters for the regular season. Instead of 25 players on a roster, starting this season, a Major League-roster consists of 26 players. Today, the first teams have sent back players and optioned them to Minor League-teams. On Friday, seven Netherlands-players got into action. Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves), Jurickson Profar, Jonathan Schoop (Detroit Tigers) and Andrelton Simmons (Los Angeles Angels) were in the starting line-up. Sherten Apostel (Texas Rangers), Carter Kieboom (Washington Nationals) and Chadwick Tromp (San Francisco Giants) entered the game later. (March 6) Related Articles: 10 Kingdom-players open Spring Training on Major League-rosters. (February 20) Sherten Apostel & Zander Wiel first Netherlands-players in action in Spring Training. (February 21) Five Netherlands-players in Spring Training-action on Saturday. (February 22) Wiel homers for Minnesota; Gregorius makes Philadelphia-debut. (February 23) No hits, but 3 walks for 5 Netherlands-players in Spring Training. (February 24) Spring Training-basehits for Albies, Apostel and Kieboom. (February 25) Good Spring Training-outings Ozzie Albies & Kenley Jansen. (February 26) Zander Wiel hits second Spring Training-homerun. (February 27) Jonathan Schoop hits 2-run double for Detroit Tigers. (February 28) Carter Kieboom walks twice and scores for Washington. (February 29) Productive outings Jurickson Profar, Andrelton Simmons & Kenley Jansen. (March 1) Sherten Apostel contributes to Spring Training-win Texas Rangers. (March 2) Ozzie Albies and Carter Kieboom collect two Spring Training-basehits. (March 3) Xander Bogaerts plays in first Spring Training-game. (March 4) Kenley Jansen allows first batter to reach base. (March 5)

At CoolToday Park in North Port, Atlanta Braves played at home against Boston Red Sox and won 7-5. Ozzie Albies started as second baseman for Atlanta and was 0-for-3. With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Albies grounded out. Hereafter, Freddie Freeman walked and scored all the way from first base on a pop-fly, wind-blown single into centerfield by Marcell Ozuna to put Atlanta ahead, 1-0. Boston scored twice in the top of the third inning on an error and a grounder. In the bottom of the third, Albies struckout. Atlanta came alongside in the fourth when Austin Riley homered. With one out and runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fifth, Albies grounded. That moved the runners, but they were left behind. Albies left the game in the sixth when he was replaced by Pete Kozma. In the seventh, Atlanta re-took the lead (3-2), but Boston answered with two runs in the eighth. But in the bottom of the eigth, Atlanta rallied for four runs to decide the game. The at bat was highlighted by a baseclearing, 3-run triple by Charlie Culberson, who then scored himself on a single by Shea Langeliers.

At Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, Detroit Tigers played at home against Philadelphia Phillies and suffered a 9-0 shutout-loss. Detroit was limited to only two basehits by five pitchers. Philadelphia-starter Jake Arrieta threw four hitless innings. Jonathan Schoop started for Detroit as second baseman and was 0-for-3. Schoop led off in the second inning, but grounded out. With two outs, Arrieta walked three consecutive batters, but they all were left behind. Schoop led off again in the fourth and he also grounded out this time. He popped out in the sixth, then was replaced by Kody Clemens in the top of the seventh. Philadelphia opened the score in the fourth, added a run in the sixth, then scored two more in the seventh. The team then rallied for five runs in the eighth, which were all scored on homeruns. Philadelphia got the bases loaded with no outs, then Abrahan Gutierrez hit a grand slam homerun! With two outs, Nick Martini added a solo-homerun. Gutierrez had entered the game in the bottom of the seventh as new catcher. For the 20-year old Venezuelan, the grand slam was the first Spring Training-basehit in his career!

At Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, a split-squad of Los Angeles Angels played at home against a split-squad of Kansas City Royals. The match-up ended in a 4-4 tie after nine innings. Andrelton Simmons was the lead-off hitter and starting short stop for Los Angeles. He batted 1-for-3 and scored a run. After Kansas City had scored a run in the top of the first, Simmons led off for Los Angeles. He hit a line drive, but that was caught by centerfielder Brett Phillips. In the bottom of the third inning, Los Angeles scored three runs. Jahmai Jones and Simmons opened with singles, then both scored when Mike Trout followed with a towering homerun. Last season, Trout was voted Most Valuable Player of the American League. Simmons grounded out in the fifth, then was replaced by Leonardo Rivas in the top of the sixth. Kansas City came alongside in the fourth, then took a 4-3 lead in the fifth on a double by Nicky Lopez. A sacrifice fly by Justin Upton brought in the fourth Angels-run in the sixth.

In the main-stadium at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Maryvale, which is a village in the City of Phoenix, San Francisco Giants played an away-game at Milwaukee Brewers. This game also ended in a tie, as the score was 5-5 after nine innings. Since 1998, Milwaukee Brewers is having its Spring Training in Maryvale Baseball Park. In November 2017, the Phoenix City Council voted in favor of a major renovation of the facility. In the plan, Milwaukee will stay at the complex through 2042. The renovations were completed before the start of the 2019 Spring Training-season. That included new locker rooms, concessions and a new entry plaza behind home plate. New batting tunnels, practice mounds and parking lots were also constructed and a new scoreboard was installed. The press box also was refurbished. When the new facility was re-opened in 2019, it was renamed American Family Fields of Phoenix, as the Milwaukee Brewers announced a naming rights agreement with American Family Insurance, which has its headquarters in Madison in Wisconsin, the home state of the Brewers. After this season, Miller Park, the home-stadium in Milwaukee also get a new name. Trailing 1-0, San Francisco scored twice in the top of the second inning, then added a run in the fourth when Joe McCarthy homered. Milwaukee came alongside by scoring a run in the fourth (homerun Keston Hiura) and fifth inning. San Francisco broke the 3-3 tie in the sixth and scored another run in the seventh. Again, Milwaukee came back to tie the score, this time by scoring twice in the eighth. In the bottom of the sixth, Chadwick Tromp entered the game as new catcher for San Francisco, taking over from Tyler Heineman. In the top of the eighth, Tromp led off and singled in his lone at bat in the game. But he was forced out moments later.

At Peoria Stadium in Peoria, San Diego Padres played at home against Texas Rangers and won 4-3. Jurickson Profar was the starting second baseman for San Diego and was 2-for-3, while also scoring a run. Profar grounded out in the second inning, then got his next at bat in the fourth. With one out, Tommy Pham doubled, advanced on a grounder and scored on a sacrifice fly by Eric Hosmer Hereafter, Profar singled, but stranded on first base. Texas came alongside in the top of the sixth on a double by Joey Gallo. But in the bottom of the sixth, Profar scored the go-ahead run for San Diego. With one out, Hosmer reached on an error. Profar followed with a single, but Hosmer was eliminated at third base trying to advance an extra base. Moments later, Profar scored on a triple by Wil Myers to put San Diego ahead, 2-1. In the top of the seventh, Profar was replaced by Gordon Beckham. In the bottom of the seventh, it was another player from Curaçao that entered the game, as Sherten Apostel became the new third baseman for Texas, replacing Todd Frazier. In the top of the ninth, it was Apostel who scored the tying run. With one out, he doubled, moved on a single by Bubba Thompson, then scored on a single by Anderson Tejeda. With two outs and runners on the corner, Thompson scored in a double steal-situation. But San Diego also scored twice in its ninth at bat. With two outs, a single by Juan Lagares made it a 3-3 score, then Esteban Quiroz followed with a game-winning, walk-off single.

At Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Washington Nationals played at Miami Marlins and lost 7-3. Carter Kieboom became the new third baseman for Washington in the bottom of the fifth. With a runner on first base in the top of the seventh, Kieboom got his first at bat. He hit a line drive, but that was caught by centerfielder Jesus Sanchez and that ended the inning. In the top of the ninth, Washington had runners on first and second base with two outs off of new pitcher Pat Venditte, who throws both lefthanded and righthanded. The switch-pitcher threw righthanded the entire inning also when he faced Kieboom, who flied out, which ended the game. Washington had taken a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Miami came back from the fifth inning on. In the fifth, Chad Wallach hit a 2-run homerun and Lewis Brinson did the same in the next at bat. In the seventh, Miami added three more runs.

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