After an offseason of waiting, after franchise-defining trades and tragedy and a business-like spring training, there is now just one more dry run before the real thing.
In their penultimate exhibition game, the Royals suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Globe Life Park. As they ditched the confines of Arizona and returned to a big-league atmosphere here in Texas, the offense could not gain any traction against Rangers starter Cole Hamels.
Royals manager Ned Yost trotted out a lineup that was a close replica of the opening day version that will take the field Monday at Target Field in Minnesota.