Parker drives in five runs as Rockies pound Royals
NIcasio throws four scoreless, Dickerson homers, Janish goes 3-for-3
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Rockies starter Juan Nicasio breezed through four scoreless innings, Kyle Parker drove in five runs, Corey Dickerson hit a home run and Paul Janish was 3-for-3 in a 10-1 victory over the Royals on Sunday at Surprise Stadium.
Nicasio, in two starts, has a total of seven scoreless innings. The Royals' only hit off him was Omar Infante's single; he walked one and struck out three.
"I was working on my fastball down in the zone and my slider," Nicasio said. "They were really good today because I threw many breaking balls down in the zone."
Dickerson belted a solo homer just over the right-field wall in the sixth inning. That was the lone run given up by left-hander Danny Duffy in his three innings. Duffy is competing with Yordano Ventura for the Royals' fifth rotation spot.
"Danny did a great job," catcher Brett Hayes said. "He threw all his pitches for strikes, he was down in the zone, he attacked hitters. The one mistake he made was the home run pitch, but he knew it and composed himself and did a nice job to come back and get through it."
Parker, a first-round Draft choice in 2010, belted a three-run double to deep center field in a four-run ninth inning against right-hander Michael Mariot. Then Parker scored on Kent Matthes' single.
Parker also contributed to a three-run seventh inning against Royals closer Greg Holland. Janish got his third single and stole second, Tim Wheeler was hit by a pitch and Parker delivered a two-run double. Parker took third on center fielder Jarrod Dyson's error and scored on Matthes' sacrifice fly.
Left-hander Bruce Chen, the Royals' No. 4 starter, had a rocky first inning. He gave up three successive hits -- Drew Stubbs' single, Matt McBride's double and Wilin Rosario's two-run single. He also issued a walk before closing out the inning.
Chen finished up with two scoreless innings and a 47-pitch workout that included 32 strikes.
The Royals scored a run in the seventh against Adam Ottavino on two walks and Jimmy Paredes' RBI single down the left-field line.
Up next: The Rockies host the Padres at 12:10 MT on Monday at Salt River Fields as left-hander Franklin Morales looks to continue his strong spring. The fifth-starter candidate has allowed one unearned run and fanned six in five Cactus League innings.