Kyle Isbel, Franmil Reyes and Clay Dungan had big days at the plate as the Kansas City Royals beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5 in an exhibition matchup at Las Vegas Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Back at the Royals' spring home in Surprise, Arizona, Daniel Lynch struggled as a Royals split squad fell 6-3 to the Rockies.
Isbel, who attended UNLV from 2015-18, thrived in the city where he played college ball, going 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs. Reyes hit a three-run homer, his third of the spring, while Dungan had a pair of doubles and drove in a run.
Jackson Kowar pitched well in his first Cactus League appearance since being sent to minor league camp earlier in the week. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out five while allowing one run, three hits and no walks over three innings.
Collin Snider struggled in the ninth inning, allowing three earned runs on four hits and a walk. He did strike out both of the batters he retired. Jacob Wallace came on to record the game's final out.
In Surprise, Lynch allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk over 3.1 innings. He recorded just one strikeout. Lefty Austin Cox had a strong outing in relief, striking out four while allowing one hit and one walk over 1.2 scoreless innings.
Veteran outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. continued to impress at the plate, going 2 for 3 with an RBI double. Maikel Garcia put the Royals on the board with an RBI single in the first inning, and Jose Briceño drove in a run with a seventh-inning double.
Former Royals great Mike Moustakas had a fantastic day at the plate for the Rockies, collecting hits in all three of his at-bats. Moustakas, who is batting .500 as a non-roster invitee this spring, had an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring double in the fifth.
The Royals have another set of split-squad matchups on Sunday. Brad Keller starts against Germán Márquez and the Rockies in Vegas, while Zack Greinke and the group of Royals players who remained in Arizona will visit the Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields. Lefty Tommy Henry will start for the D-backs.
