y ISN’T smiling?"Among the best parts of spring training are all the silly questions we get to ask ourselves about roster construction. Who could be healthy? Who could force their way onto the big league roster? Is Bubba Starling a big league player now that he’s hit 2 bombs in one spring training game?Unfortunately Rod Carew Jersey , not all the news is good. Danny Duffy is already being held back with shoulder tightness. The team says it’s probably normal and they’re just being cautious, which is good. But he’s been hurt so many times you can’t but wonder how “normal” it is. And, even worse, it sounds like human smile machine Salvador Perez may be out for the season.So if Sal is out, what should the Royals do? It sounds like they’re in contact with the only man to unseat Salvy, however temporarily, from his Gold Glove throne in 2017, Martin Maldonado. Martin was a well-below-average-hitting catcher for the Angels and Astros last year. Also on the market are better-defense-as-a-DH Evan Gattis and assault-with-a-deadly-weapon-no-that-is-not-a-joke-perpetrator Bruce Maxwell. So, ya know, the market is not exactly flooded with talent. And it’s not like the Royals are going to compete even if they sign one of those guys.For my money, I’d like to see them have a competition among the minor league guys and give one of them a big league payday for a season. M.J. Melendez probably needs to stay in the minors to be the best he can be and Meibrys Viloria is in a similar position despite his September call-up last season. But Nick Dini played some at AAA and didn’t look especially overwhelmed there last year. I’d be quite happy to see the Royals give him a shot. Xavier Fernandez didn’t look too terrible in AA last year, either. Most of the catchers are still young enough that they could turn into something and it wouldn’t exactly be surprising. Dini, though Brian Dozier Jersey , is already 25 and while that’s not old it does make it noticeably less likely he’ll ever be a big-time prospect, now. I’d probably rather see him get paid something this year just in case he never gets another shot.Lineup nonsenseMax had an article the other day about who should lead off, Adalberto Mondesi or Whit Merrifield when Ned raised the possibility that the speedy Mondesi might usurp the role from the veteran Merrifield. The reasoning seems to go, “Leadoff home runs are cool and Whit is more experienced at putting the ball in play in a way that advances runners. But, ya know, Whit was pretty good there last year so we’ll see.”This isn’t hard for me, though. I want Whit in that leadoff spot. For one thing, if Mondesi is never on base, Whit won’t have anyone to advance. Also, two-run home runs are more fun than solo shots. In addition to that there is a school of thought that Whit could protect Mondesi in the lineupbut theoretically whoever is batting third should also be able to protect Adalberto while, as Max pointed out, having a speedy runner on base might allow him to see more fastballs and his biggest flaw as a player appears to be his inability to identify pitches.Max also pointed out that in some lineup construction plans your best hitter should bat second in the lineup to maximize appearances but still allow for runners on base. Whit was the Royals’ best hitter last year but Mondesi has the most potential. Why play it safe when you’re probably going to lose 90+ games anyway? Might as well take some chances. SEATTLE (AP) — Andrew McCutchen got the Yankees started and Dellin Betances made sure they hung on at the end.McCutchen hit his second home run in two days, Betances pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and New York held off the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Saturday night.Austin Romine hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh for the Yankees Justin Morneau Jersey , who moved within 7½ games of first-place Boston in the AL East with 20 to play. New York leads Oakland by 3½ games for the league’s top wild card.Seattle loaded the bases with one out against Betances, but he struck out Denard Span and Kyle Seager to earn his third save.“Tonight he finds himself in a little bit of trouble, but he keeps making pitches,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He kept pounding the strike zone with his fastball and breaking balls, and he came up with a lot of big pitches in that inning. I was just proud of Dellin.”Betances gave up a double to Mitch Haniger, hit Robinson Cano with a pitch and walked Nelson Cruz before buckling down.“Everyone knows Betances has great stuff,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We hoped to put a little pressure on him and we did. You have to try and look for a mistake. We got some traffic out there, but just didn’t get the big hit at the end. It’s frustrating. It’s been a struggle for a while. You have to square a few more balls up.”With 20 games remaining, Seattle dropped 7½ behind Oakland for the second AL wild card.Yankees starter Lance Lynn (9-10) allowed three hits and two runs in six innings. He is 2-2 in eight starts with the team.“My cutter was there tonight,” Lynn said. “For the most part, the command was probably the best it’s been all year. Most of it was just in my mind and telling myself not to do too much. Stay within yourself and do what you have to do to put it where you need to. And I was able to do that for the most part.”Mariners starter Felix Hernandez left in the fifth with right hamstring tightness.“I slipped a little on the second batter, but I felt it in my last start,” Hernandez said. “It was hard to push off.”McCutchen led off the game by sending Hernandez’s changeup down the left-field line and into the seats for his second home run with the Yankees.Mike Zunino tied it in the third with a homer to straightaway center http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-max-kepler-jersey , his 19th of the season.Giancarlo Stanton gave New York a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to right. The inning started with back-to-back walks by Hernandez before he exited with the hamstring injury.“Felix felt it more as the game went on,” Servais said. “He gave us what he had tonight. We’ll see how he feels going forward.”A bloop single to left by Dee Gordon scored Ben Gamel from second and tied the game at 2 in the fifth.Romine’s home run in the seventh off reliever Nick Vincent (3-3) put the Yankees back in front. Gleyber Torres added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.“It’s fun to contribute,” Romine said. “Every time you get in this game you want to help contribute for this team, whatever it is, however it is. We’ve got some boys who can put the ball in the seats. It’s fun to be a part of it.”MEMORIESIt was 25 years ago Saturday when Servais caught a no-hitter for the Houston Astros that was thrown by Darryl Kile against the New York Mets. Kile died nine years later at age 33 of a heart attack.“Darryl and I were best friends,” Servais said. “That night was really special to me. Games like that with people you’re that close to, you never forget.”Servais remembers something he told Kile that night after the game.“Darryl and I were very competitive back and forth. It was like, ‘Don’t shake me off,’ or ‘Yeah, OK.’ Just a pitcher-catcher thing. And I made a comment that night that one day when we’re 55 we’ll argue about who was right. Unfortunately, I’ll never get to do that with him.“But I recently was able to spend time with his wife and their kids and see how they’re coming along when we were in San Diego. It was good to see them.”TRAINER’S ROOMYankees: 3B Miguel Andujar left the game in the ninth inning when he was hit by a pitch on the right forearm. … SS Didi Gregorius was back in the starting lineup, one day after coming off the 10-day DL. Gregorius, who missed 16 games with a bruised left heel Byron Buxton Jersey , was 0 for 3 and played six innings before being replaced by Adeiny Hechavarria. Gregorius said Friday he is ready to go all out after playing the last four innings, but Boone wants to be cautious. “Any time you have a player of that caliber leave, it’s hard to keep him out,” Boone said. “We’ll be excited to get him back, but we also want to be smart about how we bring him back and get him up to full speed.”Mariners: Cano exited in the ninth when he was hit by a pitch on the left foot. “He’s hobbling around,” Servais said. “Hopefully it’s nothing serious and it’s just a bruise.”UP NEXTYankees lefty CC Sabathia (7-6, 3.54 ERA) makes his 26th start of the season Sunday. Sabathia’s 2,970 career strikeouts are the most among active pitchers. He is 17th all-time and third among lefties. RHP Erasmo Ramirez (2-3, 5.56) gets his seventh start of the season for the Mariners and fifth since coming off the disabled list Aug. 12. Ramirez has allowed one earned run or less in four of his last five starts.