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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) Jonathan Schoop hits 2-run double for Detroit Tigers Nederlands CLEARWATER / LAKELAND / NORTH PORT / WEST PALM BEACH, Florida / PEORIA / SURPRISE, Arizona (USA) - Sixteen exhibition games were played in Major League Spring Training on Friday (February 28), again divided into eight games in Florida (Grapefruit League) and eight in Arizona (Cactus League). On Friday, seven players from the Netherlands played. Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves), Didi Gregorius (Philadelphia Phillies), Carter Kieboom (Washington Nationals), Jurickson Profar (San Diego Padres), Jonathan Schoop (Detroit Tigers) and Chadwick Tromp (San Francisco Giants) all were in the starting line-ups. Sherten Apostel (Texas Rangers) played the last four innings. Schoop was the most successful player, as he batted in two runs with a double for Detroit. Profar recorded a basehit, which contributed to the win of San Diego. The others remained hitless, but Apostel, Gregorius and Kieboom all walked. (February 28) 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)

At CoolToday Park in North Port, a split-squad of Atlanta Braves played at home against New York Yankees and lost 5-3. Ozzie Albies was the starting second baseman for Atlanta and batted 0-for-3. Albies flied out in his first at bat in the second inning. Atlanta then took a 2-0 lead in the second inning via a 2-run homerun by Johan Camargo. In the third, Albies flied out again. New York got one run back in the top of the sixth in a double-steal situation. In the bottom of the sixth, Luis Avilan took over the pitching for New York and struckout all three batters he faced. Albies was the second one. In the top of the seventh inning, Yangervis Solarte replaced Albies at second base. Moments later, New York took the lead on an one-out homerun by Estevan Florial and scored two more runs in the eighth. Atlanta got one run back in the ninth when Trey Harris led off with a homerun.

At Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Detroit Tigers played at home against Toronto Blue Jays and lost 5-4. Detroit Tigers is having Spring Training in Lakeland since 1966 and since then, the team plays its home-games at Joker Marchant Stadium. The stadium opened in March 1966 and was named after former Lakeland Parks and Recreation Director Marcus 'Joker' Marchant. The Publix supermarket chain, which has its headquarters in Lakeland, purchased naming rights for 20 years, ending in 2036. In 2017, the field was renamed Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The stadium is the main-site in TigerTown, which is the name of the Spring Training-facility of Detroit Tigers. Jonathan Schoop started at second base for Detroit, was 1-for-2 with a double and two runs batted in. Toronto opened the score with three runs in the top of the first inning. In the home-half of the at bat, Detroit had two runners on base with two outs, but Schoop then struckout to end the inning. Toronto added a run in the third on a triple by Teoscar Hernández, who had hit a 2-run double in the first. In the bottom of the third inning, Ty Tice took over the Toronto-pitching. He walked two batters and struckout two. And so, Detroit had the same situation as two innings earlier, two runners on base with two outs. This time, Schoop connected well and hit a 2-run double to cut the deficit in half, 4-2. Tice then closed with his third strikeout in the inning. In the top of the sixth, Schoop was replaced by new second baseman KodyClemens. Toronto scored another run in the fourth, then Detroit came back with runs in the seventh and eighth inning, but ended up short.

At Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Philadelphia Phillies played at home against a split-squad of Atlanta Braves and won 6-5. Didi Gregorius started the game for Philadelphia as short stop and was 0-for-2 with a walk. Gregorius led off the second and fourth inning with a grounder. Atlanta scored twice in the top of the third inning, but Philadephia rallied for five runs in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, Bryce Harper hit the ball into righftield for a baseclearing, 3-run double to put Philadelphia ahead. Hereafter, Jean Segura singled in Harper and was replaced by pinch-runner Alec Bohm. Gregorius was the next batter and walked. After reaching first base, Gregorius also was replaced by a pinch-runner, Bryson Stott. With the two runners on base, Kurt Hoekstra became the new pitcher for Atlanta. Hoekstra, who must have a Dutch heritage with this name, saw the runners advanced on a wild pitch, then got the bases loaded when he walked pinch-hitter Nick Martini. Hoekstra followed with a strikeout, but then issued a basesloaded walk to Phil Gosselin, which made it a 5-2 score. But three runners were then left behind. In the top of the sixth, Stott also took over the short stop-position of Gregorius. Trailing 5-2, Atlanta came alongside in the top of the ninth. But in the bottom of the ninth, Philadelphia got the bases loaded on three consecutive singles. Bryson Stott then followed with a grounder, which led to a force out at the plate. In an attempt to complete a double play at first base, catcher Carlos Martinez made a throwing error, which led to the winning run and ended the game.

At FITTEAM Ballpark of The Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Washington Nationals played at home against Tampa Bay Rays and lost 8-1. Carter Kieboom started as third baseman for Washington and was 0-for-2 with a walk. Kieboom struckout in the second and fifth inning. Washington took an 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by veteran Howie Kendrick. But Tampa Bay rallied for three runs in the second at bat and added one on a homerun by Brian O'Grady in the third. Tampa Bay took more distance by scoring a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, Kieboom got his third at bat with one out. This time, he walked and moved into scoring position on a single by Mac Williamson, but the two were left behind. Kieboom was one of the two remaining starting players to leave the game in the top of the eighth inning. Jake Noll then took over at third base.

At Surprise Stadium in Surprise, a split-squad of San Francisco Giants visited Kansas City Royals and won 3-1. Chadwick Tromp was the starting catcher for San Francisco and was 0-for-3. Tromp flied out to end the second inning. Earlier in that at bat, San Francisco had opened the score on a 2-run homerun by Darin Ruf. Tromp led off the fifth inning and then struckout. The catcher led off again in the seventh and then flied out. In the bottom of the seventh, Andres Angulo took over the catching from Tromp.

At Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Texas Rangers visited Los Angeles Angels and lost 7-2. Sherten Apostel entered the game halfway as new third baseman for Texas. He was 0-for-1 with a walk. With the score tied at 2-2, Apostel entered the game in the bottom of the sixth. He then took over third base from Isiah Kiner-Falefa. In the at bat, Los Angeles rallied for five runs, which began with a 2-run homerun by Arismendy Alcantara. In the top of the seventh, Apostel led off and walked, but was eliminated in a double play. He then struckout in the ninth inning.

At Peoria Stadium in Peoria, San Diego Padres played at home against Chicago Cubs and won 5-1. Jurickson Profar started at second base for San Diego and was 1-for-2. With the score at 1-1, Wil Myers led off with a walk for San Diego in the bottom of the second inning. He moved into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Profar, advanced on a grounder by Francisco Mejia, but then was left behind. In the fourth inning, with one out, Myers reached on an error, but then was caught stealing. Hereafter, Profar also reached on an error, but stranded on first base. In the sixth, Josh Naylor led off for San Diego with a walk, then moved to second base on a single by Profar, who was then replaced by pinch-runner Jake Cronenworth (who later also took over the second base-position). The bases then got loaded when Mejia also walked. Next, a sacrifice fly by Luis Torrens gave San Diego a 2-1 lead. San Diego added two runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth.

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